Syng a new song! Chat with Synger

[synger]

All right, so I've been on staff for a while, and I've never done one of these chat-with-me threads. I started in Theology, sweated through 777 by working on a lot of wikis (and finding I had a real interest in process and protocol), and then served as an admin through some major staff changes. I've recently joined the Reconciliation Team, and am still feeling my way around the new job.

I was raised Presbyterian and ordained an elder in the PCUSA, but gave that up when I converted to confessional Lutheran doctrine. I am happily married (webname: Hunter) and have a lovely seven-year-old (webname: Gem) who is the apple of my eye. We have two cats, and I'm highly allergic to them... so I take allergy meds every day and they have to suffer the indignity of having ONE room of the house (my bedroom) that is entirely off-limits to them.

I love history, theology, and science-fiction. We used to be involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), but haven't done anything with that since Gem was born. We've just joined the Izaac Walton League in our area, so I'm looking forward to learning to fish and shoot, and cleaning up our streams and highways, and all that fun stuff.

I also used to be a very active member of sci-fi fandom in the Washington/Baltimore area, but now I only go to one convention a year (Balticon, yeah!!) I play pre-d20 White Wolf RPGs with my husband, and Everquest2 on the computer whenever I find time (which is much less than it used to be now that I'm so involved on CF).

I love to sing (hence the username), and am a lyric soprano. I collect musicals. Hymnody and psalmnody are major parts of my personal devotions.

I really love composting, but am a terrible gardener. Originally from Michigan, I firmly believe that these mid-Atlantic summers get too hot for weeding.

My latest trick is learning to knit. My first project was a little purse for Gem, and now I'm knitting a prayer shawl. I used to do cross-stitch, but my eyes are getting older now (though I still act like a teenager too often) and it's really hard for me. So knitting is filling the bill. It's nice to have something to do with my hands again while watching TV (other than folding parts of the never-ending Mount Washmore)

I've blathered on long enough. Now it's your turn. Any questions?

[rmw8855]

:wave: Hi Synger :hug:

[synger]

Hello, and welcome to My Thread! *grins*

[rmw8855]

I got to be your 1st visitor :)

You will make a wonderful addition to the Reconciliation Team Synger :thumbsup: but I will miss working with you.

[synger]

Thank you! But I'll still be around, poking my nose into policy and protocol questions here and there. *grins* It's an addiction.

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

hi Synger. just stopping by to wave hello. :wave:

[synger]

*waves* Welcome, Moriah! Glad to have you stop by.

[christisright]

Hi!
You had replied to a thread I started called " Is there a way you can..." and my question is what if I do not have the URL?

[synger]

For us to do much of anything to identify and cut down on inappropriate ads, we need to have the URL of the ad. The description alone doesn't do much good, I'm afraid.

However, if you keep an eye out for it, and see it or something like it again, please send a staff member the URL and tell them you're reporting it as inappropriate. They'll know what to do. (and if they don't, just send it to me)

[Bamboo_Chicken]

What sort of questions are you up for Synger? (Warning: I can be rather random)

~Steffi

[jayh]

Hello Synger, I hoped you were really one as some of the best fellowship and giggles we had were at the piano in the backroom, solo's duets, trios quartet and sextet a group of women, sisters in the Lord having a fantastic time rehearsing. So your name alone brought a huge smile to my face at the memories. someone gave me a piano and I go there and "speak" with the notes, composing by chatting using the keys, from time to time.

You say you are soprano I was in the Alto area, and if I could stop giggling from the sheer joy of the company we learned many wonderful songs.. ok I'll take a pew from this meander down memory lane but leave with a warm heart and smile. God bless your singing. Hi from Scotland.. jean.

[synger]

What sort of questions are you up for Synger? (Warning: I can be rather random)

~Steffi
I am up for just about any questions, random or otherwise. *grins* Though I don't promise that my answers won't be just as random!

[synger]

Hello Synger, I hoped you were really one as some of the best fellowship and giggles we had were at the piano in the backroom, solo's duets, trios quartet and sextet a group of women, sisters in the Lord having a fantastic time rehearsing. So your name alone brought a huge smile to my face at the memories. someone gave me a piano and I go there and "speak" with the notes, composing by chatting using the keys, from time to time.

You say you are soprano I was in the Alto area, and if I could stop giggling from the sheer joy of the company we learned many wonderful songs.. ok I'll take a pew from this meander down memory lane but leave with a warm heart and smile. God bless your singing. Hi from Scotland.. jean.

Ah, how lovely! I can barely play the piano, but I know enough to learn my songs. I love harmony. I'm the one in the church who sings the alto part for the first three verses of a hymn, and then on the final verse pops it up an octave to become a descant above the soprano/melody part that the congregation is singing.

When I was in college, I was active in a campus youth group (http://www.hhcf.org/cmu/) and we'd sing when we had our weekly worship together. It was my introduction to so-called "praise songs" (though I firmly believe that hymns are praise songs, too), and they were very easy to harmonize with. I'd find a harmony and sing it, and a couple other folks would sing along. In a few weeks, they'd know the part I'd created... so I'd jump up or down a third and make a new harmony. Someone else would join me and learn that one... and I'd go on to find another. By the end of the school year we were singing in six-part harmony. It was a glorious way to worship!!

[jayh]

That lovely impromtu harmonising. wow. We were all at a christian convention at Butlins, and you should have seen the shock on the faces of the Butlins staff when over 2,000 people began to sing, like you said, just joining in coming like colours of a rainbow all blending together. They told us that they dreaded us coming as a Religious Week, oh dear, they were singing and swaying themselves after a day or two.
Today I love to hear "HereI am To Worship" "I Can Only Imagine" and "What do I have if I donot have you Jesus" (donot know if that is the title or the frist line..I think Chris Tomlin sings this) You draw a picture with words.. anyone for a heavely ho down of harmony? Wouldnot that be great?

[synger]

That would be amazing!! I have been looking into Sacred Harp (http://fasola.org/) singing in my area, which is acapella harmonization. There is a singing that happens each month about an hour from me, and I'm hoping to go one of these months.

I think that music and song are a great gift that God has given us, and I'm very happy to be part of a very musical Christian tradition. I think of it as a small taste of heaven, and I cannot help but smile.

[Bamboo_Chicken]

I am up for just about any questions, random or otherwise. *grins* Though I don't promise that my answers won't be just as random!
If you had a soft toy cow, what would you call it?

[synger]

La Boeheme

("boe" in Dutch means "moo" and "boo"... the sound a cow makes)

[BlessedLYT]

Hello how are you?

[BlessedLYT]

what does your normal day consist of? What is your favorite pet if any?

[synger]

I am doing very well today. Allergies are not quite as bad as they have been. My knees are beginning to ache already, which means that I'll need to consciously get up from the computer every 45 minutes or so, or I'll be in a lot of pain this evening.

I have two types of "normal days"... one when I go into the office (3 days a week) and one when I work from home (2 days a week).

On office days, I get up and dressed, put on my ID badge, throw my breakfast, lunch, and phone into my bag (waiting by the door), and drive to Metro, where I take the train into the city. I am a webmaster at my job, so I am on the computer most of the day. I review web pages, do analysis of process and procedures, attend meetings, and in between times I try to do ten-minutes-here, ten-minutes-there of work on CF. The commute home is an hour and a half. My husband, who works part-time and picks our daughter up after school, often has dinner ready or almost ready when i get home. If not, I pour a glass of wine and begin to cook. We keep a lot of basic staples on hand for quick meals, so it usually only takes about 30 minutes (if we start with a clean kitchen, which isn't always the case).

Evening is usually swimming (we have a small above-ground pool), watching TV and knitting (history and science are our fave types of shows), or on the computer. I try to do at least 20 minutes on the elliptical. Then storytime with Gem (our 7 yo), and she's off to bed with Dad.

On at-home days, it's pretty much the same, except without the commute. I do the same work, answer the same questions, attend a few meetings via phone and computer. But I'm home when Gem gets home from school at 3:30. I stop working at 4, so I have more evening time with them, which is a real blessing.

Weekends are usually errands, cookouts, gaming (we have some friends who come over for role-playing games twice a month), church, visits with in-laws, gardening, etc. It's more flexible than 'normal days".

[synger]

As to a favorite pet... I am allergic to just about anything furred or feathered. But then, I've often said I'm "allergic to breathing" because there are so many things -- dust, pollen, grass, trees, mold, cats, dogs, feathers, ragweed, etc. So since I take allergy meds every day ANYWAY, my husband convinced me to try cats, since he loves them.

So we have two cats. One, Ronin, has adopted me as his human. The other looks to Gem. Ronin is a scaredy cat, easily startled, who has had to be put on Prozac a couple of times. Now that I'm at home more often, he's less jumpy. He has a towel on my computer desk where he's allowed to lay when I'm working. That keeps him from walking in front of my monitor... in theory anyway.

[D'Ann]

Hi Synger. :)

God Bless

[synger]

thank you, D'Ann. Welcome back to staff. It will be great working with you again.

[LovebirdsFlying]

Syngerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! :wave:

[synger]

*hugs LovebirdsFlying* Welcome to My Thread! Thanks for stopping by.

[Philothei]

Hey Synger.... If you could please tell me where are the social clubs under? i am not looking for the link but I want to know under what group they are under.

Thanks

[synger]

They are their own thingie... so they're not under a particular forum.

You can find the link to the Social Groups from your UserCP, on the left, under Networking.

You also can find them listed under Quick Links in the top navigation bar, under Networking.

*Hugs*

[Philothei]

thanks :)

[Philothei]

by the way how does it work? Is there any link that explains?

[synger]

by the way how does it work? Is there any link that explains?

Not really. It's kind of a learn-as-you-go thing. You go into the social groups, look at the various groups, and choose some to join. Then you have your own little area where you can talk to those who have similar likes or issues or whatever. It's rather like a discussion thread, but cozier.

[Philothei]

thanks again Synger :)

[synger]

you are very welcome

[Lel]

you are great :)

[synger]

:blush: Thank you. what a wonderful thing to see first thing in the morning!

[Lel]

Superb! :) :hug:

[BenAdam]

:wave: Hi Synger

[synger]

Welcome to My Thread, benadam! Glad to have you here.

*hugs*

[NewSong]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f372/snitches/hello.gif

[synger]

Oh, a SparkleFrog!!! Thank you!!!

[BenAdam]

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i10/benadam/misc/sloth20053small.jpg

Just because it's bizarre.

[rmw8855]

This made me think of you Synger :wave:

Psalm 33:3 - Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

[synger]

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i10/benadam/misc/sloth20053small.jpg

Just because it's bizarre.

Thank you, BenAdam! How did you know that Sloth is one of my favorite deadly sins? *grins* or more accurately, one of the ones I'm most susceptible to...

Did you know that the green in the fur is algae, and it helps provide a form of camouflage to the slow-moving animal?

[BenAdam]

Thank you, BenAdam! How did you know that Sloth is one of my favorite deadly sins? *grins* or more accurately, one of the ones I'm most susceptible to...

Did you know that the green in the fur is algae, and it helps provide a form of camouflage to the slow-moving animal?

Intresting, I didn't know that.

[synger]

This made me think of you Synger :wave:

Psalm 33:3 - Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

I am always amazed at how often we are commanded to sing to the Lord. It's something anyone can do (unlike other musical instruments, which have to be learned). My mother, bless her heart, couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. But she loved to sing hymns in church, and she'd hum around the house when she was happy.

I think it is a real shame that singing as families and communities is not as prevalent as it once was. You have to be in music class, or in church, to sing. What a shame. There is so much more emotion that can be expressed through music and words than by words alone.

Music is truly one of God's greatest gifts to us.








Not that I'm biased, or anything... *grins*

[synger]

Intresting, I didn't know that.

Yeah, I'm a veritable font of useless knowledge. *laughs*

when I was in high school, I ran across a picture of a giant sloth, and was fascinated. So I ended up learning a bit about them, and their descendants the tree sloths. Dinosaurs were just big lizards at the time (this was before a lot of the modern studies on dinosaurs came out), so I was much more interested in extinct mammals like mammoths, saber-toothed cats, cave bears, and giant sloths.

I was particularly intrigued with the idea that sloths were only found in South America... the idea of creatures living in isolation and thus having adaptations that were unique to them was a new one to me. I went on to read up on the marsupials of Oceania and the famous finches of the Galapagos, which are other well-studied groups of animals that have lived in relatively isolated areas.

I still find myself interested in such ideas... the book "Guns, Germs, and Steel" looks at how human civilizations have been influenced by either their isolation or their ability to interact with other human communities, among other things.

Ah, well. I'm rambling now. *laughs* You hit one of my pet interests in history and science.

[BenAdam]

I'm a huge history buff. :thumbsup:

[BenAdam]

I'm a huge history buff. :thumbsup:

[rmw8855]

I am always amazed at how often we are commanded to sing to the Lord. It's something anyone can do (unlike other musical instruments, which have to be learned). My mother, bless her heart, couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. But she loved to sing hymns in church, and she'd hum around the house when she was happy.

I think it is a real shame that singing as families and communities is not as prevalent as it once was. You have to be in music class, or in church, to sing. What a shame. There is so much more emotion that can be expressed through music and words than by words alone.

Music is truly one of God's greatest gifts to us.



Not that I'm biased, or anything... *grins*

I agree. I'm not a great singer by any means but singing praise & worship music brings me out of a funk faster than anything and when I am happy I want to sing to express my joy :) Singing is a great way to bring families together. I still remember going door to door singing christmas carols every year with the whole extended family. It was alot of fun.

[synger]

I agree. I'm not a great singer by any means but singing praise & worship music brings me out of a funk faster than anything and when I am happy I want to sing to express my joy :) Singing is a great way to bring families together. I still remember going door to door singing christmas carols every year with the whole extended family. It was alot of fun.

We've tried to revive that tradition in our family. My Sunday School class when I was little used to go to a convalescent home (do they still call them that?) to sing Christmas carols. Now, my husband and I host a caroling party and we walk the neighborhood. It's a lot of fun, and it helps foster that sort of musical camaraderie that can be so important.

Plus, it's a great way of sharing, on some level, the joy and grace of the holiday season. We only sing carols, not any Rudolph or Santa songs.

[CaliforniaJosiah]

Good to see you still around!!!!!!!

While I was "away" I officially became a Lutheran (confirmed last September) and I teach Sunday School (the middle school group), help with the youth group, and (this is CRAZY) I'm a Trustee in the church (churchy name for Property Guys) - odd since I'm totally not a handyman, but I showed up at a couple of work parties (churchy name for volunteer to work hard cleaning, gardening and stuff - they're aren't even goodies to eat) and bingo. I think all the other trustees are at least twice my age, but a GREAT bunch of guys. And I'm starting to go to both services (??) each Sunday because I really like the traditional (read: hymns) service, too.

I just checked out that staff as it now stands (thanks for your help with that). A LOT of them are unknown to me (sorry to see so many that I recruited gone now). MUCH water has gone under the bridge. I hope that's mostly good. But I rejoiced to see some familiar names - including yours!

Thank you!!!!!


Pax


- Josiah

[rmw8855]

Welcome back Josiah :wave:

[synger]

Good to see you still around!!!!!!!

While I was "away" I officially became a Lutheran (confirmed last September) and I teach Sunday School (the middle school group), help with the youth group, and (this is CRAZY) I'm a Trustee in the church (churchy name for Property Guys) - odd since I'm totally not a handyman, but I showed up at a couple of work parties (churchy name for volunteer to work hard cleaning, gardening and stuff - they're aren't even goodies to eat) and bingo. I think all the other trustees are at least twice my age, but a GREAT bunch of guys. And I'm starting to go to both services (??) each Sunday because I really like the traditional (read: hymns) service, too.

I just checked out that staff as it now stands (thanks for your help with that). A LOT of them are unknown to me (sorry to see so many that I recruited gone now). MUCH water has gone under the bridge. I hope that's mostly good. But I rejoiced to see some familiar names - including yours!

Thank you!!!!!


Pax


- Josiah

Wow, talk about jumping in with both feet! *grins* Hunter and I just became official Lutherans last fall, too, the first week of Advent. We figured what better time than the beginning of the church year to begin our Lutheran journey.

We have those work parties, too, but we always have food. I've been teaching adult Sunday School, though I'm taking a break this summer, and Hunter and I have both become really involved in the Evangelism committee. They want him to lead it now, so he's prayerfully considering it.


As to staff... yeah, we've lost a huge number of staff over the past year. It's hard to go through so many changes over such a short period of time. It's hard to think that it's only been a year since the major changes of 777! But in truth, I think there's always been a fairly high turnover of staff members on this site. It's very easy to get overwhelmed and burn out, or to get frustrated with the kludgy nature of communications (or lack thereof) endemic to the message board medium. Because we communicate asynchronously, we have to wait for folks to weigh in on things, and so decisions take much longer than they might in real time.

But we still have a cadre of amazing, dedicated, driven staffers. I'm very proud of the current group.

[rmw8855]

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r140/momoftobus/Good%20Morning/gm22.gif

[synger]

*laughs* THank you!!!

My father, who sings better than he gives himself credit for, used to wake up his Scouts at camp by bellowing that song. He did the same to us at times. It always reminds me of him.

What a treat, and thank you for the lovely memory and smile this morning.

[rmw8855]

You are very welcome :)

I thought of you 1st, but since it made me smile when I found it this morning I have been posting all over the place ^_^

[Lel]

Did I ever mention that the last time I said you were great I was heavily inebriated?

I'll say it again sober this time! :P

[synger]

*hugs Lel warmly, chuckling* Thank you, dear. That's very sweet of you to say, and it makes me feel very appreciated. That's always needed here.

I found early on that I really couldn't post while drinking. All my inner editors went to sleep, and I'd find myself saying what I actually thought! Can't have that, can we? Plus, my typing goes to pot, and that just ends up frustrating me more and more.

Now that I don't drink very much due to medical reasons, I don't have that problem as much. And I've loosened up a bit as to the inner editors, so I kinda meet myself in the middle.

[Lel]

Is it neath that old Georgia pine? :)

[synger]

Naw, that's a love song, and talks about how to get along with someone long term.
With me, it's more of a "wherever I go, I meet myself there" sort of thing. I find it amusing to look back at my life and see how I've changed and deepened, and how my priorities have shifted, slowly but surely. I used to play everything close to the chest, or at least I thought I did... now I'm rather more open.

However, it IS a very good song, with a strong message of reconciliation and hope for any relationship. While sometimes you can't really "meet in the middle" without compromising a strongly-held belief, you can certainly hear someone out even if you disagree with them.