take these sunken eyes and learn to see

Dan was in town on Tuesday night to visit Beth (not me because I never ask...which is quite true, sorry Dan) so of course we went out on the town. I met them at Beth's apartment, Dan was quite the gentleman and gave me advance warning of the illicit stimulant use that would be going on. Apparently the 80's really are back! It was pretty funny though because making awkward conversation with total strangers always leads to me having to somehow explain "what I'm up to" in life which is hard because really it's either "oh i'm just working" or a really long story. So I just say "i'm working for a few months and then I'll be moving overseas" and Dan chimes in (as he wipes his nose) "Angie's going to me a missionary!" Which I thought would make things really awkward but it was okay. I kind of changed the subject because Shawn knows my friend Evan (who is apparently famous) and Liz works at Buzz and I really want the friend discount.

We went to Atlas for Mojitos. Dan and I sat at the bar and talked to Liz. Liz and I talked about haircuts for a long time (way longer than anyone should have anything to say about hair...I blame Crissa) and then Shawn came over and wanted to know more about this whole England thing. These are the people in Iowa City that are interested in talking about religion. They here one tiny bit of truth and are so hungry for more. You can see it on their faces. They hear one person say the word "Jesus" like it's not a dirty word and instantly they can't stop talking about it.

I was trying to explain to Dan why I really don't like that he always warns his friends that "Angie is very religious." I explained that it's probably a lot like being gay, that there are people within that community that Dan can't relate to at all. That to him it's embarassing to be put under the same heading as these people, because when everyone else sees him and labels him, he gets all the stereotypes and atrocities of those people put onto his shoulders and it's just not fair. That sometimes this really good concept of community is messed up. So then he got it, and was really excited that other people were struggling with that. So then there were talks about acceptance vs. tolerance and how evangelism isn't colonialism. It was just so good. We all just feel cheated by this religion that our parents handed us (that was so postmodern). I feel so lucky that I was protected from straying so far. I don't think it's igorance or lack of experience that I ended up pretty close to where I started from. I'm just really glad that I had the truth whispered in my ear so that when so many people fed me these lies, I recognized them as such (eventually).

Then we had to go say hi to Taylor at Joe's Place because it was his birthday. Brian Feist (from high school) was bartending so he bought us a round which was very nice and I had to leave to go call Jess and tell her that I was at Taylor's birthday party.

So that was my night, authenticity abouded, it was great, I wish I had more of them.