the thirteen of thursday October 30, 2008

This week: 13 rules you generally live by.

1. Don’t drink a whole pot of coffee in less than an hour. Spread it out. (Don’t ask.)

2. Get a paper done in enough time to be able to edit it several times.

3. Clothing: No yellow (makes me look hungover), halter tops, ruffles on shirts (both of which make me look wider than I am, which I totally don’t need), heels taller than 4″ (I have bad balance), hats with brims (I look stupid in them), fur, animal prints (I think they’re both ugly), or miniskirts (just on principle).

4. Get off of the Internet before 1 am.

5. Don’t rip other people’s CDs. Support indie music.

6. People all have stories; find out what they are.

7. It’s okay to have firm convictions about things, as long as you’re not a jerk about it.

8. I need sleep and other people in order to stay more or less sane.

9. Buy stuff at less than full price when possible.

10. Always try at least one bite or sip of something, even if you’re fairly sure you won’t like it. You may turn out to. (Proof: Sushi, haggis, deep-fried pizza, broccoli, ginger beer, and Starbucks’s salted caramel hot chocolate.)

11. Save money. It’s a good idea.

12. Any guy I end up dating/marrying must love Jesus and have a job (or be in school for one, e.g. law, medical, or seminary students). That covers a lot.

13. If I don’t eat breakfast, I get cranky, stupid, and woozy by about ten, so breakfast is a definite must.

thursday 13 October 22, 2008

Sorry to my pagan friends who are reading, but this week: 13 things that stir your affection for Christ. (Hat tip to Matt Chandler for this idea.)

1. Making things–knitted stuff, poems, bread, anything.
2. Rainstorms and cold weather.
3. Long talks with friends, especially when a) those talks are late at night and b) we get to delve deep into each other’s lives.
4. Reading about other countries.
5. Long drives with music, both alone and with people.
6. Reading or hearing about the saints that have gone before me.
7. Choral music.
8. Hearing sermons that remember that the heart and the mind are not separated.
9. Discovering new things in a city.
10. Getting to serve in such a way that the spotlight’s not on me.
11. Good writing.
12. Getting physically active–that elliptical machine is good for body and soul.
13. Memorizing Scripture.

hope and change October 21, 2008

No, this isn’t going to be an Obama post. Or a political one, for that matter, unless you really want me to. Which I doubt. No, I’m burnt out on politics for the time being. November 4 needs to get here quickly.

So! I am working on group projects (one going well, one going…not so well, and I could use some prayer for dealing with my partner on that one, we meet tomorrow). I’m working at Starbucks–I love it when people get all the boxes on their cups filled in because then I get to tell them they won Coffee Bingo (not really, but it keeps me amused). Been having a series of decent conversations with my roommate about society and church and such. (I think she needs a blog; she disagrees. One day…) Thinking about going meatless for a while soon. Just for a while, for the sake of my budget and my waistline. Got back on the elliptical for a while this afternoon. Still finding cool stuff in the city. So, nothing very exciting, nothing really all that blogworthy; I just feel like writing about it as a record, I guess.

I’ve been praying through some things–one, who to vote for (I’m still not sure, although I am leaning in a particular direction), and two, where God’s leading me in regard to my future. And on that latter one, I might not be staying here in Austin after the end of the school year. So, we’ll see. Prayers for wisdom would be greatly appreciated there. For those of you guys who know and have been praying about that, thanks.

Anyway. I’ve been kind of homesick–both for Houston and for my true Home. I miss my parents and my church and even the people at my old job. I miss freaking Panera (the closest one here is all the way up in Round Rock…while I like Panera a lot, I don’t like it that much). But even more so, I can’t wait to see Jesus…for everything to be made right, in my own soul and in the whole world. I’ve been feeling the weight of the Fall lately. Come, Lord Jesus, and help us wait for You in the meantime.

So. Thanks for continuing to visit, even though things have been kind of boring for a while. You guys are the best. <3

mix tape monday October 20, 2008

Sorry this is late…this week: Songs that you like to sing along to.

1. Amy Winehouse, “Rehab”
2. Jamie Lidell, “Another Day”
3. Dean Gray, “Boulevard of Broken Songs”
4. Justin Timberlake, “What Goes Around…Comes Around”
5. Sufjan Stevens, “Chicago”
6. Goo Goo Dolls, “Iris”
7. Adele, “Hometown Glory”
8. Jars of Clay, “Jealous Kind”
9. eastmountainsouth, “Hard Times”
10. U2, “In God’s Country”
11. Simon & Garfunkel, “Cecilia”
12. Ben Folds, “Not the Same”
13. Rent OBC, “Seasons of Love”
14. The Swell Season, “Falling Slowly”
15. Bob Dylan, “The Ballad of Hollis Brown”
16. The Beatles, “Eleanor Rigby”
17. Nickel Creek, “The Fox”
18. The Decemberists, “Sons and Daughters”

my thoughts after the debate October 15, 2008

i told my friend
it feels like we’re choosing
the last emperor
before the american empire falls
where will we stand
if this kingdom collapses
beneath our feet
on the rock or on the ruins

but for now will i love
the world God loved
enough to bleed for
when its people cry for mercy
will i bless or will i curse
when its leaders call for peace
will i pray or will i profane
and will i stand aside and be silent
when it calls for my voice

can i be a good citizen
of the city of God
and still sow and reap blessings
from the city of man?

music check… October 14, 2008

Haven’t done one in a while, you know the rules…

1. Delirious?, “Revival Town”
2. Dave Matthews, “Christmas Song”
3. Olga Merediz and Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hundreds of Stories”
4. Death Cab for Cutie, “A Movie Script Ending”
5. Dead Rock West, “Highway One”
6. Bebo Norman, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
7. Kirk Franklin, “I Can”
8. Jon Foreman, “White As Snow”
9. Jimmy Eat World, “Firefight”
10. Michael W. Smith, “Jesus Is the Answer”
11. Shinedown, “Someday”
12. U2, “Angels Too Tied to the Ground”
13. Enter the Worship Circle, “I Love Your Love”
14. Donna Summer, “When the Dream Never Dies”
15. Caedmon’s Call, “Share the Well”
16. Quiet, Lovely, “This Line”
17. Jimmy Eat World, “Chase This Light”
18. Caedmon’s Call, “Not the Land”
19. U2, “Red Hill Mining Town”
20. David Crowder Band, “Deliver Me”

mix tape monday October 13, 2008

This week: Another round of pick an artist, give us your favorite songs by them. My personal pick is the Counting Crows…

1. “1492″ (Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings)
2. “Hanginaround” (This Desert Life)
3. “Mr. Jones” (August and Everything After)
4. “A Long December” (Films About Ghosts)
5. “Anna Begins” (August and Everything After)
6. “She Don’t Want Nobody Near” (Films About Ghosts)
7. “Good Time” (Hard Candy)
8. “Los Angeles” (Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings)
9. “Le Ballet d’Or” (Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings)
10. “Colorblind” (This Desert Life)
11. “On a Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago” (Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings)
12. “Amy Hit the Atmosphere” (This Desert Life)
13. “Round Here” (August and Everything After)
14. “St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dreams” (This Desert Life)

t13 October 9, 2008

This week: Your thirteen least favorite noises.

1. Brakes on a large vehicle.
2. Whiny kids.
3. Crying babies.
4. People arguing in the next room.
5. Running water.
6. Mosquitoes.
7. The noise the espresso machine at work makes when it’s steaming milk…
8. Beeping alarms.
9. An out-of-tune instrument–especially when everyone else is in tune.
10. You know how in choirs sometimes there’s that one person who feels the need to sing louder than everyone else (usually a soprano, ahem)? That person.
11. Guitar strings popping. Not because the noise itself is particularly offensive, but broken guitar strings are no bueno.
12. Sirens.
13. The collective gasp when something goes wrong.

where does my help come from… October 7, 2008

1. Woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain and the wonderful thought that Christ is Lord over all things, including the minutiae of my life. I don’t know exactly what it is, but rain always makes me think about God. So, I guess that was nice. I’ve been wanting rain in the worst way since I moved here, so that was gratifying that God woke me up to hear it, and talk to Him.

2. Things have been kind of busy around here…class work, and work work, and praying through a few tough decisions. Nothing bad, just complicated and busy, and I could use some of that right now, I guess. It’s making me stay kind of disciplined, anyway.

3. This is too good not to share with y’all (hat tip to Justin Taylor):

When man’s natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace. A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.–Martin Luther

4. Well. That’s all I have. Good night, all.

mix tape monday October 5, 2008

This week: Music to work to.

1. The Beatles, “Paperback Writer”
2. Jamie Lidell, “Another Day”
3. Counting Crows, “She Don’t Want Nobody Near”
4. Wilco, “Jesus, Etc.”
5. Derek Webb, “Ballad in Plain Red”
6. The Beta Band, “Dry the Rain”
7. U2, “Drowning Man”
8. Passengers, “Your Blue Room”
9. Patty Griffin, “Burgundy Shoes”
10. Adele, “Melt My Heart to Stone”
11. Bruce Springsteen, “Worlds Apart”
12. Raul Esparza, “Marry Me a Little”
13. Coldplay, “In My Place”
14. eastmountainsouth, “Hard Times”