when we arrive, sons and daughters…

I’m in the library trying to concentrate on writing a paper and IT’S NOT WORKING. I probably should have stayed at home so I at least wouldn’t be tempted to read everyone’s blog archives just to avoid doing work. This is sad and terrible. Thus, this will be a long, rambly blog post, probably, with miscellaneous thoughts from me as I write things that are completely off-the-cuff.

Have you ever had a moment where you just get overwhelmed with your need to pray? Like, all of a sudden your mind just starts going off talking to God? I had one of those on my way over here–I was crossing the street and suddenly I started praying for the church in Seattle, of all places, and especially this church, and it turned into this long, babbling prayer for missions and the church in Waco (I had a moment of conviction that was very interesting). The wind blows where it wishes. It’s funny; the American church could probably use some prayer in general these days.

Dang. I want to go to this. It’s the very last week of class. Road trip?

I am human and I need to be loooooved (JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DOES).

*fiddles with the margins in my screenplay* Have I told y’all I’m writing another one? Yeah. It’s cranking along quite nicely when I actually work on it–it’s already at 38 pages and I’m not even halfway through the second act yet. This one should actually make it to full-length status, hopefully. We’ve still got a cussing pastor and a rock show to work in. (Don’t ask.)

I feel like I should be doing Sabbath more. It’s better for my soul that way.

My roommate’s making dinner tonight, which makes me happier than you probably understand. Sarah makes some killer King Ranch chicken casserole. If I could upload it for you all to have a bite, I would. But that could get kind of messy. Oddly enough, now I’m thinking about lasagna.

Oh! RUF’s going down to Gatesville to watch a drive-in movie tonight. Should be fun. I’ve never been to a drive-in before and it’s something like $10/car. My dad told me once that he and his buddies used to sneak people in by stuffing them in the trunk–somehow, I don’t think we’ll be doing that tonight.

Hannah, I’m reading your blog archives, which is an endless source of entertainment for me. I’m not sure why, except I like your writing style.

The song referenced in the post title is by the Decemberists, and is probably my new favorite song of theirs merely because it uses the word “dirigible.”

Note to self: Make/buy/somehow obtain more cardigans. It’s always cold in the library…I like having my arms covered up most of the time anyway…and they’re easily knittable. I don’t know why I only have one.

DEATH BY COMPUTER ACCOUTREMENT! *pulls out USB drive and brandishes it at people*  (Don’t ask. Just don’t ask.)

*falls asleep on desk*

On iTunes I found a cover of U2’s “The Sweetest Thing” by an Irish primary school choir. They’re really cute when they try to hit the high notes.

OKAY ENOUGH. *logs off to go read*

the t13 goes to jail

This week: 13 favorite cartoon or comic strip/book characters.

1. Gonzo, Muppet Babies.

2. Marten and Pintsize, “Questionable Content”.

3. The Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister), Animaniacs.

4. Freakin’ Pinky and the Brain (brain, brain, brain…NARF).

5. Dogbert, “Dilbert”.

6. Marvin the Martian.

7. The turtles, Finding Nemo.

8. The girl from Spirited Away.

9. Okay, this is a little embarassing, but Larry the Cucumber, VeggieTales.

10. GusGus the mouse, Cinderella.

11. Belle, Beauty and the Beast.

12. The brother in Fullmetal Alchemist who’s trapped in the armor…I think only anime crazy people would know that one, but there you go.

13. Bubs, Homestar Runner.com.

what’s your drink?

(Inspired by this post at 52projects.com)

During a long night at the keyboard: black tea, strong with milk and sugar; Sunday mornings, before church: coffee with vanilla creamer from a humongous pump; during church: red wine (this is the blood of Christ, shed for you); after working out: water, then orange juice, then water again, with a shower; Saturday afternoons: cowboy coffee at Common Grounds; dinner at home: Diet Coke, no ice; Christmas: mint hot chocolate, or mulled wine when I’m not living with my parents; Texas summer: McAllister’s Deli sweet tea, or lemonade from Chick-Fil-A; writing workshops: margarita on the rocks; Scotland: instant coffee, with biscuit crumbs and chocolate at the bottom of the cup; before bed: 2% milk; Thanksgiving: unsweetened tea (the grandma has diabetes); watching movies with Karen: rum and Coke; watching movies with the roommates: Coke sans the rum; parties with seminarians: red wine.

life in a fallen world

1. Proof that I am, in fact, an idiot: I left my phone in my jeans pocket, which I then proceeded to wash. And dry. I wouldn’t recommend trying to call any time soon.

2. I finished a project that I’ve been working on for weeks…and my hands are about to fall off. Never, ever let me knit for that long again, please. I have the unfortunate feeling I will automatically have carpal tunnel when I wake up tomorrow.

3. That all being said, I have done almost nothing academic the past few days. Senioritis is setting in, and quickly, and I have no desire to do anything productive before school actually ends. You guys, I suck at life. Someone please pray for me or something.

4. I should be getting into the Word a lot more than I have been these days. And sleeping more. Y’all, I’m going to be a nervous wreck before I get out of here. *runs screaming from the room*

5. I’m just glad that my sanctification/happiness/blessedness is not contingent upon me, because if it was, I’d be screwed. You know what I mean?

6. Better post coming in the morning. Maybe. Good night.

hannah, this is for you.

More YouTubage:

t13: electric boogaloo

This week: 13 of your favorite songs that are older than you.

1. The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn!

2. The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby

3. The Guess Who - American Woman

4. Johnny Cash - Get Rhythm

5. Stephen Sondheim - Being Alive

6. G.F. Handel - Hallelujah Chorus

7. U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (hey, they recorded it in 1983)

8. Bob Dylan - The Times They are A-Changin’

9. J.S. Bach - Ave Verum Corpus

10. Billy Joel - Piano Man

11. Elton John - Tiny Dancer

12. Judy Garland - Get Happy

13. Maurice Durufle -Pie Jesu

on gay rights activists, four chords, and the truth

I have had the wonderful privilege of being quoted out of context in today’s Lariat (look up today’s front page). I’m quoted as saying this:

“I do want to be open-minded about it, especially as I have gay friends here at Baylor and I don’t want them to feel excluded just because of their sexuality.”

For the record: This was said after I told the reporter that yes, I believe homosexuality is wrong, for biblical reasons, and I do think that the group in question should have gone through the proper channels to be on campus. (For those of you too lazy to click the link, a group of Christian homosexuals have come through Baylor in order to discuss issues of gay rights and sexuality. The administration won’t let them be “officially” here because of what they’re promoting.)

This is such a weird issue for me. On the one hand, I do want to stand for biblical sexuality–i.e., heterosexual, married sex–and speak truth into the lives of these people, which is probably the most loving thing I can do for them, especially as they claim to be followers and lovers of Christ. (If that’s the case, I kind of feel free to exhort them to repent–not just because of two verses in Romans, but because of the whole story of redemption. The gospel speaks to our sexuality as well.)

On the other hand, no, I don’t want to exclude them from being here. I want them to know that we–that I–am not going to keep them out just because they’re homosexuals. We’re not afraid of what they have to say. I need to hear what they have to say, how they view those of us who do believe that the sexuality they’ve chosen is wrong, and aren’t afraid to say so. We can’t not have dialogue; we can’t not talk about a very real issue here at Baylor and in the church.

We could use some prayer here today. They’re leaving this evening, I think. Pray for wisdom and insight and compassion for all parties involved. Thanks.

and if the last few posts didn’t have enough links for ya…

This is quite possibly the best book review ever. Chalk another one up for the Decemberists.

t13 and the temple of doom

This week: 13 rather obscure things that you really, really enjoy and want people to know about.

1. Over the Rhine–they’re a husband and wife group from Ohio that do a lot of jazzy, acoustic stuff (I can’t really classify their music outside of the category “good”). They just need to get down here to the South.

2. The Waco Co-Op–they’re a collective of bands from, you guessed it, Waco (mostly ex-Baylor students). Lots of free samples on their website.

3. El Gran Combo–sixtysomething Puerto Rican men singing salsa music. It’s like what would happen if the Three Tenors could shake their collective booty.

(P.S. I am of the opinion that this is perfect music to listen to before church. But maybe that’s just me.)

4. Tick…Tick…BOOM–Jonathan Larson, better known as the guy who wrote RENT, also wrote a semi-autobiographical musical that was produced off-Broadway a few years back, starring my theater crush, Raul Esparza. The soundtrack’s on iTunes; check it out.

5. D’s Chicken Delight–if you’re ever in the Waco area, swing over to 1503 Colcord and get yourself some falafel.

6. “In the Name of the Father”–Bono and Gavin Friday wrote this for a movie with Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson in the early ’90s, and it’s pretty genius:

(Sorry for all the YouTubage; I’ll try not to do that again.)

7. Questionable Content–indie rockers in (I think) Boston hang out and dialogue, with really funny results. Caution: The humor often goes inappropriate, so proceed carefully.

8. Etsy–this probably isn’t obscure to some of you, but for the rest of us, it’s an online marketplace where independent crafty-type people can sell their stuff, everything from bath salt to books to a category fondly known as “geekery”. Check it out.

9. Derek Webb sings the Oompa-Loompa song from Willy Wonka. (user name: shane, password: barnard. yes, I know).

10. Charles Spurgeon wrote a little something on the prayer of Jabez about 150 years ago, and it totally trumps that Wilkinson dude.

11. Two of my favorite bloggers need to be better known: Kay and Ann write about knitting, but with fun social commentary and a little bit of love as well. Non-knitters, do not fear; it’s pretty awesome.

12. Dang it, TeacherDave. A plague be upon your household. No pun intended.

13. Finally: Apologies for the bad MIDI music, but this is a beautiful hymn by John Newton, i.e. the “Amazing Grace” guy.

3.1419

1. A very late happy Pi Day. Go get a good apple one from your bakery and calculate its circumference before you eat it.

2. So, it’s spring break, and I’ve been holed up for most of it due to heavy rain and a good case of bronchitis. It’s been awesome. I’ve done a lot of reading and TV watching.

Get me out of this house, now. Please.

3. So, Hannah went to go see this without me:

I’m not bitter. I’m not bitter, I swear.

4. So, I applied to Teach for America about a month ago…I made it through to the second round of interviews. (That was what my job interview was last week, so thanks to everyone who prayed.) The thing is, I’m supposed to have two copies of my transcripts with me when I go, and I don’t know if that’s going to happen by the time I get there (so this is why they tell you to start this at the beginning of the process–d’oh!). So…I hope something happens. Pray for me again, would y’all? Thanks.

5. I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry I’m not generating a whole lot of interesting thought these days, but I think the brain is being occupied by a whole lot of things that are simply not blogworthy. I’m sorry, readers. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love ya. Check back for some space-fillers soon.