My Top 5 events from the past week
1) 
Turkish class ended. I hear I got an A. whooot. I miss the class already though. I have to make a plan for study over the summer and dive in. I really do miss class and my teacher though.
2) Thursday I headed to Orlando with Cappy and Keli from the flowershop to catch the Akon / Usher concert. Keli is a huge Usher fan and we were more than happy to accompany her. Especially since she worked her connections in Orlando to get us a free hotel room! NICE
We were presented with a cheese & cracker tray, chocolate covered strawberries and wine. After the show we watched Sex and the City 2 and then the royal wedding coverage the next morning. Then we laid by the pool. What a fabulous girly mini-vacation!
Just in time (justintime?) to get the last bit of R&R before the insanity that is Mother's Day week at the flowershop. I don't even want to think about it!
Cappy & Keli: Go Team Floral!
3) My sister-in-law had a miscarriage. It looks like I will not become an aunt this year after all. The wedding is still on, of course, but I am sad today.
I really want to be an aunt, but I hope she is not too upset over it. I imagine I would be a sobbing wreck! Poor girl.
4) I was pulled over by a cop for running a stop sign last night. I feel that I stopped, just saying. I am an overly cautious driver-- maybe to the point of being annoying. Anyway, she let me off with a warning. THANK YOU! That is $300 I did not need to pay. I had a tall White Russian to celebrate (not while driving).
5) This message ABOUT ME is the talk of the Shinto listserv today. I was so surprised to read this:
John-san,
Yes, I agree. [justgotpaid]-san's paper is very insightful. I had a chance to read it
and was very impressed. I thank you and thank her for having written it. It
would be part of very important reference for my to-be-written thesis too.
yumiko ishiguro
________________________________
From: John Dougill <dougill@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp>
To: shinto <shintoML@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, May 3, 2011 10:15:42 AM
Subject: [shintoML] American Shinto
Good day, folks..
I've just finished reading [justgotspaid]'s thesis ......which she did as an MA thesis for the University of
Florida in 2008. It may have been raised on the list before, if so my apologies.
Nevertheless it was the first time for me to come across it, and I'd like to
offer her my congratulations for an admirably clear and interesting overview of
developments at the Tsubaki Grand Shrine
and the shrines in Hawaii. It should be the default reading material not only
for anyone interested in Shinto in the US, but also for anyone concerned with
its international dimension.
There's a lot of interesting information about practice at the Tsubaki shrine,
as well as the outreach programmes and the reasons why participants
were drawn to Shinto. For myself the most surprising and interesting aspect
related to the strong Unitarian links which facilitated the birth of the
Tsubaki shrine. Since I've been following sermons of late by the very
open-minded Unitarian Universalists, I was delighted to learn of the significant
role they played.
Reading of the thesis is greatly recommended.
_____________________
John Dougill
www.oxface.co.uk
http://dollarbooks.tripod.com/
http://www.deepkyoto.com/?p=2388
WOW, maybe my MA wasn't an absolute waste of time after all. lol. This is especially flattering coming from John Dougill, who I see one as of the best experts in the English speaking world on Shinto. He is sort of a Shinto Sensei-Guru, who always has something intelligent to post on the listserv. Amazing. I'm so glad I didn't get this sort of positive feedback 2-3 years ago though. I might have even considered a PhD attempt (no thanks). Maybe I should forward this to the prof who discouraged me.
