t13 May 30, 2007

This week: 13 things in your closet that aren’t clothes.

1. My whole collection of American Girl books.

2. The comforter I used at college (but can’t use here because it’s a twin).

3. A box of my old Barbies.

4. An American flag pillow.

5. My yarn stash.

6. An old, broken-down laptop that would actually work if we could just find the power cord…

7. One of my old backpacks from high school.

8. When I was in elementary school, I did this thing called Music Memory–it was a competition where they’d play you about ten seconds worth of a classical or jazz piece and you had to identify the composer and the title. Anyway, I did it two years ago and won all manner of awards, and so they’re all in there on the floor.

9. Beach towel.

10. Hangers (cheap shot, I know, but still, they’re not clothing…)

11. A stash of gift bags.

12. My car insurance info (which needs to get out of there soon, actually…)

13. A friendly monster named Frank that tends to come out at night and eat my socks, which explains the shortage…

the living room recommends May 30, 2007

Haven’t done one of these in a while…

The Frames
How have I never heard of these guys before? I just discovered them because their frontman’s in a movie I really want to see (which isn’t playing in Houston, poop) and I looked up the rest of their records. My word. Beautiful. I need to get some of their tunes.

Coffee ice cream and maple syrup
Sounds a little weird, but it’s good. It might be better if the syrup’s warm, which I haven’t tried yet, but I’ll report back here if I do.

Having a job
Which is infinitely better than sitting around at home waiting for someone to contact you about a job.

The Travel Channel
Perhaps this is just the wanderlust talking, but I love the Travel Channel a lot, perhaps more than I should. Stay away from the filler shows and watch their signatures: No Reservations, Passport to Europe, Made In America, 1000 Places to See Before You Die. Entertaining, even if it does make you want to pack your bags and head overseas.

it’s been a quiet week in cypress, my hometown… May 28, 2007

1. It’s not anything like Lake Wobegon–too hot and not enough Lutherans–but the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and the children are above-average, at least at my house. *shrug*

2. Here’s a question: Ever noticed that there are a bunch of books of the Bible that never get preached through? Seriously, I have heard sermons on the Gospels, and Romans, and Ruth, and Ephesians, and even the book of Haggai for crying out loud (not even kidding), but there are whole sections of the Bible we never hear sermons on. There’s a challenge, all you preaching types: Next sermon series is on Obadiah or Numbers. All Scripture is God-breathed.

3. The reason I say all that is because I’m going through 1 Thessalonians and realized I’ve never heard anything preached on it, except maybe for that bit about the trumpet sounding and the dead in Christ rising. But it’s good stuff; Paul and Silas and Timothy are writing this church and saying, “Hey, we miss you, keep doing what you’re doing, we’ll try to see you soon; love Jesus and do your job.” That’s not all bad. Not a lot of lofty theological principles, but that’s not always a bad thing.

4. Isn’t it bad when you have stuff to do but you’re still bored? I need to get up off my butt and do stuff.

5. Finally, a reader survey:

a) What did you do with your long weekend?

b) If you could go to grad school (and had the desire), where would you go (or where did you go, if you went already)? What would you study?

c) What’s one thing you own that no one would guess you own?

d) What did you eat for dinner last night?

e) What’s something you want to buy but can’t afford?

thought. May 24, 2007

one of the interesting effects technology and existentialism and globalization have had on postmodernism is that we’re all striving for some sort of community or connection with our fellow humans. but if all that keeps us together is what we read or some pixels on a screen or the hamburger we all ate yesterday, what’s the point? he puts the lonely in families, indeed.

t13. May 24, 2007

This week: Thirteen songs that always remind you of high school.

1. Something Corporate, “Konstantine”

2. Evanescence, “My Immortal”

3. Train, “Drops of Jupiter”

4. No Doubt, “Hey Baby”

5. Blink-182, “Stay Together for the Kids”

6. Box Car Racer, “Letters to God”

7. The Juliana Theory, “August in Bethany”

8. Further Seems Forever, “How to Start a Fire”

9. Staind, “Epiphany”

10. Delirious, “My Glorious”

11. Mac Powell and Cliff Young, “God of Wonders”

12. Creed, “Higher”

13. Furthermore, “Are You the Walrus?”

(My musical tastes have improved significantly since then…)

lists, because i am bored and crazy. May 23, 2007

Things, both academic and not-so-academic, I can do after having gone to college:
Explicate a piece of poetry. Write a screenplay. Open a bottle of wine. Make my way around Edinburgh without getting lost (actually, even though it’s been a year and a half, if you dropped me off on Princes Street I could still navigate the place). Understand T.S. Eliot, kind of. Find even more places to buy cheap books. Write a twenty-five page paper in two weeks, complete with research and editing. Tell and explain the entire “Allegory of the Cave”, complete with illustrations. Make bread. Knit. Write poetry in class while still looking like I’m paying attention. Explain Calvinism without confusing you or feeling like an idiot (or a jerk, for that matter). Roast a chicken.

What I still apparently can’t do:
Sit through a lecture on Nietzsche without falling asleep.

Things I really, really want right now:
A job. A piece of red velvet cake and a cup of coffee. A bike. A smaller waistline (which the red velvet cake isn’t really going to help, but there you go). More fear of the Lord.

hello hello May 22, 2007

1. (I’m at a place called Vertigo/I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello–take your pick.)

2. A little “squee!” of excitement from me here: Derek Webb is back in Caedmon’s Call (kind of).

3. Good afternoon, readers, and happy Tuesday. I am a little sleep-deprived as I think I’ve slept ten hours in three days (yeah…), so this entry could get really interesting really quickly. I got up early to go down to the theater district this morning so I could take an aptitude test for this library job I applied for–I already hate Houston traffic, so taking a good hour to get from Jones Road to 610 didn’t endear me to it any further. Remind me to never move back to this city if I can help it.

4. That was just the most disjointed paragraph I think I’ve ever written…

5. (two hours and a very nice nap later): Okay, I feel a bit better now. I have a post cooking up that I think I’ll write up this evening before editing to death for the Internet. Ira Glass and swearing pastors will be involved. Have a good afternoon/evening until then.

music check. May 18, 2007

Been about a month since the last one. People, it’s okay to participate in the comments. No one’s going to hurt you. If you haven’t played before, put your media player on “shuffle” or “random” and give us the first twenty tracks.

1. Caedmon’s Call – Dance (live)

2.  Bob Dylan – When the Ship Comes In

3. October Project – Wall of Silence

4. Katy Bowser and Matthew Smith – Poor Sinner Dejected With Fear

5. Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing

6. Clay Crosse – Saving the World (…)

7. Brand New – Good to Know That if I Ever Need Attention All I Have to Do is Die

8. Geoff Moore – In Christ Alone

9. Simon & Garfunkel – America

10. Switchfoot – Easier Than Love

11. Maurice Chevalier – I Remember It Well

12. Katy Bowser – A Sinner’s Cry

13. John Alldis Choir and London Philharmonic Orchestra – Worthy is the Lamb/Amen

14. Anberlin – Cold War Transmissions

15. Andrew Osenga – After the Garden

16. Original Broadway Cast – Halloween

17. Ceili Rain – A Hundred Smiles an Hour

18. Mayfair Laundry – Lovely Feet

19. Out of the Grey – No Leaving

20. The Worldwide Message Tribe – Lift It

mishmash. May 18, 2007

(starting music: Caedmon’s Call – Love Alone)

1. File this under “this is probably a really bad idea”: In the fall ABC’s releasing a sitcom based on the Geico caveman commercials. Be afraid.

2. One really weird thing that not being in school has done to me is that I read much more slowly than I did. It’s taken me about twice as long to finish a book as it did then. I mean, granted, my reading pace is still somewhat comparatively quick, but still. It’s a little unnerving, especially when I have so many books staring me in the face wanting to get read. (And now Teacher Dave will probably come around and punch me for complaining about this…)

3. Still can’t find my wallet, which means I have a few phone calls and a trip to the DMV to make soon if it doesn’t show up. Good thing my social security card’s not in there. But this also means I’ve been more or less housebound (driving illegally is not cool, apparently), which is good in a way because my room’s getting really, really organized…

4. Funny thing: I couldn’t tell you any new praise and worship songs that have come out in the past few years (maybe “Hallelujah, God is Near” or something), but I can sing all these crazy old hymns. I heart being a Reformed kid.

5. I’ve been in a very strange letter-writing mood this week, so if you’d like mail, feel free to e-mail me your address and I’ll knock one out for you. (Also, is it just me, or is the price of postage getting slightly ridiculous?)

6. Finally…I know I post a lot of YouTubage, but I have put this one up purely for my soft spot for choral music:

t13 May 17, 2007

This week: 13 of your favorite book passages.

1. Aslan’s resurrection, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

2. The last few chapters of Augustine’s Confessions, where he riffs for pages and pages about time and memory and what have you, then ends up by saying, “But this is such a huge mystery that I can’t even begin to understand–God, You know how it all works.”

3. When Jedd and Lena have to say goodbye, Four Souls.

4. Pi talks to a priest in Life of Pi: “”Surely this religion had more than one story in its bag–religions abound with stories. But Father Martin made me understand that the stories that came before it–and there were many–were simply prologue to the Christians. Their religion had one Story, and to it they came back again and again, over and over. It was story enough for them.”

5.  The boys bust out of jail, and all of a sudden there’s a Toyota right outside, Going After Cacciato.

6.  Oscar finally meets Mr. Black, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

7. The last bit of The Violent Bear It Away: “GO AND WARN MY PEOPLE OF THE TERRIBLE SPEED OF MERCY.”

8. This’ll sound really weird to those of you who haven’t read it, but the index to Pale Fire.

9. Venus comes to visit earth, and everyone gets, uh, kinda happy (and this is not nearly as dirty as it sounds), That Hideous Strength.

10. The kids go to a software convention, Microserfs.

11. The center chapter of Cloud Atlas.

12. Paul and Barnabas reconcile, Paul: A Novel.

13. The kids and Ben Weathersbee sing the Doxology in the garden, The Secret Garden.