Author: Trish

Oh Hey, Friday! #4

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It’s another round of the Oh Hey, Friday! link-up from September Farm and 5 on Friday from A. Liz Adventures!  
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TODAY’S FIVE

1|  Letters Between Friends

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I love creatively collaborating with friends.  Lindsay is one of my nearest and dearest, and since she has a blog, we’re going to start a weekly series writing back and forth to each other called Letters Between Friends.  Originally we were going to wait until I was in Greece, but we got so excited we decided to launch early!  And since I’m traveling the month of October, it’s great practice.

2|  Fall Is Coming

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Autumn is my favorite season.  I love the jackets, scarves, rainboots, and changing leaves.  I hoped that by traveling east, I might get an early glimpse of the best of seasons, and I have!  So far, western Pennsylvania has the best red/gold/green tree combinations.  Yesterday in Maryland it rained, so I outfitted myself with umbrella, boots, and jacket.  IT WAS SO DELIGHTFUL.

3|  Asian Everything

I’m staying with my friend Elizabeth for five days, and more often than not, we’re doing something Asian related.  We had an entire Japanese-themed trip to Washington DC, we’ve visited an Asian supermarket in Rockville, and we spent the afternoon hanging out at the Asian Bakery Cafe drinking bubble tea yesterday, then ate Vietnamese bahn mi for dinner.  I wish it weren’t so expensive to go to Asia (Japan specifically).  Of course, spending money to go to cheaper places in the meantime isn’t helping me save up or anything.

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4|  Fundraising

This monthlong road trip is for “fun and fundraising.”  Every day so far, I’ve had someone contact me to let me know that they want to donate to me, which has been so hugely encouraging!  I was praying especially that God would connect me to people I wasn’t expecting, and so far I’ve seen one friend excitedly tell me that her boss is very interested in ending human trafficking, and could she take some of my info to show him?  Um, YES.  I still need to raise about $10,000.  If you haven’t given already, please consider it, and donate online here!

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5|  Sleeping In

Admittedly, this is stretching things in terms of “what ought to be blogged about.”  But I’m using my best material in my daily blogs about my adventures!  Having spent the last two months working as a secretary, getting up at 6:40 am in order to be at church by 8:00, it is SO GREAT to sleep in until 9:00.  The life of a couch-surfer is a good one.

A Lazy Thursday – Excellent!

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After the glamour of yesterday’s DC adventures and the horror of waiting two hours to get into a locked car, today’s blog post will be pretty tame. Which is kind of the point, because Elizabeth and I both wanted a lazy day to emotionally recuperate. We are both introverts, after all.

Screen Shot 2015-10-01 at 12.44.31 PMThis morning was slow, and when we finally left the apartment, it was to take Elizabeth’s car into the shop. We crossed the street in the rain (finally, a chance to wear rainboots, a jacket, and carry an umbrella!) and spent three hours blogging and Internet-ing at the Asian Bakery Cafe. I had bubble tea, and we admitted we weren’t done with the Asian theme begun yesterday. We grabbed bahn mi (a Vietnamese sandwich) on the way home, and we almost crashed.

We rallied, though, for the all-important trip to….the library! I know, I know, we are such nerds. But this is why I love Elizabeth so much. A slow day culminating with a library visit is equally as satisfying to both of us. And what a library! Rockville’s is two stories, very fancy, and I immediately wanted to read everything. Instead, I simply got a children’s book on St. Francis, since this Sunday is the Feast of St. Francis and I love him.   Continue reading →

New Blog Series: Letters Between Friends!

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I have been friends with Lindsay Wineinger (formerly Lindsay Davis, which I still accidentally call her, five years after her wedding) since we were practically babies.  Actually, she was a toddler, since she is two years older than me.  For most of my childhood, that mattered, because I looked up to her as being the coolest person ever.  When I joined the church youth group as a teenager, I realized that while she is definitely cool, she’s also got a weird sense of humor, which meant I had a shot at being her friend.  I love Lindsay for her passion (she cries when talking about what Jesus has done for her), her sense of adventure (I always describe her driving as controlled chaos), and her loyalty (I once broke her glasses by stepping on them while she was in middle-of-nowhere Africa, and she is still my friend).  Lindsay is one of the most compassionate people I know (even though she thinks she isn’t), and I know I can always count on her to celebrate and/or mourn with me.  I have loved our fifteen years of friendship, and I look forward to seventy more.  We’re going to rule whatever nursing home we wind up in.  419057_657601116742_529330753_n Continue reading →

Japanese-Themed Day in DC (with a special guest star!)

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Yesterday Elizabeth and I ventured into DC! We decided to do a Japan-themed tour of the city, since Japan has been at the top of my to-go list forever, and Elizabeth went there last year. (Side note: I HIGHLY recommend this version of sight-seeing. By choosing a theme, your choices are naturally narrowed, and you don’t feel as much pressure to do and see everything.)

We started at the U.S. National Arboretum, which is so huge you have to drive to different exhibits. We were there to see the bonsai exhibit, particularly a tree that has been alive since 1625, and survived the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima. The tree’s caretaker later donated the bonsai to the United States in 1976 for our bicentennial in a symbol of goodwill. Walking around the bonsai trees, and listening to an expert describe it as “living art that is begun but never finished” made me much more appreciative of the practice. Plus they are so cute!   Continue reading →

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill

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I’ve already begun thinking of myself as part-Greek, which is, I know, very ridiculous.  Just because I will live in the country for a year does not mean I have a right to claim their heritage as my own….except that Cahill has written an entire book about how the Western world has been shaped by the Greek worldview for the last two and a half thousand years.  So while I may not be Greek in heritage, I am in spirit.

Cahill divides his chapters into themes that also follow a general chronological pattern.  I found this to be a much easier way to track with the history and culture presented.  He also makes use of a lot of literature, which, as a book nerd, I found especially delightful.  Beginning with Homer’s The Iliad, Cahill describes Greek warriors and their obsession with glory on the battlefield.  We then move on emotions, celebrations, politics, philosophy, art, and religion.  Over and over again, Cahill reminds us just how strongly our present-day culture resembles the ancient Greeks.

I’ve always loved Greek mythology, my high school English class spent some time with Sophocles and Homer, and I took art history classes as electives in college.  I’m a little familiar with a lot of Greek history and thought, but Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea put everything into context.  For instance, the shift in Greek sculptures from rigid idealistic poses of men to the twisting, agonized figures in the famous Laocoon and His Sons came about as the strength of Athens waned, first to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and then to Rome.

This book hits all of my interests:  art, literature, history, culture, and GREECE.  Perfect.  Continue reading →

What Are You Reading Wednesday #WAYRW (3)

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What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature started on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate. You can answer the questions in the comments section of the weekly #WAYRW post or link back to your #WAYRW post on your blog via the link up. You can grab the image above or create your own, just please make sure you link back to IART as the host for this meme.

How to participate:
Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:
1. What’s the name of your current read?
2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

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1. What’s the name of your current read?

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.

The maids sniggered.  I was crushed.  I had not thought my legs were quite that short, and I certainly hadn’t thought Helen would notice them.  But not much escaped her when it came to assessing the physical graces and defects of others.  That was what got her into trouble with Paris, later – he was so much better looking than Menelaus, who was lumpish and red-haired.  The best that was claimed of Menelaus, once they started putting him into the poems, was that he had a very loud voice.

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Not even the tiniest bit.  The whole point of the book is to point out all the ways women got screwed in ancient Greece.  But I DO want to live in a world where I have Margaret Atwood’s talent.  She’s an amazing writer.

Ohio to Maryland, With a Stop at Fallingwater

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Today was all over the place. On the one hand, Christy made me an egg and ham sandwich for breakfast, and soon after I left her house, I stopped at a Tim Hortons to buy a large coffee for only one dollar. I’d thought Tim Hortons was a Canadian thing, but I’m glad the U.S. is selling their brands – I loved it!

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Today’s drive was almost immediately different from yesterday’s. While I spent my first day driving through Midwestern fields and passing through big Interstate cities, today I drove through hills and forests, and probably half of the trip was driven on two-lane highways down back roads and through small towns. I even saw a lot of changing leaves! I tried to take pictures, but my iPhone (while driving) could not capture what I was seeing.

On the other hand (remember, today was all over the place), it rained pretty much the entire time I was driving. And there were tolls, bane of my existence. And then – road trip catastrophe! I was around big cities when my gas tank was half full, but I figured filling up wasn’t really necessary. When I hit a quarter tank, I decided to keep an eye out. Then my meter fell to two dots (very specific, I know), and I was in the middle of hill country western Pennsylvania, with nothing but trees and the occasional farm house in sight.   Continue reading →

The Story of a Friendship: Elizabeth and Tricia

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One of my best friends in college was Stephanie.  For a while, I spent the night every Thursday at her dorm, which meant I got to know her roommates pretty well.  One of those roommates was Elizabeth Waibel.  She was one of the coolest people I knew, and I assumed she thought I was mostly an idiot.  Well, if she did, joke’s on her, because it has been six years and now we are really good friends!

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I don’t really know how we shifted from real life acquaintances to frequent Facebook conversationalists, but our mutual introversion definitely helps.  She is intelligent and snarky, which are two of my favorite qualities in a person.  She often posts culturally relevant statuses that challenge people to think more deeply, and she tags me in articles about feminism.  Internet besties!   Continue reading →

TV Rec: Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris

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New this fall, I have already watched the first two episodes of Best Time Ever twice over.  I figured that this talk show/game show/variety show would be good, because NPH has a golden touch of awesome.  I was so right!  While most shows put forth some mildly interesting things before building to a climax, I get the sense that while planning each show segment, NPH and staff decided to make each event THE BEST EVER.  Their commitment to over-the-top pranks, stunts, music, and showmanship makes every second really enjoyable.  I started watching Best Time Ever like I do most shows – while getting ready in the morning.  I couldn’t do it!  I kept drifting to my computer screen, forgetting about the straightener in my hand.

There are around ten celebrity guest stars in every episode, and it’s so fun to see them doing something outside of their norm (like Reese Witherspoon trash talking NPH before ziplining down 15 stories).  The show opens with a ridiculously pre-planned and elaborate surprise for an audience member.  The first had my jaw dropping, and the second made me cry.  Who knows what extreme emotion tonight’s episode will cause!  The End of the Show Show is truly spectacular.  You just get the sense that everyone participating is having such a good time, which, in turn, makes it fun to watch.  I’m hooked.

Watch it now on Hulu (or your preferred TV viewing platform)!  I think the ratings are already awesome, but let’s make them phenomenal, so that we’ll definitely get a renewal after the planned eight episodes.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/844578#i0,p0,d0

(Photo from NBC.com)

#32DaysInMyCar Has Begun!

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Day one is done, and I’ve covered three states!

I’ll admit, about an hour into my drive this morning, I had that rush of worried feeling.  All the talking and planning was suddenly doing, and the reality of roadtripping for 32 days felt ridiculous.  I’m an introvert!  Why am I staying with friends and strangers every night for over a month??  The good thing about over-hyping something is that the humiliation of quitting publicly is enough to get you through those panicky moments.  And I’m glad it did, because the rest of the day went great.

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Well, kind of.  I’d planned to stop in Indianapolis and picnic on the Funky Bones exhibit (as made popular by The Fault in Our Stars) at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  After four hours of driving, I discovered the museum is closed on Mondays!!  Agh.  Determined to fulfill my plan, at least partially, I picnicked on some colorful tables underneath weird sculptures, trying to ignore the yard workers passing by with weed-eaters and leaf-blowers.   Continue reading →