Professor J's Place

I know this seems an odd video for Valentine's day, but hear me out. I was driving along the other day and listening to this song on my ipod. And I was thinking about my friends--the women who are on the other side of a phone or an email--the women who make it possible for me to reach out and touch faith. I'm really lucky, I think, although most of my dearest friends live a long distance from me. And so, today, I am going to introduce my blog friends to my BFF's. I think the BFF I've known the longest (and someone who is familiar to many of you) is Michelle (aka Sojourner). Michelle and I have known each other since 1982, I think. 1981? While she lives in frigid Omaha, and it's been more than ten years since I've seen her, she and I still talk and instant message fairly frequently. This friend has the distinct honor of being the only friend I have who is actually shorter than me. The next BFF disappeared from my life for a couple of years, but she recently email...

Biggest Loser is one of my not so guilty pleasures. When it first came out, I couldn't imagine why fat people would allow themselves to be humiliated on television for a few measly bucks. And then I started watching. Seriously. It has nothing to do with the money. These people are transforming their lives! Indeed, as I was telling Susan last night, I wish I could watch this show every night because it inspires me so. But that's not what I want to write about. The beautiful woman pictured above is named Joelle. She had a lot of trouble on the show. She wasn't always sure she wanted to be there. She didn't really connect with any of the other participants; she rarely--if ever--gave it her all. At first it was a little irritating. After all, she had a wonderful opportunity and she was blowing it! But then I started to watch her face and her body as other people were chastising her. I saw her when her weight loss was low. I saw her when she swore she was pushing herself, ...

Soon I will be posting a thoughtful post about self sabotage. At least that's what I'm thinking about today. . . But in the meantime, please enjoy this lovely video: