Peacegrrl optimism?

I know, negativity is usually what I do best. But what can I say? It's a good day--in spite of the fact that this guy just kicked off another four years in office. To start with, I'm off to nerd greatness with my triumphant return to grad school. Last night's class is going to be pretty easy. I think tonight's might give me a little more trouble...it's College Student Development, so at the very least I will hopefully continue on the road to understanding why the hell my students act the way they do. But I'm still pretty jazzed about my Liberal Studies degree, despite the misgivings of SOME of my friends. The idea of creating a program of study based on what I'm actually interested in is just so appealing, especially since I honestly don't know what I want to do when I'm done with it. It's so nice to be young and completely lacking in direction...

Some other good news...my hero Jim Wallis has been generating a lot of buzz with his new book: God's Politics: Why The Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. Read all about it here or watch Jim on Hardball tommorow night and you'll see what I'm talking about. One of the things that sucks about being a liberal is that if you admit you believe in God or *gasp* Jesus, a lot of your peers will shun you. Christianity is for right-wingers. Which is actually pretty ridiculous, when you look at it--who preached turning the other cheek? Moving past old-testament "eye-for-an-eye" in favor of forgiveness and acceptance? Loving your brothers and sisters regardless of their percieved transgressions? Rejecting society's norms in favor of a life of charity, tolerance, and humility? I think that was Jesus, and call me crazy, but some of those ideas seem pretty darned liberal to me. I'm hoping that more Americans, right and left, will listen to Jim's message and get the politicians to stop using religion as a political foothold and focus on the issues of poverty and human rights that we're all too happy to turn a blind eye to in favor of war and social security.

So enough preaching, and on to the more shallow variety of Peacegrrl fun that we all enjoy. I've got a crush. Just a little one. There's a very nice, good-looking, smart guy who I've been having a lot of fun with as of late, and I have this odd little feeling that I haven't had in a while. You know, that thing where you really want to see the other person, and it has nothing to do with sex? As crushes go, I figure this is a fairly minor one, and probably won't lead to much of anything. But it's a nice diversion, anyway. And for those keeping track, yes, I'm still talking to Blind Date guy, and no, I still have no idea where the hell that's going. I think it's probably better if I just don't worry about it. At least I have someone to see a movie with.

And one last thing to be happy about...a member of my family has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), which, if you know anything about it, is a nightmare. But we found out today that he's gotten into a clinic in Houston with one of the best ALS doctors in the country, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association is picking up the tab. So even though my family is in for some pretty hard times, at least now we know we'll have some help. God is great, I tell you. If that's not a reason to be a little optimistic, then I don't know what is...
-peacegrrl