I was published (well Emily was published writing about me. . . or. . . it's a confusing thing) in the Twin Cities Daily Planet this week. Here's my link:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/11/25/advise-and-dissent-katie-matson.html
I'm sure none of my ideas are original. But these are the things I will be praying for in this presidency.
obamanos . . . gobama
love,
katie
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thanksgiving at the Stevens House
It's 10:00 at the Stevens House, do you know where your grad students are?
We're studying and eating popcorn!!!!!
Katie's church history final (To what does the term “eastern orthodox” refer? What are its unique characterstics? How did the Orthodox church emerge in Russia? What changing roles has it played in the changing political dynamics of Russian society as it has moved from a tsarist society to a communist society and eventually a post-communist society? What role did Alexander Sozhenitsyn and Alexander Menn play in advocating for the orthodox heritage and what was the response?) and Noel's intro to planning question (write a memo to the chair of the met council detailing. . . the non-feduciary arguments for light rail transit) are keeping us up late this week as we both hope to spend some of our Thanksgiving weekend with our family and friends.
Bethany's up with us too, translating the church directory into spanish, (such a tallented woman).
Wanda and Valerie are definitely asleep (responsible women that they are)
Noel's mom comes to town Thursday! (Yay! We love the Honorable Tracy Collier Nix). Bethany's heading to Walker tomorrow afternoon.
Wanda's going to Mankato
Valerie's going up to Blaine to feast with friends
Katie's off to the SLP
Happy Thanksgiving
Three lists of three things we're thankful for at the Stevens House
Friends, Fun and food - noel
popcorn, pietism, and playfullness - katie
community, creativity and coffee - bethany
you'll notice all three lists include food (huh? ha!)
I'm sure Val and Wan would have a list too
We're studying and eating popcorn!!!!!
Katie's church history final (To what does the term “eastern orthodox” refer? What are its unique characterstics? How did the Orthodox church emerge in Russia? What changing roles has it played in the changing political dynamics of Russian society as it has moved from a tsarist society to a communist society and eventually a post-communist society? What role did Alexander Sozhenitsyn and Alexander Menn play in advocating for the orthodox heritage and what was the response?) and Noel's intro to planning question (write a memo to the chair of the met council detailing. . . the non-feduciary arguments for light rail transit) are keeping us up late this week as we both hope to spend some of our Thanksgiving weekend with our family and friends.
Bethany's up with us too, translating the church directory into spanish, (such a tallented woman).
Wanda and Valerie are definitely asleep (responsible women that they are)
Noel's mom comes to town Thursday! (Yay! We love the Honorable Tracy Collier Nix). Bethany's heading to Walker tomorrow afternoon.
Wanda's going to Mankato
Valerie's going up to Blaine to feast with friends
Katie's off to the SLP
Happy Thanksgiving
Three lists of three things we're thankful for at the Stevens House
Friends, Fun and food - noel
popcorn, pietism, and playfullness - katie
community, creativity and coffee - bethany
you'll notice all three lists include food (huh? ha!)
I'm sure Val and Wan would have a list too
Saturday, November 22, 2008
After Election Day
I have had bronchitis since election day, but I did manage to wait in line for two hours and fifteen minutes that day, I was so grateful that the weather was still nice-ish. Here's the line after about twenty minutes or so. 
And here we are an hour and a half later. With so many students and other renters in our neighborhood there were many people doing same day registration.
It was fun to wait in line with some neighbors. I spent most of my time talking to a dreadlocked and pierced lip couple about my age whose son was born on caucus night, "I wanted to be there so bad! But I was having him." The baby did remarkably well for waiting in line for as long as we did, only crying in the last 15 minutes or so (to be honest I was close to crying too baby).
My other election line "friend" was a white man in his fifties who has done a lot of human rights work with East African refugees in the twin cities and abroad and is hoping to find work in East Africa in the coming year. We talked about immigration policy, environmental policy, the clean air/water/arts ammendment. He was nervous that the ammendment wouldn't pass because of all those Christians who walk in step with Jerry Falwell and are afraid of the arts. I told him that I thought that the "moral majority" and "religious right" people were starting to lose their monopoly on evangelicals and that many believers see justice, the environment and even creativity and the arts as issues the church should care deeply about. "That's not true, it hasn't been my experience." When I told him that I was a Bethel seminary student he was shocked! I told him that I was certain that many believers would be voting G.O.P. (God's own party j/k) this year but that many others were voting progressive and weren't limiting themselves to single issue voting. He was surprised and I watched his face change as his paradigm shifted, he thanked me for sharing my experience with him and told me that it changed a lot of things for him.
Last Sunday Bethany invited Xueling (aka Shirley) to dinner. She's an economics student from China, auditing a class at the U. She has been here since September, but Sunday was her first time in an American house (she's living with a Chinese family in married student housing at the U). When she said that she was looking forward to Thanksgiving, but would be eating with other Chinese students I invited her to Matson family Thanksgiving on Thursday, I'm excited to have her over and I know that my mom will have a feast ready for her and the rest of our guests.
Here's the Stevens House Women on Sunday night: (Bethany, Wanda, Xueling, Valerie and me(please excuse the grungy sweatshirt, I was sick))
The final update from the past couple weeks is that we had some visitors on Sunday night. Former neighbors who used to spend more time at our house than I did: M, B and J came by to see us. We hadn't seen M for at least a year, B since this summer and I don't know when I had a conversation with J last. M is a senior in High School now, who's getting training in culinary arts as part of a work readiness program. His mom's name is tatooed on his arm and he's got a mustache. He gave the other boys advice about getting jobs and told Wanda and I that he's got a baby on the way. B is a senior too, who says he'd like to do culinary arts too, but seemed confused about how that would work. J is in the middle of eighth grade and he tried to act tough and hard while he talked with us, but you could still see a little of the 4th grade boy that we knew who liked to come over and play Jenga and drink hot chocolate with us. It was good to see them. I know that the previous Stevens house family (Kendra, Pat, Alison, April etc.) were a big part of shaping these young men, and I love that even though M has moved a couple of times he still feels like the Stevens house is a good place to come and visit when he's around.
That's the update from 2701. We're looking forward to a house Christmas party, watching lots of Gilmore Girls, getting ready for the end of the fall term in our grad programs.
And here we are an hour and a half later. With so many students and other renters in our neighborhood there were many people doing same day registration.
It was fun to wait in line with some neighbors. I spent most of my time talking to a dreadlocked and pierced lip couple about my age whose son was born on caucus night, "I wanted to be there so bad! But I was having him." The baby did remarkably well for waiting in line for as long as we did, only crying in the last 15 minutes or so (to be honest I was close to crying too baby).My other election line "friend" was a white man in his fifties who has done a lot of human rights work with East African refugees in the twin cities and abroad and is hoping to find work in East Africa in the coming year. We talked about immigration policy, environmental policy, the clean air/water/arts ammendment. He was nervous that the ammendment wouldn't pass because of all those Christians who walk in step with Jerry Falwell and are afraid of the arts. I told him that I thought that the "moral majority" and "religious right" people were starting to lose their monopoly on evangelicals and that many believers see justice, the environment and even creativity and the arts as issues the church should care deeply about. "That's not true, it hasn't been my experience." When I told him that I was a Bethel seminary student he was shocked! I told him that I was certain that many believers would be voting G.O.P. (God's own party j/k) this year but that many others were voting progressive and weren't limiting themselves to single issue voting. He was surprised and I watched his face change as his paradigm shifted, he thanked me for sharing my experience with him and told me that it changed a lot of things for him.
Last Sunday Bethany invited Xueling (aka Shirley) to dinner. She's an economics student from China, auditing a class at the U. She has been here since September, but Sunday was her first time in an American house (she's living with a Chinese family in married student housing at the U). When she said that she was looking forward to Thanksgiving, but would be eating with other Chinese students I invited her to Matson family Thanksgiving on Thursday, I'm excited to have her over and I know that my mom will have a feast ready for her and the rest of our guests.
Here's the Stevens House Women on Sunday night: (Bethany, Wanda, Xueling, Valerie and me(please excuse the grungy sweatshirt, I was sick))
The final update from the past couple weeks is that we had some visitors on Sunday night. Former neighbors who used to spend more time at our house than I did: M, B and J came by to see us. We hadn't seen M for at least a year, B since this summer and I don't know when I had a conversation with J last. M is a senior in High School now, who's getting training in culinary arts as part of a work readiness program. His mom's name is tatooed on his arm and he's got a mustache. He gave the other boys advice about getting jobs and told Wanda and I that he's got a baby on the way. B is a senior too, who says he'd like to do culinary arts too, but seemed confused about how that would work. J is in the middle of eighth grade and he tried to act tough and hard while he talked with us, but you could still see a little of the 4th grade boy that we knew who liked to come over and play Jenga and drink hot chocolate with us. It was good to see them. I know that the previous Stevens house family (Kendra, Pat, Alison, April etc.) were a big part of shaping these young men, and I love that even though M has moved a couple of times he still feels like the Stevens house is a good place to come and visit when he's around.
That's the update from 2701. We're looking forward to a house Christmas party, watching lots of Gilmore Girls, getting ready for the end of the fall term in our grad programs.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Stevens House News - Top 5
1- We have a new roommate VALERIE yay! She's great. She's a Kenyan grad student who we met through Noel's church - Sanctuary. She's very kind. Go vote tomorrow.
2- We've now been visited for Keith Ellison for congress volunteers 87 times, ok, this may be an exageration, but the canvasers have hit our house hard. GO vote tomorrow.
3- Ben and Jerry's is giving away free cones tomorrow for voters - Go vote tomorrow, then go get some icecream. The small group that meets here will be doing this together. GO VOTE
4- We're going to winterize soon. This is my favorite activity of the year. Expect some blogging about window insulater kits ;o) GO VOTE tomorrow
5- We're becoming a very scheduled disciplined house. We've got a posted shower schedule now and house prayer has been moved a 1/2 hour earlier. GO VOTE tomorrow.
2- We've now been visited for Keith Ellison for congress volunteers 87 times, ok, this may be an exageration, but the canvasers have hit our house hard. GO vote tomorrow.
3- Ben and Jerry's is giving away free cones tomorrow for voters - Go vote tomorrow, then go get some icecream. The small group that meets here will be doing this together. GO VOTE
4- We're going to winterize soon. This is my favorite activity of the year. Expect some blogging about window insulater kits ;o) GO VOTE tomorrow
5- We're becoming a very scheduled disciplined house. We've got a posted shower schedule now and house prayer has been moved a 1/2 hour earlier. GO VOTE tomorrow.
TRUNK OR TREAT - G.O.T.V.
Wanda and Bethany got dressed up and brought "Tiger" (Bethany's VW Golf) to Trunk or Treat on Friday night. Aren't they cute?
My other favorite car was Todd Palin and Cindy McCain (aka Nate and Ashley).
NOT Live? Blogging - The Stevens House Cooks - not quite live
I was getting harassed for not putting up finished pics of the pie.
We ate it so fast, and blogger crashed that night, but here's a couple shots of us eating the pie.
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