saturday session (2/9/19)

Hullo, all—it’s rather late, but I have had a pretty decent day so far, started with coffee with friends and is about to end with evening prayer out of the BCP. I’m thankfully over the cold I had last week, mostly, thanks to urgent care and good health insurance and steroids, wheee. This week has also felt like it’s lasted eight weeks, though, and I’m pretty much over it. But so it goes. Here comes a new week and another chance to start over.

No real pithy thoughts this week, so here are the links:

Urban bees in London!

I’m really into these key tags–I’m thinking about getting the Coffee Club one.

A newsreel of Marian Anderson’s performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. (Related: W.E.B. DuBois’s take on “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”)

A polar explorer’s beauty routine. (I love this. Related: Samin Nosrat’s beauty routine, also delightful.)

50 books about baking. (I’d also add the excellent The Hot Bread Kitchen.)

Speaking of baking, MOLTEN. CARAMEL. CAKE.

Good night, gang, I hope that you’re well.

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saturday session (2/2/19)

Hi, gang! I am dealing with a really bad cold and am holed up in my apartment. There is a pot of chicken soup on my stove, I’ve been binge-watching The Good Place (and binge-listening to the accompanying podcast, which is great), and I have that fine layer of sweat that you get when your fever’s breaking, so…that’s good, I guess? (Too much information? Probably. Sorry.) And I’ve caught up on some reading, which is good, because I am woefully behind on my reading goal on Goodreads. It’s been a chance to slow down and do some thinking and assessment.

Anyway, how are y’all? What are you up to?

Here are the links:

• On being an Amazon driver.
• “I am sorry I do not care more about causes that make my pagan friends seem insane, because some of those causes are important, and I am sorry I do not like church as much as many of my Christian friends say they do, although I have a feeling most are there for the same reasons I am, not because church is fun, but because it is a kind of hospital.” Confessions of a bad Christian.
• “Roommates, close friends, boyfriend or girlfriend, church family, spouse, children, family, whoever it is who sees you most, should receive the first fruits of the Spirit’s work in you.” Lore Wilbert Ferguson about “being real” in relationships.
• Wendell Berry on books. (Thanks, Haley.)
• 100 pairs of frozen pants. (Thanks, Ashley.)
• Useful: How to Stock a Modern Pantry.

That’s it! Much love to you and have a good weekend.

thursday 13

This week: 13 grooming or beauty products that you use. I used to think I was pretty minimalist in my grooming habits and then I sat down and made this list (this isn’t even close to being everything I use).

1. Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Fortifying Shampoo (I’ve got oily roots and dry ends and this is the only shampoo I’ve ever used that works for both that doesn’t cost $30 a bottle)
2. For Christmas my friend got me this stuff called First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream and it is AMAZING. It’s really light, but it’s also super-moisturizing and my dry skin is very thankful for it.
3. I have a straightener that cost me like $40 at Target (I think it’s Tresseme brand) and it does the job on my wavy-but-mostly-just-frizzy hair.
4. Love Beauty and Planet leave-in conditioner.
5. Multiple lipsticks and lip glosses, but the one I use the most is Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm in Fig.
6. ELF clear mascara–I don’t know why, but there’s something that’s always been kind of appealing to me about clear mascara instead of regular.
7. I always buy the Target-brand men’s razors because a) they cost less and b) they work better, because of course.
8. I also get the Target-brand shaving gel; my current can of it smells like mango, because why not.
9. Bath & Body Works brought back White Tea and Ginger a while back; I bought a thing of the body spray and it’s lasted me almost three years even though I use it multiple times a week.
10. Neutrogena pressed powder.
11. Right now I have a thing of Olay moisturizing body wash because my parents had an extra one and handed it off to me for free (thanks, parents). I usually alternate between some kind of body wash and some kind of hippy-dippy bar soap, but I haven’t settled on one that I really like. Mostly my criteria is, will this get me clean and will it not give me a weird allergic reaction?
12. Some magical anti-frizz mousse I got from my hair salon–magical not just because it does actually fix my frizzy hair, but because this particular can of it has lasted something like four years.
13. I got into a once-a-week sheet mask routine because I am kind of obsessed with them (although I read an article recently about this woman who does one every night, which feels a bit much to me). One of the ones I like a lot is by a Korean brand called Peach and Lily; it’s their pore-shrinking one. I’ve found them at Target (noticing a trend here?) but I’m also pretty sure you can get them on Amazon, so. Also good is Yes to!’s charcoal purifying sheet mask. If nothing else they’re a good excuse to sit down somewhere for 10-20 minutes and veg while whatever is in those masks gets into your skin.

saturday session (1/19/19)

Hello! It’s back! Hope y’all are doing well. I have left my apartment today only to go to the gym and I am looking forward to having an extra day in this weekend (although I will be spending it getting new tires put on my car, but what can you do). The Houston Marathon is tomorrow and I know several people running in it, which I find admirable and also thoroughly exhausting just to think about. I, on the other hand, am probably going to binge watch The Good Place and get into weird headspaces as a result.

Anyway, here are the links:

• • Fascinating article about a new translation of the Hebrew Bible. (Shout out to The Bible Project for teaching me about the word nephesh!)
  • THIS IS INSANE.
  • SO IS THIS.
  • Art restoration videos are incredibly satisfying and also really chill. This channel has some good ones, and you can get them with or without narration.

That’s all I have. Have a good week!

thursday 13

(I’m going to try to be better about posting regularly, y’all. Like, for real.)

This week: 13 songs that get stuck in your head frequently.

1. Emperor Yes, “Wasps”–or more specifically, the first 20 seconds or so because it’s also the theme song to No Such Thing As a Fish
2. “Baby Shark”, but the version of it where one of my internet friends replaced the lyrics with the name of our mutual friend Richard Clark
3. “Rise and Shine”–you know, “The Lord told Noah to build him an arky arky…”
4. any part of the first movement of Handel’s Messiah during Advent
5. “The Book Report” from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
6. “Satisfied” from Hamilton
7. “Ridente la calma” by Mozart–which is weird, because it’s a song one of my high school classmates did at competition our…senior? year. And for some reason I get hers stuck in my head and not the one I did (“Bist du bei mir” by Bach, if you must know)
8. “Once In a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads
9. “15 Steps” by Radiohead
10. “Rye Whiskey” by Punch Brothers (OH BOY!)
11. “Birdhouse in Your Soul” by They Might Be Giants
12. “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers
13. “The Boy in the Bubble” by Paul Simon

Thursday 13.

This week: 13 goals for 2019.

1. Learn how to swim again.
2. Go to at least one yoga class at the Y.
3. Memorize a Bible verse a week.
4. Read 50% of the books on my TBR shelf.
5. Finish all the book series I’m in the middle of.
6. Finish all the TV and movie series I’m in the middle of.
7. Cook at least five new things.
8. Have people over for dinner at least once a month.
9. Pay off my credit card.
10. Do something creative at least 30 minutes every day.
11. Knit five things.
12. Go on vacation.
13. Go to two conferences–one work-related, one church-related.

2019.

While walking into church this past Sunday, I out of nowhere had a phrase drop into my head: Fill up the dry wells.

Lots of things to unpack there.

I have to admit, in 2018 my spiritual life was pretty dry. My creative life was, too, at least for the back half of the year. I spent a lot of time sitting around watching TV and feeling tired. Socially, I felt kind of dry, too. And while I like the job I have and am learning a lot from the work, it feels like the culture of that place is a dry place as well–a lot of doing and getting things done without a lot of flourishing, if that makes sense.

And there’s also the verse in Jeremiah that describes God’s people as seeking water in broken cisterns, looking for satisfaction from leaky wells. I look back on 2018 and I see so many broken cisterns where I’ve gone to drink, and walked away unsatisfied.

In 2019, here’s what I want: To engage in more things that cause flourishing not only in my life, but in the lives of people around me, too. I want to work for the good of my workplace and, more importantly, for the good of my colleagues and the students and faculty we support. I want to be more engaged in the lives of my friends and neighbors. I want to do more creative work using the talents God’s given me for His glory, and to steward my time and my resources well so I can love other people well. I have a set of concrete goals written down (those are coming in the Thursday 13), but I want to aim my whole life in the direction of going to God and the means He’s ordained to fill me up and have me spill over.

What about you guys–what do you want out of this year?