• My husband left for work this morning before I did. That NEVER happens. #
• I'm moving back to Cali if nothing else to get away from all the crazy, bad drivers here. Come on people! #

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When it snowed last week (I am desperate for it to stop snowing), Mike took this picture of one of the first signs of spring covered in ice. To him, it was just a picture. I saw an image that represents so many of my own struggles: I begin to trust and allow my heart to grow, and then something happens and I am frozen again, afraid to move.

When that happens to me, I cry a lot. When it happened to Susan Isaacs, she took God to couples counseling.

“Susan,” Martha declared, “our relationship with God is nothing short of a marriage.”

“Well, in that case,” I replied, “God and I need to go to couples counseling. Because we’re not getting along.”

The Sacred Romance wasn’t the first book foisted on me. Someone else told me to read Conversations With God, that new age piffle where God is like the Big Lebowski, telling you to “just follow your truth, dude.”

Who on earth had conversations with God like that? If I wrote my conversations with God into a book, they’d be very angry conversations. They’d go more like:

SUSAN: What the —-, God? Are you trying to kill me?
GOD: Shut the —- up or I will!

And that would be the end of the book.

(I think I have had that conversation with God myself.)

To our great good fortune, that was NOT the end of the book. Susan Isaacs did, in fact, talk through her relationship with God with a couples counselor, a former pastor who both let her be honest and challenged how she represented God in their sessions. (Her version of God was sarcastic and a little bit mean.) As she worked through her issues, I recognized myself in her questions and experiences. This is a passage that comes close to the end of the book that sums up a lot of her journey.

When I think of the people whose character I admire, they’ve all walked through deserts or hells far worse than mine. And when they got to the other side–the ones who did get to the other side–they always said God got them through it. They have a peace and a friendship with God that I want. But the problem is, the man who’s stuck in the desert because God put him there looks exactly like the man who’s stuck in the desert because he’s lost. And I don’t know which one I am. I don’t know if I’m here to find friendship with God or if I’ve been left to die.

My ex used to get angry when I said that. He would say, “God isn’t personal. God isn’t good or bad. God is like science. God just is.” But even with science . . . Look at the stars. You see such beauty and order, and you sense the Thought that went into their making. But if that thoughtfulness is not extended to me, then all that order and beauty is merely cold and sterile space that mocks me because I’ve been excluded from it.

If God wants to burn up everything useless in my life, amen to that. But I want to know whether or not this sorrow has an end. Do these longings in my heart for love and purpose mean anything? I say yes. Is my need for God just misplaced longing that has no place to be satisfied? I say no. The body thirsts because it needs water and water exists. The soul longs for purpose because it needs it, and because it exists. And I wouldn’t long for God if he didn’t exist. I am taking this personally because I am personal. And I don’t think that an impersonal God could create humans to be personal. So I’m taking this personally from a personal God.

A sixteenth-century monk wrote a treatise called Dark Night of the Soul. When we first know God, he lavishes us with blessings and signs of his love, the way you do with your children when they’re small. But God wants us to grow up. So he removes his blessings. The sense of his presence. And even signs of love. Because he wants us to trust when we can’t see, to believe we’re loved even if we can’t feel it, to walk by faith and not by sight. And maybe he wants me to love him for himself, not for what I can get out of him.

Well, if that’s where I am, that’s okay. I can be here. I’m in my own Dark Night of the Soul. And I’m just waiting for my sun to come up.

I have said before that one of my main definitions of myself is that God is busy taking care of other people and that he’ll get around to me if he’s got time. It is very easy to see things through that paradigm. Any challenge, any adversity is just God looking away, taking a nap, worrying about people who have much bigger problems. It is much harder to believe that a personal God wants me to be a better person and to take up the challenge and accept that becoming a better person is part of why we are here and what we should be about.

The best thing about this book is that, while Susan talked about her struggles in a way that I could relate to, the book was also wickedly funny. Here was a conversation with God that I particularly enjoyed. (Rudy is the counselor.)

RUDY: Last question. Let’s talk about creativity. No one in Susan’s family “got” her. Doesn’t sound like the church did either. Why is that, God? Do you not like art?

SUSAN: Only if it ends in an altar call.

GOD: Come on. I love art. The Sistine Chapel, the Bach B Minor Mass. A Man for All Seasons. Love that stuff.

SUSAN: You didn’t like my kind of art. Show me one joke in the Bible.

GOD: The hill of foreskins.

God snickered and Jesus joined him. Well, that’s how I saw it.

(That’s how I see it, too.)

That’s on page 58, and by that point, Mike was already tired of me reading stuff from the book to him. But he had to admit that that one was pretty much awesome. And written just for this family, yes?

I loved this book. It balances a lot of my favorite things very well: faith, questions, humor, personal stories. Even more than that, it showed how Susan pushed for real answers and had to change her thoughts and actions because of them. Susan’s tenacity and desire to work through a relationship with God resonated with me, as did her frustrations with how a relationship with God is so different than our ideals. And I laughed. A lot. I’d recommend it for fans of Don Miller (she toured with him), Anne Lamott (of course), and Sara Miles. Also recommended for friends and family who would like to understand me a little bit better.

A week after Akouvi died, I emailed Dela in Togo and asked her for the names of a few children from Akouvi’s project who needed a sponsor. I wanted to honor Akouvi’s memory by sponsoring another child. And I think I also wanted to fill that gaping hole she had left.

The list came quickly. Three little girls. I was drawn to one of their pictures. I don’t know why—just like I don’t know why I was drawn to Akouvi. But then I read the short description Dela had sent. Nadege has health problems. She’s spent her life in and out of the hospital.

And I felt my throat close up.

I don’t want to do it again. I don’t want to invest and love and then hurt and grieve. I poured out my fears to a friend, and she urged me to wait, to pray. It had only been a week.

So I did. I waited, but didn’t really expect any kind of confirmation. I felt alone and angry and confused.

But today, in a devotion time at work, God spoke. He spoke through a random parable about a fig tree. A tree that had produced no fruit in years. The owner of the vineyard was ready to chop it down. The tender of the vineyard urged him to wait. Let me nurture the tree for a year, he implored. And then, if there is still no fruit, do with it what you will.

And there the parable ended. Where was the next verse. The verse saying that the next year the tree produced fruit. That it grew and flourished and the master was pleased?

It wasn’t there.

The tender of the tree would spend the next year nurturing and pruning and fertilizing the tree. But the thing is, he had no guarantees.

And when I began sponsoring Akouvi, I had no guarantees. God called me to do it—God showed her to me, softened my heart to her. And in less than a year, she was gone. There were fruits of our relationship, but the harvest was gone much faster than I had ever imagined.

God calls me to relationship—but without guarantees. I thought Akouvi would grow up, graduate, and change her country.

Akouvi died at 8-years-old in the first grade. And she changed my life.

So today, I said that I was willing to sponsor Nedege. If she’s still available, I will form a new relationship with another little girl in a small dusty town in Togo. I will pray for her health. But I will have no guarantees.

It’s terrifying.

• Cats really don't understand early. They just understand awake and a sleep. And man Oliver is AWAKE. #
• Learned a very valueable lesson about backing my iPhone up. Learn from me, back it up. A lot. #
• Have a guest coming which means we finally unpack the guestroom. Glad people come over forcing us to do things we should of done months ago #
• Lately, when judging famous people, usual my only comment is "Come on, brush your hair." #

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Spring break!

Turn off your space heaters, take off your shirts, and grab the garden hose! It’s time to suck on some spring break until we puke!

The next ten days will be the most sun-soaked, fun-filled, foul-mouthed days of our lives! We’re going to live like 13th century Mongol chieftans, except without all the rape! Spring break is on!

Every other week of the year we wake up early, meet our professional responsibilities, and refrain from microwaving cats. Spring break is different. This is the week where we indulge our sublimated impulses and scream obscenities while running on treadmills. This is our week to be alive! This is a week where shame knows no bounds and the police hold no jurisdiction. Let our bellies hang free and our opinions on everybody be made known!

It is good that spring break is only ten days. Were it to be any longer, I would engorge myself until I was bloated beyond recognition like Luke Wilson in those AT&T ads. In my fattened, lethargic state I would hoist myself onto my side and lay in the gutter moaning for help until a hunter showed pity on me and blew my head clean off with a shotgun. That’s exactly what would happen if spring break lasted eleven days.

Just about done with my preparations here. The moment I finish this post I’m going to stare into a strobe light and hold my breath until I start seeing unnatural things. I figure that should get things off to a solid start. After that, I’ll improvise and do whatever flows. Maybe I’ll huff a few permanent markers, maybe I’ll poop into a box of Rice Krispies, I don’t know. I’m just going to ride the emotion and let the authorities sort things out on the other end. The important thing is that this is a terrible idea.

See you folks on the other side, at least if I’m not in county jail on charges of forced entry and indecent exposure! Happy spring break, everybody!

I’ve been really struggling to figure out what to talk about on this poor blog. I don’t really want to post about how frustrating work is or how difficult it is to raise twin toddlers. I get tired of reading people’s complaints online so I don’t want to be just another complaining over-worked parent. Whatever the case, work and child-raising are the bulk of my life right now, so that doesn’t leave much else to talk about.

So… it’s time to force myself to post other stuff by going with a new theme for a while. About this time of year, when I’m really over winter, I spend a lot of time thinking about summer. When I think of summer, I start thinking about Cornerstone Festival. Even in years when I’m not going, I follow along with my friends via e-mail, twitter, and photos and experience the buildup and the festival with them. I’m hopeful about attending again this year and it’s still more than three months away, but the excitement is starting ignite, like a tiny spark at the bottom of a pyre.

In the buildup and anticipation, I’ve decided to post every couple of days some of my favorite videos from Cornerstones past on youtube here and talk about them a little bit. One of the great things about Cornerstone is the laissez-faire attitude the festival takes towards audio and video recording. (Um, festival organizer friends, let’s pretend you didn’t see that last sentence. Okay? Okay.) Record labels may not like it, but what it means is that Cornerstone is one of the best documented Christian festivals out there, with plenty of material out on the Internet. I did some extensive searching and I’ve narrowed it down to 35 (yes 35!) videos. I’ll be posting them in chronological order from the first festival in 1984 up to last year’s festival every couple of days from next week up to the week before the festival. Please note, these aren’t all the *best* performances at Cornerstone. Some of those are sadly, not documented, or not online. These also are not the best quality videos. Some are barely listenable, barely visible recordings done with amateur equipment, but I hope they catch the energy of the performance. Some of the shows I was at, many I was not at. I’ll discuss a little bit of context around the video and I’d love to have some discussion about the bands and performances in the comments.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did selecting the videos and hopefully they will all embed with no problems and such.

• It's a bit windy to sit outside so I have taken the window seat to soak in the sun. #
• Holy moly there was a lot of coupons to cut this week. Thankfully I have my new desk to do it all at! #
• Off to hang out with my preggo friend. Might be the last before Baby Leeland arrives! #

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Return, my estranged readers! Gather round for an opulent supper feast!

A fourteen course meal indulging every perverse, insatiable lusting of your craven flesh has been prepared! Seat yourselves around my table and prepare yourselves. Make certain that the waistbands of your pants are fashioned from the finest elastic, because the gratification we are about to partake in will be an affront to the natural order!

My servants, dressed uniformily in indigo silk gilded with pearls and shoes of the pointy-toed variety will now parade before us the dishes of our imminent feast. Salted cod! Wild boar slowly roasted over a flaming spit! Iberian peacock boiled in cherry preserves and stuffed with rose petals! Cheese quesadillas!

Now my dancers will gyrate about us as we lift high our goblets of reasonably-priced red wine! Imbibe deeply, my readers! See how my dancers are plumpened slightly, according to midcentury fashion. See how they undulate their hips toward you in a sensuous manner while maintaining a professionally provacative eye contact. All this according to my instruction, and aimed toward your pleasure!

Let us conclude our evening by watching the Detroit Pistons battle the Orlando Magic in a relatively meaningless Eastern Conference matchup! My team of technically-proficient eunuchs will prepare the home theater system! 5.1 Surround Sound for all!

Lean back, my supplicants, and savor the pleasures I have brought you tonight. I have lavished you with the luxurious indulgences of the Orient at great personal expense. No doubt these fleeting moments are the greatest you will ever experience. Never forget that it was I who brought them to you. Without my generosity, you would be desperately sucking the marrow from the bones of stray dogs.

Now, who will accompany me and the cats to my silken-pillowed bedchamber for dessert?

• I could go for a steak and baked potatoe right about now. #
• Reading responses from a dating poll we took on Sunday night. Some things don't change. Other things change a lot. #
• tellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhattellpeoplewhat #HIMYM #
• Finally got the moneys all saved up for our wedding album! Time to pick out the photos (probably should ofdone that before I started saving) #
• Got 57 photos picked out. And we are not even to the ceremony. And I have a max of 75 for my book. #aiaiai #

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Now that I am old, 7:00 sounds like a perfectly reasonable time for a concert. Getting home by 10:00 PM sounds even better. I don’t know when I turned into an old man, but here we are. Aging was on the mind of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, too. The two artists, accompanied by Jake Bradley and Kenny Hutson on a bevy of guitars, slide guitar, mandolin, and upright bass brought out new songs for the crowd at Eddie’s Attic. At least two of the songs, if not more, focus on the inevitable march of time.

The new songs are so new they haven’t even really been formally recorded yet. One was still pre-lyrics as Karin just wordlessly rang out the notes. Their parents were on their minds as Linford mused about the death of his father and how a man’s perspective changes when he buries his father. His thoughts coalesced into a song with lyrics about how their love should be like Johnny and June Carter Cash and “Who Will Bury Who.” Karin also had a song about her mother who currently resides in assisted living after a stroke and about how the whole place is a “collision of comedy and tragedy” in her song “Only God Can Save Us Now.”

The night wasn’t all maudlin, though. Linford was amused by a woman who requested a song “about a satellite.” He couldn’t immediately figure out what song she was talking about, but quickly realized she meant “I Radio Heaven.” He proceeded to entertain us with a spoken word version of the song. Karin introduced us to two new songs both tangentially related to her dogs. There was some fun pickin’ and grinnin’ as Jake Bradley led the band in a rousing version of “You Don’t Know My Mind.”

The band also put a couple changes are what are now old standards. Karin’s song “Ohio” was given some musical depth with Linford on bass and Jake on guitar. I always associate “Who Am I Kidding?” with Mickey Grimm and his frantic drum solo, but with his absence Kenny explored the song a little more on guitar. “Professional Daydreamer” was also given a nice full-band treatment.

There aren’t many bands out there brave enough to try out new material on their audiences before it’s been polished to a sheen and put out on CD, but part of the fun of following Over the Rhine is following the development of their music and how some songs start out as one idea, but in a couple of years end up sounding totally different. At this stage, it appears that Karin and Linford are at only the beginning of another song writing cycle and we are in for another chapter in the story of Over the Rhine.

Set list (* – new songs are guesses on my part.)
I Want You To Be My Love
Etc. Whatever
Trouble
I’m On A Roll
C’mon Boy *
Who Will Bury Who *
Only God Can Save Us Now *
Who Am I Kidding
Ohio
Professional Daydreamer
What a Waste *
Trumpet Child
-Q & A- (I Radio Heaven by Linford)
Soon (no words) *
All I Need Is Everything
—
No Kill Shelter *
You Don’t Know My Mind (Jimmy Martin cover)

• I've noticed that when I eat, and not spivey food (as in this AM: melon) my nose starts to be runny. Why is this? I must know. #
• "I cut my finger for you." -@jasonwindsor #
• MY COMPUTER IS HOME! HOORAY! #
• Uhm, Ted's "Super Date" song is one of the best things ever on HIMYM. #

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Im a little late on my good things for February. But this will be the last time since my computer has come home fixed! Hooray!

1- Another off at 1030 shift at Starbucks. Had a nice day with Jason running errands out in the snow.
2- Got very far in crocheting a soap bag. It’s the only project that seemed doable to me. Totally random but fun.
3- My first time at Jury Duty! As boring as it was, I still was so excitied to do it and really bummed when we didn’t get called to anything.
4- Jason filled my car up with gas. My hero.
5- Both works told me not to come in- that meant two days off in a week! That never happens. I love snow.
6- Hosted a baby shower during the day and hung out with Jason’s band to celebrate the new CD at night
7- brunch at our house with some of our favorite people.
8- Jason had dinner cooking for me when I got home from a long shift
9- Lunch with a friend who let me have the leftover lettuce wraps
10- I made asparagus cooked in lime zest and red pepper flake infused olive oil. And there was much rejoicing.
11- Conversation with an old high schooler over red tea lattes
12- Olympics started!
13- Spent the day with Jace in Durham. Then crocheting with Sarah while watching ‘Emma’
14- Good Will Party at the Core and lots of Olympic watching.
15- morning off, felt very productive
16- Lunch with a friend with a coupon. Cheap food just taste better
17- Ash Wed – start of the season of Lent. And more Olympics.
18- Jason got me flowers
19- More Olympics, even if I lose a little bit of sleep staying up way past my bedtime
20- 60 degree day. Perfectly delightful.
21-It was my friend at work birthday. We made sure everyone knew it
22- Jason took care of Oliver being sick. He might be on super friendly terms with our vet now.
23- talked to my mom for an hour. Always helps to talk to my mom
24- homemade tacos
25- Oliver felt much more himself since his night in the kitty ER on Monday
26- found an English breakfast tea bag in my desk when all I thought I had was mint
27- Jason and I went to the store with my crazy coupon game and didn’t hate each other after leaving.
28-Two girls did a dance at the Core that they created themselves with a friend on piano. One of the most beautiful 3 mintues in that youth
room.

After many months of oft-inturrupted reading, I finally finished up Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.

I was a huge fan of Diamond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, & Steel; it has influenced my world history and geography classes significantly (I like to have my students consider to what degree societies are bound to environmental determinism). Collapse, on the other hand, sometimes left me cold. By the end, I felt like I was taking my medicine, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to stop reading a book once I’m 400 pages in.

The best stretches of the book are detailed historical accounts of the collapse of ancient societies like the Maya, the Greenland Norse, and the inhabitants of Easter Island. I was totally engrossed in these sections and haunted by his accounts of their demise. However, I felt that the constructs Diamond used to analyze these collapses were usually too complex to be very insightful – a 12-part inventory here, a 9-catagory breakdown there, etc. Somewhat less interesting, but still worthwhile were sections devoted to contemporary failings in Rwanda (overpopulation leading to genocide), China (overpopulation leading to environmental crises) and Australia and Haiti (deforestation and alien species leading to near ecological collapse). In the end, the most compelling issue to me was that those societies failed to recognize the limitations of their circumstances and adjust their lifestyles and values accordingly. Diamond concludes by attempting to connect the (overly complex) lessons of these collapses and crises with the environmental and demographic issues across the planet today with varying degrees of success.

Here are some other noteworthy tidbits about and from the book:

-One of the things I appreciate about Diamond’s work is that he is an environmental and philosophical realist (unlike the insufferable true-believer, environmental idealists suckling at Al Gore’s bloated paunch). His breakdown of the environmental issues surrounding the logging, mining, and oil drilling industries was refreshing in that he understood that businesses exist in order to create a profit for their shareholders. What’s more, he didn’t write as if to do so is somehow immoral. Diamond laid out how future of the logging, mining, and fishing industries must rely on models that allow sustainable use of natural resources while maintaining or increasing business profits. These rely in large part on the mechanism of an environmentally-engaged buying public.

-Prior to their society’s collapse, the Mayas built enormous pyramids, developed a written language and some fairly sophisticated mathematics. They also predicted, with eerie accuracy, the arrival of a truly terrible disaster film in the fall of 2009. They even carved the name “Danny Glover” onto one of their human sacrifice altars.

-It was Diamond’s contention that much of the logging and oil drilling in the modern first world in the last several decades has been done responsibly (this contention has angered many of his admirers on the left) but pointed to various reasons why companies operating in the third world continue to take a short-sighted, destructive approach. Particularly facinating to me was his analysis about why the convoluted business and distribution model of the mining industry tends to prevent market pressure for responsible practices from reaching the companies. Think about it, do you have any idea where the copper in your car or cell phone came from? Do you have any reasonable way of sending a message to that supplier with your money?

-Do you remember that movie “The Postman” starring Kevin Costner, about a reluctant mail carrier in a post-apocalyptic society who brings salvation to a desperate band of refugees? Well, turns out it will soon prove to be 100% accurate, right down to Kevin Costner’s hair plugs.

-Diamond’s section on the collapse of Greenland’s Norse colony around the year 1400 after over 500 years of existence is wonderful and haunting. He paints a vivid, grim picture of Norse life in Greenland, as they did their best to transpose their European style of life onto their frozen, tenuous environment. Here’s a photo I reflected on for along time of the largest building on their colony – the Hvalsey stone church:

-The Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035, unless they don’t. Either way, anthropogenic global warming is irrefutable, and every weather phenomenon of any sort proves this. On an unrelated note, this Kool-Aid is green flavored!

-There were numerous reasons for the collapse of the Norse Greenland society. One of them is the fact that they were unable or unwilling to adjust their European values and lifestyles to suit a vastly different set of circumstances. Whereas the values and hierarchy of the Catholic church and European society served them well in Scandanavia, they proved destructive on Greenland. Large areas of premium (and scarce) land, crops and resources were collected as tithes and sent back to the archbishop on the European mainland. They immediately seem to have had an antagonistic relationship with the pagan Inuit (whom the Norse referred to as “skraelings”, or wretches). Either out of a desire to separate themselves from the Inuit or to cling to their Europeanness, they did not adjust their diet to what was sustainably available (i.e. fish, seal, and walrus), and continued to graze sheep and other livestock. This grazing eventually led to catastrophic soil erosion as the vegetation was eaten away. In the end, the Inuit outlasted the Norse on Greenland, mostly thanks to the fact that their lifestyle matched their environment.

-The Norse settlement on Iceland proved far more successful than their Greenland counterparts. This was the result of Iceland’s less severe environment, the lack of an outside enemy to compete for resources, and Icelanders greater willingness to drop economic activities and values that didn’t prove tenable. Not to be discounted are the sweet, sustaining refrains of Sororicide, Iceland’s favorite Satanic black metal band.

-The mysterious collapse of the Easter Island society is another facinating section of the book. Diamond traces how the inhabitants of the island gradually deforested the entire island until their own survival was doomed. Their society was divided into warring clans led by chiefs and priests who practiced a primitive form of conspicuous consumption. The famous stone heads found on the island are one result of this gaudy competition, as enormous amounts of energy and resources were put into the carving and transportation of these heads, believed to represent an appeal to the gods to save them. Slowly but surely, as the trees were removed, their ecosystem collapsed to the point where the island was nearly uninhabitable. When they were discovered by Europeans in the 1770s, the inhabitants were a lean, miserable people relying on fish that could be caught from shoreand cannibalism to stay alive.

-In an attempt to make their unfamiliar surroundings resemble home, short-sighted British colonists actually tried and failed to introduce rabbits to Australia’s ecosystem 5 times before finally succeeding with a different breed of hare from Spain. These rabbits then proceeded to overpopulate and infest the Australian countryside and remain a menace. Australians have since attempted to exact revenge by stealthily introducing kangaroos to the British Isles, but the wretched beasts are invariably trampled to death by mobs of soccer hooligans.

It comes out stilted
filtered & scripted
when I love you
when I’m happy.

I’m tempted to
borrow tragedy;
the red wall,
the long fall.

The long haul &
the don’t look back
are needle to the
plow to the groove:

peculiar music
of the pastoral
neatly tailored
plot I chose.

Plot originally appeared on Elsewhere in Dreams on 2010-03-08.

An update on my recent pity party. In order for anything to change, I had to take the first step in confessing resentment and bitterness. God has been gracious in softening this heart of stone, and in the process, I’ve found that really the issue was with me all along. If I’m not actively pursuing life within a church body, relationships with people in the church just aren’t going to happen. And so I have a renewed perspective and am finding that I’m ready to put myself out there, even if it might seem a little risky (fear of rejection, etc.). Our first meeting with our new small group is Sunday. :)

This gorgeous weather has lifted my spirits. The warmer, sunny weather yesterday made me feel like a new woman. I’ve always said a few hours in the sunshine is the best anti-depressant ever.

A few recipes and photos to come this week, so stay tuned. :)

I doubt anyone is still waiting for the big bathroom reveal. You will have to forgive me . . . it takes me a while to settle in and get pictures hung and figure out where our things are going to go. But we hung pictures this weekend, so I am going to show you everything . . . except the shower. Mike wasn’t here when I took the pictures of the bathroom, so you’ll have to wait because I want to recreate this shot. Shower to come in the next week or so. I hope. I make no promises. But here is the actual bathroom!

Laundry room! (I love my new washer and dryer and want to have their babies.)

Our closet and my half of the closet (it is really hard to show closet size in a picture).

This is what our bedroom looks like now. Not that I ever showed you what it looked like before. Because it wasn’t as bright. But now it makes me really happy.

And we’ve got the kitchen all figured out now, too. If you look here, you’ll see where the fridge used to be. This is what everything looks like now.

And remember the door to nowhere behind our TV? Check it out now.

Mostly we’re just sitting around and listening to the quiet these days. It’s the greatest sound I hadn’t heard in a while.

• I have the song that Rory and Dean listen to right after they sleep together. This is a terriable thing! #
• Iced Venti 2 pump Vinilla non fat light ice Chai sort of an afternoon. #
• Looking forward to all the Oscar play by plays in the morning. Way too tired to stay up to watch them, which makes me lame and old. #

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Winners!
(* for each I guessed correctly, ** for each I supported, but didn’t predict – see previous Predictions post)

Best Leading Actor:
*Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)

Best Supporting Actor:
*Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Best Leading Actress:
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)

Best Supporting Actress:
*Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best Animated Feature Film:
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Art Direction:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter & Robert Stromberg & Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

Best Cinematography:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore

Costume Design:
*“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Best Directing: Academy Award History Maker!
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow

Best Documentary Feature:
*“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions) An Oceanic Preservation Society Production

Best Documentary Short Subject:
“Music by Prudence” – An iThemba Production Dir. Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

Film Editing:
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

Best Foreign Language Film:
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haddock Films Production- Argentina

Makeup:
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

Best Original Film Score:
**”Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

Best Original Song:
*“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Motion Picture:
**”The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) A Voltage Pictures

Best Animated Short Film:
**”Logorama” (Autour de Minuit) An Autour de Minuit Production-Nicolas Schmerkin

Best Live Action Short Film:
*“The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best Sound Editing:
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson

Best Sound Mixing:
**“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

Best Visual Effects:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

Best Adapted Screenplay:
**“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

Best Original Screenplay:
**”The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal

13/24 predicted; 19/24 overall.

Best moments of the night:
- Mo’Nique acceptance speech
- Oprah giving Gabby her “toast”
- Up Director’s wife’s reaction to his win
- Jeff Bridge’s acceptance speech (calling everyone “man”)
- Sandra Bullock’s acceptance speech (thanking unrecognized mothers)
- Kathryn Bigalow making history & acceptance speech (thanking men & women in service… including fire-fighters)

An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible by Walter Brueggemann

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Brueggemann forces us to unblinkingly confront the God actually presented in the Old Testament, not the God we wish was there via the colored glasses of our Western rationalistic theology. He shows us that the Israelite conception of YHWH was as a god known only in relationship, an “unsettling” god, who while in some way “sovereign,” could also be capricious, irrationally angry or generous, and who could be changed by relationship with covenantal partners, even as they were indeed changed by their relationship to YHWH.

Brueggemann explores this relationship through each of YHWH’s four main “partners”: Israel, the human person, nations, and creation. In a final chapter, he issues the challenge that only an embracing of this unsettling God of abundance, suffering, and hope can provide a counter to the Enlightenment’s assumptions of scarcity, denial of brokenness, and ultimately despair. Israel in the Old Testament never concerned itself with an apologetical need to try to prove that YHWH exists, nor did they try to arrive at some kind of exhaustive definition of YHWH (both high concerns in Western Christian theology). Rather for them YHWH is the god who fits with “the way things are” in their experience of abundance / the Pit / restoration. So Brueggemann does not bother with such apologetics. Rather his interest is in how this very Jewish way of looking at existence might provide a pattern of counter-cultural living for those of us disillusioned with what our Enlightenment-Western culture has come to.

View all my reviews >>

• People who want to see me & @alisawindsor on the Greensboro version of The Amazing Race, here you go! http://bit.ly/c9SO3h (via @masterkari) #
• I may need a cup of coffee before my tea out. Oliver does not understand the concept of sleeping in. #
• Wonderf Tea time with Westover ladies. House errands with Jace. And now amused by Oliver running after a lazer pointer. #
• And because I love my husband, this is for dinner: http://yfrog.com/6z4yaj #
• And because he loves me, he built me this: http://yfrog.com/0vvoxhj #

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• listening to Brandi Carlile – Throw It All Away http://bit.ly/b06OkP #
• NPR [&I] wish a Happy 200th B-day Chopin! http://bit.ly/a0lRUR I miss hearing REAL piano in the AM- now it's Z & N playin Iyaz 'Replay' #fb #
• listening to Andrew Belle – Make It Without You http://tinyurl.com/ykq6hrs #
• listening to Lightspeed Champion – Marlene http://bit.ly/8pPoMq #
• listening to Max McLean – Hebrews 5 http://bit.ly/cSnWPr #
• listening to Derek Webb – This Too Shall Be Made Right http://bit.ly/c00wU #
• listening to Matthew Perryman Jones – Waiting on the Light to Change http://bit.ly/1eGF4b #
• listening to Jennifer Knapp With Mac Powell & Nichole Nordeman – Sing Alleluia http://bit.ly/dCZnqX #
• @allsongs can't wait for the SXSW songs! in reply to allsongs #
• @alexbeh best song of 2009? I think yes. in reply to alexbeh #
• @RaeWhitlock I'm gearing up for the J-Knapp show next week! in reply to RaeWhitlock #
• listening to Josh Ritter – Thin Blue Flame http://bit.ly/9Oa0Xm #
• listening to Madi Diaz – I Am Not Sad At All http://bit.ly/9Xi6ZS #
• listening to Madi Diaz – Here I Go Again (Whitesnake) http://bit.ly/aYPMLH #
• listening to The Beatles – That Means a Lot http://bit.ly/11lJFn #
• @katieherzig wishing you a very happy & wonderful Birthday! Eat some cake! <3 #
• listening to The Avett Brothers – The Ballad Of Love And Hate http://bit.ly/10qao3 #
• @jennifer_knapp hey Jenn! I'm super excited to see you & Derek on Monday! btw, your new photos look a.mazing. who took them? #

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When I found out about the Around Downtown in 80 Minutes competition that Triad Stage was putting on, I immediately asked Mike to compete with me. He declined. Politely, of course, saying that he’d do it if I couldn’t find someone else. So I called Alisa, who agreed right away. With Scott and Brandi’s help, we decided to name our team after a favorite wedding-related anecdote, WATCH THIS HAPPEN. Alisa made a nifty Google map and I made t-shirts, and we were ready!

It worked essentially like you’d expect – we had to race to destinations and get our “passport” stamped. At a few locations, we did have to answer trivia questions, but there were no tasks. Alisa and I did not come anywhere close to winning, but that is okay. Because before the race started, we saw the Fox 8 guys standing around, and we asked them if they were going to follow a team. They said yes, and we convinced them to follow us! So we got the real Amazing Race experience (except that we felt bad about talking so much about The Amazing Race because it’s on another network. Also I kept talking about Michael Scott. Still the wrong network, nitwit. Finally we remembered to talk about Glee). We even tried to hit all the Amazing Race cliches: we called each other “baby” and discussed whether it was God’s will for us to win. (I guess he was busy with other things.)

(The video works for me but sometimes I have to refresh the page first. So try that OR you can just click here to watch it.)

Here we are afterwards with our cameramen. Special thanks to them for editing out the part where we climbed the back hill to the Blandwood Mansion in the dark when the clue was, you know, at the front. As we were doing that, I thought, “Here’s where we get the dumb girl edit.” But, no. They were lovely. And we definitely owe them beer for making them run so much.

Sometimes nice, fun things just happen. I am usually the person who would watch the cameraman choose someone else, so I am thankful to have a friend like Alisa, who gives me the courage to try new things and be bold. I am so happy that we spoke up! We could not have had more fun than we did, and we would do it again, even without cameramen. Many thanks to Triad Stage for hosting such a great event. Mike and I went and saw the play a few weeks ago, and it’s very funny. I would recommend that you go see it, but I believe they said last night that they are all sold out except for the weekend matinees today and tomorrow. (I am not sure what they said – I was too busy getting my microphone put on. hee hee hee.)

• Out of splenda. Searched my purse and found two. Perfect. I can enjoy my last tea bag of Joy tea (Starbucks holiday tea) properly. #
• And where did my morning go? #
• Getting pumped for the race I'm around to be in. #watchthishappen #
• http://yfrog.com/6lf26mj #watchthishappen #
• In a race arounddowntowngreensboro, 80 teams set off on adventure…#watchthishappen #
• Fox 8 needs to video two racers. Guess who they picked?! #watchthishappen #

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Are they geeks who are rock stars or rock stars who moonlight as geeks? Whichever is the chicken or the egg, the members of the rock band OK Go got their geek on once again and produced the most talked about music video since…well, since their last homemade music video, the justifiably famous treadmill video.

I speak, of course, of the “official” video for their song “This Too Shall Pass,” which involves a jimongous Rube Goldberg machine that fills an entire multi-story warehouse. Better yet, the machine coordinates exactly with the song (and even plays a small segment of the song at one point), and was shot in one take with one steadycam. OK Go enlisted the help of Los Angeles nerd collective Syyn Labs to build the machine over two months in an abandoned warehouse.

If you are one of the six people on the planet who haven’t seen this mindblowing trip, here it is:

Now let’s take a peek behind the scenes to see how this amazing machine was conceived and built.

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• Behind the scenes of OK Go’s Rube Goldberg video at Ignite Los Angeles (makezine.com)
• New OK Go’s Music Video Features Awesome Rube Goldberg Machine (geeksaresexy.net)
• Has OK Go topped the treadmill video? (pbpulse.com)
• How OK Go Built the Craziest Rube Goldberg Machine Yet [Music] (gizmodo.com)

“Some men are Baptists, others Catholics; my father was an Oldsmobile man!” – Jean Shepherd as “Ralphie” in the film A Christmas Story

Recently an illness kept me confined to the bed for a couple of weeks. During that time, podcasts on my iPhone were my friend and companion. I have a number of favorites that I’ll be writing about in the weeks to come, but at some point I got to pondering: why do I like podcasts so much? There are probably a number of contributing factors. My father was in radio and podcasts are the closest thing we have to the way radio sounded in his day. I like good stories and conversation creatively presented. I can grow and learn (and laugh!) while doing other things (such as lying in bed sick). But at the very root, the foundation, the cornerstone of my love for podcasts is one name:

Jean Shepherd.

These days most people, if they know his name at all, know Jean Shepherd as the narrator of A Christmas Story, a movie now widely considered a Christmas classic for the ages. Fewer may know (unless they pay scrupulous attention to opening credits), that A Christmas Story is based on Shepherd’s written stories, mostly from his first novel, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. Fewer still today would know of Jean Shepherd the actor, the novelist, the comedian, television presenter, writer for major magazines (Playboy, Car & Driver). But my connection with Shepherd (or Shep as we fans called him) was with his most long-lived medium: radio.

For 21 years, beginning in 1956, Jean Shepherd held sway for 45 minutes a night on WOR radio in New York. If you listen to any of the podcast rebroadcasts of these shows that I’ll link below, you’ll understand why I think of him as the Father of Podcasting (though he did not live to see the coining of the word). No music (other than his own collection of zany tunes he’d play the kazoo or Jew’s harp with). No guests. No interviews. No phone calls. Just 45 minutes of Shep spinning stories and whatever else came to his fertile mind. Jean Shepherd was the consummate raconteur and monologist of his time.

There were basically two kinds of Shepherd shows: the story shows and the social commentary shows. Although it was the former for which he was most beloved, the social commentary episodes could be just as entertaining. Don’t let my label of “social commentary” lead you to think these were dry, dusty analysis pieces. Shep had an eye for the offbeat and unusual, and could reveal what they said about us and our culture. Only Shep could explain how the old Flagship Furniture Store on Route 22 in New Jersey (a store that was a life-size model of a navy battleship) was a metaphor for the human condition.

But it was his storytelling which one him legions of religiously dedicated fans. Viewers of A Christmas Story got a taste of Shep’s yarn spinning skills, but only a taste. From 10 to 10:45 each evening my brother and I would put the radio between our beds, trying to keep the volume low enough so our mom wouldn’t come in and switch it off. But that wasn’t the only battle each night. We also had to fight to stay awake to the end of the program, because Shep was famous for drawing out a story across a whole 45 minutes. He would go off on dozens of rabbit trails, and you’d be sure that this time he wasn’t going to finish the story in time. But somehow, every single time, he would miraculously get to the payoff of the story just in the last few seconds as his familiar theme song would reach its last crashing chords.

Jean Shepherd’s stories could be about almost anything, but most were in the form of recollections about his life. I say “in the form of” because, when pressed, Shep was always clear that he was in the STORYtelling business. Fans who dug too deeply into his past were in for many disappointments. But Shep was the first to teach me that the power of stories is that the best ones are always true, even if they aren’t “true” in the historiographical sense.

These stories tended to be about either his childhood in an Indiana steel mill town (a la A Christmas Story), his army days, or his various pre-WOR days on several radio and TV stations around the country. While his stories were not “laugh out loud” funny, they were indeed humorous, in the style of Mark Twain or George Aide. Most centered around a profound sense of irony, and the vague angst we all have that somehow life is a conspiracy against us. Shep’s humor always teetered on the precipice of cynical, but whenever it seemed that he might tumble over, he’d be sure to whip out his kazoo and a scratchy recording of “The Sheik of Araby” or “The Bear Missed the Train” (a satire of an Andrews Sisters German-language hit).

If I’ve made you want to hear some of Shep, the original podcaster, thanks to the miracle of podcasting, you can! There are at least two podcasts that put out daily replays of Shepherd’s old radio shows. The Brass Figlagee recently completed its four-year mission to podcast every available recording of Jean Shepherd’s shows. The owner of that podcast, however, graciously did the hard work of uploading all those files to archive.org (Jean Shepherd on Achive.org). Also, Max Schmid’s Mass Backwards program on WBAI radio broadcasts a Shepherd episode each week. You can find the podcast version by searching “Mass Backwards” in the iTunes store.

Excelsior, you fatheads!

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• The man who told A Christmas Story. (slate.com)

But I haven’t.

I was supposed to post a funny post today.

But I can’t.

My heart shouldn’t clench every time I see Akouvi’s name.

But it does.

So, you get to see some more processing today. Don’t feel like you have to read this. I know that grieving with me is not a fun process. But I appreciate it that you do.

A lot of people have asked how Akouvi died, and what happened. A poor friend asked in an email today, and she was greeted with this word spew of a response. I thought I would just repost it on here for those of you who have asked.

When I first met Akouvi, I was captivated by more than her eyes and her smile. At lunchtime, the photographer on the trip and I noticed that this adorable little girl with the too-big dress was sitting alone, crying, while everyone else ate their plates of chicken and rice. Our interpreter was occupied, and we couldn’t figure out what was going on. So the photographer got Akouvi a plate and handed it to her. She put it down next to her, and continued to cry. In a few minutes, an adult whisked the still-full plate away.

Finally we found out that Akouvi can’t have salt. We were told she was “allergic” to it, but I assumed it was more of a situation where her body, specifically her kidneys, can’t properly process sodium. And in their effort to keep Akouvi healthy, when they had food which contained salt, she couldn’t have any. I completely understand that they were trying to help, but we talked to them about the fact that they could take some food out for her before it was seasoned. I actually found out, after I began sponsoring her, that they began doing that.

About a week before Akouvi died (gosh, it’s seriously still hard to write that), I received word from my friend, Dela, who works in the Compassion Togo office, that Akouvi was in the hospital. Dela had gone to visit her, and said that they thought she was getting better. As late as the Saturday before she died, they were talking about when they would discharge her. Apparently, her health declined rapidly, and her body was retaining more and more fluid. She was also being treated for malaria, and I think her body just gave out. The official cause of her death, as far as I know, is kidney failure.

You know, I think I sometimes lose sight of how powerful an enemy poverty is. I was lulled into this false security that, because Akouvi was in Compassion, and because she was being treated in the hospital, she would be okay. Forgetting that she was in a hospital in a third-world country. Losing sight of how serious her sickness was. I’ve even thought lately about Akouvi versus a child here. Children here know what they’re allergic to, know what foods they can’t eat, and they will refuse those foods when they’re offered.

But a child like Akouvi? If you were starving, if you hadn’t eaten in days, would you refuse food because it had salt? Because you knew it would make you sick? Would sickness be an easier choice than starvation? I can’t imagine what that choice must have been like for her.

And I hate that she ever had to make it.

(Just one final note–I’ve let a lot of you know this, but for those who don’t, I am collecting money to give Akouvi’s family a financial gift through Compassion. More than likely, this gift will be used to defray her medical and funeral costs. If you’re interested in giving, you can do so through paypal.com, by making a payment to bcgal80@yahoo.com.)

Hey guys, it’s me, the Jack of Diamonds.

I know it isn’t customary for your average playing card to speak up, but it’s time. I’m tired of getting overlooked by those other fancy face cards and your aces and whatnot. Seriously, if you guys knew what a total a-holes the jokers are, there’s no way you’d be excited to draw them. I feel like saying, “Hey jerks, I’m still a jack! In the medieval hierarchy, I’m like a duke or something!”

Sometimes it sucks to be the Jack of Diamonds. Look at me. Do I look happy to you? No, I look like some effemenate dude in an awful jacket who spent too long brushing my hair. Anyone suppose I’m a happy Jack when I look in the mirror? Anyone care to guess how many times I’ve contemplated plunging this ceremonial sword into my guts?

I suppose I’ve said my part now. I’ll go back to being quiet, unappreciated Jack of Diamonds. I don’t care if nobody gives a crap about me. I’ll show them all what they missed out on. Someday they’ll be sorry they ignored me. I’ll get a hot girlfriend and grow a beard to cover my weak chin and drive a Ford Contour.

Then everyone will say, “Hey, when did the Jack of Diamonds get so cool? I’m going to invent a game where whoever draws the Jack of Diamonds immediately wins.” Then I’ll be happy and my hot girlfriend will agree to wear Princes Leia’s metal bikini from Return of the Jedi.

So here’s your last chance, America. It’s your last chance to buy stock in the Jack of Diamonds before I become awesome and everyboy loves me. If you don’t, you’ll be sorry.

• Look, @kingbanjo hard at work http://yfrog.com/1xtfej #
• Do I feel warmth?! #
• I could go for some donut world donuts. Alton is eatting donuts. Lots of them. It's taunting me. Or is that Donut World calling my name? #
• http://yfrog.com/0mynqj What? #

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In spacetime you’re a four-
dimensioned dimple.
Quite a lot of maths,
but still quite simple.

Haloes when you grin,
there’s no denial.
Two worlds define the
edges of your smile.

Smile originally appeared on Elsewhere in Dreams on 2010-03-04.

The bird bursting from your chest
is a crow, is a dove;
to escape the amniotic cul-de-sac
you go widdershins:
anti-magic engine thrumming:
impossible gravitas.

The beam bursting from your head
is a particle, is a wave;
you are the collapsing form
I cannot unsee;
the antibody lives on:
unapproachable parallel.

Bird originally appeared on Elsewhere in Dreams on 2010-03-04.

• Tea cups turned into pendant lighting- http://bit.ly/H4D6g #diy #remake #recycle #upcycle (via @cacophonyart) #
• Oliver must know when I'm about to leave him. He rolls on his back all cute and gives me those sad eyes. #
• I've been given the gift of time, I don't go in for another hour. #
• Between the guy in the bathroom on his phone and my unprofessional coworkers, this is going to be long evening. Send help. #
• Just went to the store. Never go this late but people we were out of basics and I certainly wasn't going the day before the snow. #
• Watching Feasting on Asphalt before bed only makes me want to eat not sleep. I heart Alton Brown. #

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In this Year in Which I Kick My Cancer’s Ass, I’ve finally found my theme song (lyrics below video):

Click here to view the embedded video.

UPDATE: I wouldn’t have thought the wonderfulness of the video above could be surpassed, but OK GO has just issued the “official” video for this song, which may feature the greatest Rube Goldberg machine of all time:

This Too Shall Pass by OK Go

You know you can’t keep lettin’ it get you down
And you can’t keep draggin’ that dead weight around.
If there ain’t all that much to lug around,
Better run like hell when you hit the ground.

When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.

You can’t stop these kids from dancin’.
Why would you want to?
Especially when your already gettin’ yours.
‘Cause if your mind don’t move and your knees don’t bend,
well don’t go blamin’ the kids again.

When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.

Let it go, this too shall pass
When the morning comes.

Bonus! Let’s not forget that these were the lads who brought us one of the most viral music videos of all time:

OK Go – Here It Goes Again from OK Go on Vimeo.

One thing I’m becoming increasingly aware of is a “grass is greener” complex I’ve had since I can remember. Instead of being content with what God has blessed me with, I am constantly looking for the next best thing. In high school, this meant that relationships with men (or, more appropriately boys) were short-lived, had very little depth, and were emotionally intense… until I got bored or distracted by another boy sitting two rows over in Honors English. Thankfully, none of those relationships scarred me for life, but I’m sure I hurt a lot of people, and that grieves me. Because I do care about others and the last thing I would want to do is make someone uncomfortable or hurt. Alas, mistakes of my teenage years that I can only realize and learn from.

Now that I am grown with a family of my own, this greener-grass complex works its way out in different ways. I don’t like living in an old apartment, so we move to a newer one. But wait. Why live in a cramped apartment when we could rent a HOUSE?! And a year later, we are “wasting our money” on rent and REALLY REALLY need to be homeowners. And so I find myself browsing real estate listings in my down time. When we’re not even in a place (financially or otherwise) to buy a home right now. We might be in a year. But we might not. And so what the hell am I doing to myself?

I’m coming to terms with this nasty part of myself. It’s not fun to face the ugliness about one’s character. But it’s necessary. Because I’m hurting others in the process – my husband and two beautiful babies. And these three men in my life mean far more to me than any old high school flame ever could. I do not want to make the same mistake twice.

So, I’m learning to not only protect myself from my ugliness, but learning that in turn, I’m protecting my family, too. Truth is, God has blessed us far more than we could have imagined even a year ago. The kids were locked up in daycare for close to 12 hours a day, and I was lost in a stressful, demanding job. Fast forward a year, and we are renting a beautiful, perfectly-sized home in a safe neighborhood and I am at home with the boys. While I do spend my time looking for a job and networking, I am able to be with them and love them like no one else can.

Sometimes it takes wading through one’s own cesspool of depression and angst to realize that it’s really not that bad at all. In fact, right now, I’m living the life I always dreamed I would have. It might not be picture perfect, but whose life is, you know?

(Title from Patty Griffin’s “Blue Sky.”)

• I see snow! #
• Oh this snow is staying awhile. #
• Makin' this for dinner from stuff we already had. Snow day food: http://tiny.cc/WEgEW #
• Don't tell Jillian, I cheated a little. My tummy wasn't up for all those jumping jacks. Kept moving, just not in the form of a jumping jack. #

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We’ve been eating more natural, whole foods for the past couple of years, and I just cooked up one of the most easy, delicious, and well-balanced meals with only about 10 minutes of prep time. Since chicken is one of the least inexpensive protein sources out there, our freezer is overflowing with bags of skinless, boneless chicken breasts. And the whole grilled chicken with a veggie is honestly getting old. So, today, I decided to change things up a bit by slow roasting chicken with some mixed veggies, which produces a depth of flavor one can’t achieve on a stove griddle. If you’re looking for a healthy, inexpensive way to feed your fam, you might wanna try this one out.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 potato, cubed
3 cups of broccoli florets
2 T. evoo
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350, rack in the middle. Coat an 8×8 glass baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Combine chicken, potato, and broccoli in glass dish. Drizzle evoo over top and stir to coat chicken and veggies.
3. Sprinkle herbs and salt and pepper on top, mixing again to make sure they’re evenly distributed.
4. Bake for 60-75 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serves 4 as a main dish. Add another vegetable or starch and it’ll serve 6.

In the morning when you finally go
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low
And the cardinal hits the window

In the morning in the winter shade
On the first of March, on the holiday
I thought I saw you breathing

Dear cardinal,

We’re sorry you’ve already migrated back here. We thought it would be spring here by now, too. Please be patient. Maybe in a couple weeks it won’t be so dreary around here.

Signed,

Eagerly awaiting spring in Atlanta.

It’s a full moon tonight!

I hope I finally see a werewolf! I’ve always wondered what it would be like to see a werewolf in person. I bet it would be like the time I shook Kirby Puckett’s hand when I was 14, except the werewolf would be taller and I would have less acne.

Maybe the werewolf will approach me tentatively, and I would have to coax him toward me by offering him food – some bread crumbs, or a severed rooster head perhaps. Once the werewolf got near, I would offer him my hand so he could sniff it and make sure I’m friendly. Then he could give me a backrub. I bet his coarse, hairy knuckles would tickle the sensitive skin along the sides of my rib cage. With all due respect to my wife and son, the day I get a werewolf backrub will be the best day of my life by a mile.

Werewolves are sometimes misunderstood by the media. They want us to believe that all werewolves only want to rip their swarthy snouts into the steaming entrails of newly dead children, or slam dunk basketballs. I know that werewolves are a lot more than that. They have feelings too. Sure, they’re tormented by hot-blooded, animalistic impulses to down warm human blood like it was Snapple, but they also like friendship and dancing and holding hands. I have spent countless hours doing research in my dream journal about this.

Once I’ve lured the werewolf toward me, and the werewolf is giving me a backrub, then we can be free to open up to each other. We will have a deep and meaningful conversation, filled with poignant silences and unbroken eye contact. I can tell the werewolf about me hopes and disappointments, and he can tell me what a human spleen tastes like.

See you soon, my new werewolf friend! I can’t wait to meet you!

In lieu of staying relevant, I am posting my 2010 Oscar Predictions!

I’ll follow a pattern set out by many. It is a three tier prediction system which allows three educated guesses.

This may make me sound more successful when the winners are announced and I am correct in any one of these categories. Brilliant!

I’m gonna keep it simple & bold the nominee I believe will win, italicize my faves – who I want to win & add a *star next to the “dark horse.”
My reasons & opinions will be saved for after Oscar night.

[Note: I am also excited to say that Alec Baldwin & Steve Martin will be co-hosting & making us laugh! I do believe they will succeed!]

PREDICTIONS:

Best Leading Actor:
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
*Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
*Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Best Leading Actress:
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
*Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Best Supporting Actress:
Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
*Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best Animated Feature Film:
“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
*”The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Art Direction:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter & Robert Stromberg & Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren & Anastasia Masaro & Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
*”Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Art Direction: John Myhre & Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood & Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Art Direction: Patrice Vermette & Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Best Cinematography:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

Costume Design:
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
*”Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Best Directing: (my gamble & the potential Academy Award History Maker)
*”Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
*”Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Best Documentary Feature:
*”Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) A Magic Hour Films Production with Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions) An Oceanic Preservation Society Production
“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures) A Robert Kenner Films Production with Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” A Kovno Communications Production with Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” A Mr. Mudd Production with Rebecca Cammisa

Best Documentary Short Subject:
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” – A Downtown Community Television Center Production Dir. Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” – A Just Media Production Dir. Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” – A Community Media Production Dir. Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” – An iThemba Production Dir. Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution) – An MS Films Production Dir. Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
*”Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

Best Foreign Language Film:
“Ajami” (Kino International) An Inosan Production – Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haddock Films Production- Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow” A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production- Peru
“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production – France
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production – Germany

Makeup:
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
*”The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Best Original Film Score:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
*”Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

Best Original Song:
*”Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Motion Picture:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) A Lightstorm Entertainment Production -James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.) An Alcon Entertainment Production -Nominees to be determined
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) A Block/Hanson Production -Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production -Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
*”The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) A Voltage Pictures Production -Nominees to be determined
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production -Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production -Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) A Working Title Films Production -Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Production -Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) A Montecito Picture Company Production -Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Best Animated Short Film:
“French Roast” A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production -Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films) A Brown Bag Films Production -Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production -Javier Recio Gracia
*”Logorama” (Autour de Minuit) An Autour de Minuit Production-Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations) An Aardman Animations Production -Nick Park

Best Live Action Short Film:
“The Door” (Network Ireland Television) An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
*“Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute) A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” (Premium Films) A Druid Films Production -Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best Sound Editing:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
*”Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Best Sound Mixing:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Best Visual Effects:
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
*”District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Best Adapted Screenplay:
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
*”An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best Original Screenplay:
*”The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter -Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

At the end of the night I believe it will be an interesting head to head of directors (formerly married couple) James Cameron & Kathryn Bigelow. Hollywood couldn’t write a better drama!

Tune in on Sunday – I’d love to know what you think!

• Oliver and his hippo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FakRPlqRcA&feature=youtube_gdata #
• It's a sadder Monday than normal with the Olympics being over. #
• "The parts that embarrass you the most are usually the most interesting poetically." -Allen Ginsberg (via @jonathanforeman) #
• Dang, it's March. March, please don't be like your cold month friend. You bring hope of Spring with you, right? #
• It's 10 o'clock at night, of course I'm eatting oatmeal. #

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1 – basked in the glory of my celebrity
2 – had a good laugh at a story at work
3 – recounting the Buddy D parade story for my mom in person
4 – had a great run at the gym, probably could have gone longer
5 – shrimp po-boy at Parkway
6 – took care of stuff for grad school class to free up Sunday
7 – SAINTS WON THE SUPER BOWL!
8 – went and got a newspaper to document the Saints WINNING THE SUPER BOWL!
9 – High fiving Anthony Hargrove at the Saints Super Bowl Victory parade
10 – Hornets beat the Celtics!
11 – not having to wait to get a haircut, it was like I was famous
12 – Muses parade was the best parade I’ve been to in years
13 – charbroiled oysters at Drago’s
14 – catching beads from Drew Brees
15 – finally a night at home
16 – lunch with family for MG
17 – Ash Wednesday church
18 – eating a leftover muffuletta from Central Grocery
19 – a day off to regroup after a week of crazy
20 – made pancakes from scratch
21 – hang out time with AG folks
22 – gym time
23 – found (and bought) Maker’s Mark with black and gold wax
24 – dinner with work friends
25 – Jay-Z LIVE
26 – Aaron Gray carries the Hornets in the 4th quarter to a victory!
27 – spent day getting things done after a few days of crazy
28 – found Red Velvet Cake yogurt at the store (I know, but I’m an addict and it had been eluding me for a couple of weeks)

• This AM at our home group the kids got to play with a Jesus action figure. Lots of things were said like "Jesus is all you need Emma" #
• "Emma, you need to learn how to share Jesus with your friends." #
• "Theres enough Jesus to go around." You get the idea. #
• I love high schoolers #

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Just like last month, please link your own good things in the comments! We will have another good things party!

February 1 – Cleaned out all our old magazines. Filed the recipes and book reviews I wanted to save. Total dorky happiness about it, yes.
February 2 – Best workday lunch ever. I would explain it, but you kind of had to be there. I will give you a few pieces of information: guacamole, tomahawks, unsafe road conditions, and band manuals.
February 3 – Dealt with the fundraiser for Haiti and got all the money organized and cleared out of the library. Over $1000 raised! With a week to go!
February 4 – I got my teaching license in the mail. All that hard work, finally finally over.
February 5 – We moved the fridge to its new spot and started decorating. Also I ordered about 150 digital photos for our walls and for other reasons. And then we watched Footloose (Mike had never seen it before).
February 6 – Great organization and house cleaning sort of day.
February 7 – Mike had a good Male Bakeoff experience and I got to be excited for Scott when the Saints won. (I yelled a lot during the second half of the game.)
February 8 – The painters finished and it was the greatest day of my entire life.
February 9 – 3.1 miles in 30:29. My best time yet! Soon I hope to be under 30:00.
February 10 – I talked on the steps with a friend of mine for an hour instead of doing yoga.
February 11 – I came home to a lovely clean house. God bless cleaning services.
February 12 – Tea party for some six-year-olds and had new friends over for dinner. Also . . . Olympic opening ceremonies!
February 13 – Babysat for the neighbors. Four kids (and I) ate four bags of popcorn. Two of them stayed up and watched speed skating with us. Worst babysitters ever? Possibly so.
February 14 – Homemade pizza and The Amazing Race premiere.
February 15 – Good workout at the gym. Which is kind of lame but true.
February 16 – Saw a friend do his first public reading at a coffeeshop. Also my mom sent me a fantastic YouTube video.
February 17 – Ash Wednesday. Nice service at church.
February 18 – Watched the snowboarding half-pipe with Mike and made fun of the announcers saying the same thing for every. single. guy. (“This is his last chance at a gold medal run. He needs the run of his life.”)
February 19 – Took a sixth grader to Lucky 32 (her first time eating there) and Triad Stage to see Around the World in 80 Days. Now I never have to read the book.
February 20 – Fun game night with very creative friends. Also pots of chocolate.
February 21 – Lunch to celebrate one of our Sunday School student’s baptism and a good walk with my neighbor.
February 22 – Great day teaching sixth graders how to do Microsoft Publisher.
February 23 – Did 3.1 miles in exactly 30 minutes on the elliptical. New world record! For me, anyway!
February 24 – I was sick so we ordered Chinese food for dinner and it was wonderful.
February 25 – Had to miss a friend’s party, a meeting, and my book club, but got good sleep thanks to the new and improved Nyquil. No Sudafed in Nyquil = GENIUS.
February 26 – Mike went out of town so I fell asleep watching the Olympics.
February 27 – Two fun friends came over for soup and wine and more Olympics.
February 28 – Unexpected coffee with a friend. Plus a walk with my neighbor. Plus Mike came home.

• Night out w/my name-that-tune buddy. Met some local bartenders, $1 draft, & greasy bar food. Ug. Working on a script 'til bedtime. #
• listening to Carol Lawrence / Larry Kert – Tonight http://bit.ly/9TAduq #
• listening to Major Lazer – Hold The Line (Feat. Mr. Lexx & Santigold) (DJ Edit) http://bit.ly/aTu6Dp #
• listening to Quasi – Quasi – Repulsion http://bit.ly/cAdwiW #
• listening to The Fascination Movement – Just Pretend http://bit.ly/czZbxg #
• listening to Motopony – Motopony – Seer http://bit.ly/cxbQtJ #
• listening to Madeline Diaz-Svalgard – I Am Not Sad At All http://bit.ly/dbgPZo #
• @butterflyb i love crossing out lists in reply to butterflyb #
• RT @AlexBeh Watch BABE with @LevenRambin @FoShosh @BHasemeyer Tracy Thorpe, Gian Molina and @AlexBeh here: http://babemovie.tumblr.com/ #
• would really like to have some brilliant ideas just float into this dead brain of mine…come to me… #writersblock #
• listening to Andrew Belle – My Oldest Friend http://bit.ly/aZukwh #
• @NoiseTrade any genre or city search feature available? #
• @jessicajanej happy Thursday! when are we gonna go get some rain boots?? Spring rain is coming! in reply to jessicajanej #
• @adamlambert hahaha! you have to admit… your PC comment applies both ways thanks for your honesty. in reply to adamlambert #
• just formatted my new 1TB LaCie external HD to my iMac. Bring on the HiDef video #nerdalert #fb #
• listening to Andrew Belle – The Ladder http://bit.ly/bDfCet #
• @gfmorris any idea when the show is supposed to be streaming? in reply to gfmorris #
• @gfmorris aww, just called… they're not streaming it tonight say hi to Sandra & Derek for me! have fun! in reply to gfmorris #
• @jennisimmons I just called the Rutledge – they're not streaming tonight in reply to jennisimmons #
• @jennisimmons YAY! in reply to jennisimmons #
• My night is MADE! @SandraMcCracken show the the Rutledge is up and streaming! http://bit.ly/cGwgXB #fb #
• o the pain that makes you feel alive/ o the broken heart is the tie that binds/ o i pray to God these things will be made right #lyrics #
• @SandraMcCracken caught your show online keeps me very excited for In Feast or Fallow. You sounded great! #
• @gfmorris yup! those liars… i'm sure your recording is 10x better than what i can hear… in reply to gfmorris #
• @gfmorris my first listen to Waterdeep tonight & I'm sold. in reply to gfmorris #
• I just got some FREE music from @Waterdeep You can download it here: https://www.noisetrade.com/waterdeep (per @gfmorris advice) #
• listening to Miike Snow – Burial (DJ Mehdi Remix) http://bit.ly/10VDCU #
• listening to Anders Parker – Keep Me Hanging On http://bit.ly/bhYC3I #

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• Jason: "have you listened to that civil war song yet?" Me: "no." Jason: "you should, you'd like it. It's sad." #
• Gnam Gnam #
• Look out @shaun_white, Oliver just did a half pipe off the side of the bed. All of the Olympic watching must of gone to his head. #

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• Maybe this is my problem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder #
• Why do the boys get cool Olympic tees and the girls don't? What's up with that Target? Mens small does not fit me. Trust me, I tried. #

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Mike has gone skiing with our youth group, so I am on my own this weekend. Unfortunately, I have developed a bit of a cold. I am hoping it’s nothing more serious than that. I have had a low-grade fever for the past couple of days. So the exciting Friday night at my house consists of the Olympics, hot tea, and Girl Scout cookies. Also I am wearing my pajamas and a scarf. I am very fashionable in that way.

I am not going to go on and on again about how much I love the Olympics, but even though I wasn’t as captivated by the figure skating this year (the new scoring system takes so much of the fun and grace out of it), I was particularly moved by Joannie Rochette, the Canadian skater who lost her mother just before the games. Obviously she has an amazing inner strength, but I also felt as if every person in that room (including me on my couch in my pajamas and scarf) was willing her to land those jumps. The Olympics are big, but there was something even bigger going on. There have been some great moments in these Olympics, but I imagine her skate is the one I will remember.

I was also impressed with Johnny Weir’s press conference after some Canadian TV announcers made some jokes that perhaps he should skate with the women instead and perhaps he should be tested to prove that he’s a man. Instead of asking for an apology, he chose to call attention to the fact that they said those things and to ask them to think before they speak for the sake of young people who just want to express who they are. I appreciate that perspective and his insistence that they think about the power of their words. I saw a young man crying this morning because he did not want to be made fun of for being smart, so this is an issue that is on my mind. I want my students to be able to express themselves through school and sports and art and music and words and even feathers (like Weir) or ballet (like Billy Elliot) if that’s what they want. Thanks to Weir for articulating that in such a thoughtful manner.

I have been working with a couple of classes on projects on the Holocaust, and one of the topics that has come up was the Armenian genocide. I never learned about it during school myself. In fact, I learned about it from, of all people, Charla and Mirna on The Amazing Race. So I have taken that opportunity to help my students see why we spend so much time focusing on the Holocaust, because it happened before and we did forget, very quickly. One student has been particularly engrossed with the Rwandan genocide, and I have pointed him in the direction of some of the resources I encountered when I was studying that topic for myself.

This was a long week, which is something I imagine I say every year at the end of February. With all the snow, I think everyone will agree with me if I go ahead and declare that, this year, February was the cruellest month. But doing good work with students, telling them that they should be proud of themselves, and pushing them to explore new things prove that even February and a nagging cold cannot completely keep me down.

If you care about something, you want other people to know about it. This means that the way you present your information is important because it can mean the difference between true communication occurring and boredom or confusion. Unfortunately, many presentations (especially at conferences) fail miserably at this task. If you think your content is important, you need to pay attention not only to what you talk about but how you do it.

Many people think that Powerpoint (or Keynote) presentations assist in communicating ideas and facts. It’s true that visual information that accompanies oral presentations can help — but it has to be done well!

Here’s a youtube video of how NOT to use Powerpoint.

And here’s a slide show that shows how creative visuals can supplement (not compete) with the speaker’s words. Ideas and information will be better retained when this kind of dual presentation is employed.

The creator and presenter of this slide show, Beck Tench, works for the NC Museum of Life and Sciences. Follow her on Twitter at @10ch

Listening to the radio one afternoon on my way home from church, I cranked the volume when a mystery song caught my ear. Philip, my brother, was in the car with me that day in 2005 and we were listening to my favorite St. Louis station – 89.1 FM The Wood. On the weekends, the music flows with little interruption and without any sort of description of the songs. It’s also non-commercial which means they play songs that don’t hit the Top 40 and verge on the obscure. So there we were, cranking this song – full of harmony but sounding like a single voice, void of accompanying instruments yet not lacking in texture. It rang in our ears and resonated in our souls and once it ended we NEEDED to hear it again. But how? Who was it? Where would we find it? Ah yes, the wonders of Google and iTunes. I’m not sure where we went first, but Philip brilliantly thought it could fit the electronic genre since the vocals clearly had been electronically manipulated. So we went to the top downloads in the Electronic genre and BINGO! There it was: Imogen Heap “Hide and Seek.”

Confession time: until then, I had little to no respect for electronica. Okay so maybe that’s not a surprising confession. However, in the past several years my ears have adjusted to the digital age of sampling, electronic manipulation, and recorded music’s electronic additions thanks to computer-produced sound. This steadily brought a producer’s job to the forefront and challenged his or her work with the newest technology. All recorded music has become “electronic.”

An attractive feature of electronic music and what keeps me coming back for more is the empowering tools that allow a solo or duo to have a full sound – all woven together in an electronic tapestry. Take Andrew Bird for example – his live music takes on much the same electronic elements as do others who use samples. Imogen Heap weaves her songs live on stage, piling loop after loop and fits them in just the right rhythm and place.

Along with the new introductions to electronic artists, one of my old favorites put out a surprise electronic album: Derek Webb. Today, Thursday February 25, 2010 ONLY you can get a FREE download at NoiseTrade.com/ of his new album Stockholm Syndrome. Check it out, seriously. A lot of hype that gradually produced doubt accompanied it’s release. The relevance of its release is doubtless for me and I listen to it more than any of his past work. Going back to his previous record The Ringing Bell I can continue to understand Webb’s growth and musical trajectory. With the release of Stockholm Syndrome, Webb also released the song stems for fans and musicians to remix and mashup on a site called SoundCloud- a hosting site for remixes, electronic sample sharing, and a place for artists of all professions to communicate and critique. girltalk is the best example I can give for an artist/producer who takes dozens of song – new and old and mashes them together in insanely imaginative ways. [note: It would be another entry to discuss the role of a dj vs. producer. I'm purposely leaving out the dj/MC which uses sampling and mashing by definition] I believe that more self-produced artists like Webb & Heap are using the ease of file sharing and inexpensive mixing software to encourage creativity among fans, allowing an almost conversational give and take of music. During SILVERDOCS 2009, I saw the documentary RIP: A Remix Manifesto which furthered my education of the issues behind mashups, music downloads and the question of freedom in media exchange and copyrights. The film goes beyond music and encouraged viewer participation through video remixing. In the end, there can be collaborative, mutually-supportive peace between artist and downloader or an intense – often money-driven – power war.

Back to the music… one critical turning point in my music listening was when I started subscribing to the KEXP Song of the Day Podcast. This (FREE!) daily bit of current and sometimes pre-released music accompanied by ablog gives context and information. Bell’s song “Housefire” was one of those tunes that eased my ears into more electronic music. Instead of hearing meaningless beeps & taps, I began to hear layers of complex rhythms and harmonies. Passion Pit was the next group to REALLY catch my attention. Let me tell you, I fell head over heels and was fully convinced that if their song “Sleepyhead” could be a person – a man – I would marry him. Ironically, or not, Passion Pit became one of Paste Magazine’s “Best of What’s Next” bands and caught the attention of NPR’s All Songs Considered as well as festivals & listeners around the country in 2008. They have a pop-driven sound. Similarly, Bon Iver gave me a taste of simpler self-produced music that verges on electronic with a few affected tracks such as “Woods” which is reminiscent of Imogen Heaps’ “Hide and Seek”… and we’ve come full circle. Before I let you go, just wanted to share a list of songs in my iTunes library & final thoughts.

25 Top picks for KEXP’s Song of the Day electronic songs:

• Dan Deacon “Paddling Ghost” (5/19/09)
• Bon Iver “Skinny Love” (3/20/08)
• The Fascination Movement “Just Pretend” (3/31/09)
• The Arch Cupcake “Rubix Dude” (5/11/08 )
• Booka Shade “Charlotte” (7/15/08)
• The Dodos “Fools” (7/21/08 )
• El Ten Eleven “Jumping Frenchmen of Maine” (4/14/09)
• Faunts “Alarmed/Lights” (4/1/09)
• High Places “Head Spins” (10/9/08)
• High Places “From Stardust to Sentience” (11/20/08)
• Le Loup “Beach Town” (10/19/09)
• Kinky “Fuego En La Fabrica” (3/3/09)
• Lusine “Two Dots” (9/2/09)
• Man Plus “A Ghost is a Ghost is a Ghost is a Ghost” Remix (12/19/08)
• Miike Snow “Animal” (6/8/09)
• Miike Snow “Burial (DJ Mehdi Remix)” (3/11/09)
• Moby “Pale Horses” ( 7/23/09)
• Peter Bjorn & John “Nothing to Worry About” (2/25/09)
• The Pinker Tones “Fugaz” (6/3/08)
• School of Seven Bells “Iamundernodisguise” ( 11/19/08)
• Zion I “Caged Bird Part 1 (feat. Brother Ali) (4/16/09)
• Telepathe “So Fine” (2/30/09)
• Stellastarr* “Freak Out” (7/21/09)
• Nino Moschella “Continue to Call” ( 6/23/09)
• Passion Pit “I’ve Got Your Number” (11/3/08)

Click, read, download & enjoy! If you want more reading, there are several other blogs like SoftSynth Blog who shares their 25 top electronic albums of the Decade. Many other songs and artists are worth exploring in this discussion and as I barely scratch the surface, I’m finding more. Have you heard a song that inspires you to dance or mix it up? Leave a comment and pass it on!

Highlighting next week:
On the Big Screen – Oscar Predictions! I’ll be giving my predictions for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards which happen Sunday March 7th, so read ahead & tune in!

• Lunch with @myfirstkitchen First soical thing I have cancelled all week. Step in the right direction. #
• I really dislike so many nights without Jason. Boo Hiss. #
• I'm done making oatmeal cookies. They never turn out. #

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Nine months ago, I met Akouvi.

When I walked into the hot, dusty church in Togo, my eyes found her. As if they had always been looking for her. She was petite, much smaller than the rest of the children in her group. Her brightly colored dress was too large, and one sleeve constantly slipped off of her shoulder.

I’ve tried to identify what it was about her. She had such serious eyes. Eyes that had seen too much.

But her smile. I couldn’t get over it. I made silly faces at her, trying to draw out a grin. And when she rewarded me with one—I literally felt like my heart got bigger, more full.

When I arrived back to my office the next week, I poured over pictures of the children from that project, looking for those eyes. And when I found her, saw that she wasn’t sponsored, I knew what I had to do. I was on the phone with a Compassion representative in seconds. I didn’t check my bank account or my budget. I just knew I had to sponsor her.

In my first letter, I told her that I had met her, and asked her if she remembered me. She did. I’m sure that dusty little church hadn’t seen many white visitors. I sent her pictures of snowy Colorado, and she drew me pictures of mangoes and crooked houses.

I can’t explain how one comes to love a child who they hardly know. But I can say that I felt like Akouvi was part of my family. I loved her. And so often in her letters, she told me that she loved me too.

I don’t think I understood the depth of my love for her until February 23. That’s the day that I found out Akouvi had died. That’s the day I felt like something had cracked open inside of me, filling me with red-hot grief. Sadness that burned so fiercely that even my tears could not extinguish it.

Eight-year-old little girls are not supposed to die.

They are supposed to play with their friends and sing silly songs. They are not supposed to be carried away from the hospital by their grieving family to the village cemetery.

I don’t know what grieving Akouvi should look like. I can’t go to her funeral, or carry a casserole to her home. I can’t hug her mother, or comfort her sister.

All I can do is cling to the hope that she is in a better place. Believe that in her final days, she was surrounded by people who loved her. People who had done absolutely everything in their power to save her.  Believe that she passed from this world, immediately into the arms of her Father. That poverty and sickness are not even memories for her anymore.

I know Akouvi is healed and whole now. I am so incredibly blessed that she was part of my life for 9 months. But the reality that we live in a fallen world, where little girls die, is heavy on my heart right now.

Akouvi, you are missed. Keep smiling sweet girl.

And I will try to smile with you.

Bridgette left me at home alone last night with the boy and a short list of chores. Among them was to finish the laundry, and to assist me she left me a helpful note of the items that should not be placed in the dryer, lest they shrink. Certainly this was a reasonable request for any adult with a well-managed beard and Master’s Degree.

Of course, I blew it. A few hours after she left, I pulled her shrunken workout pants out of the dryer (the ones she expressly stated not to put in the dryer) and let slip a choice phrase from my college years.

So a hearty, ironic congratulations now goes out to me for destroying my wife’s pants and failing to execute her clear, concise request. I have effectively demonstrated my need for her to nag me about simple chores, so for the time being my childish bristling will go unwarranted. If there’s anything worse than being nagged, it’s acknowledging the demonstrable fact that I need to be nagged. This is just lovely.

What’s also lovely is that because of my foolish error, my wife will be spending $25 or $30 on a new pair of workout pants, money that is likely to come out of my monthly strobe light budget (I’m converting my garage into the Chamber of Epilepsy). If the next few weeks suck, I have only myself to blame.

Excuse me now, won’t you? I’m going to go sit in a bathroom stall for a while and look at my knife.

• Good Morning, hail. #
• And now it's snowing. Of course. #
• I'm not sure if @jasonwindsor would follow me unless I was his wife. #
• Donut World is in the paper today! Hooray for them. #

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Late last night, my wife was awakened by an unnatural love.

Ben Franklin, having been denied the affections of his masters since the arrival of their son, took a firm grasp on his feminine friend Mona and attempted to take things to the next level. He did this despite the fact that his precious testes were callously tossed into a veteranarian’s dumpster several years ago.

Like the real Ben Franklin, our cat is not one to let biological futility or marriage vows stop him from seizing the rough love that he so cravenly desires.

After a swat and a scold from my wife, Ben Franklin scampered off the bed and down the hall for an extended, vigorous session of groin-licking. Mona remained still all along, as disinterested as she always in all manner of interaction that doesn’t involve birds. If she were a thoughtful companion, she would recognize that brusque, silent humping is Franklin’s love language. However, she did not reciprocate. Their relationship is a passionless arrangement, like Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Here’s wishing some one-sided cat love to all of you today!

• Oliver is stayingover night. Prayers would be great. #
• I feel like a truck hit me. Let's see if some tea will help. #
• Oliver update: has not thrown up since we took him in last night. He is still on an IV. Hope to take him home today. #
• Oliver is home! #

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Back in 2003, I was planning a trip to Los Angeles to visit a friend who at the time was working out there. He currently is in grad school in Budapest, by way of China. I was still rather green when it came to ordering drinks in bars, and knew I wouldn’t be able to go to LA and order beer, I wanted to order something that sounded more sophisticated. My friend Dean at work told me about Maker’s and Sprite. It was genius. As a big fan of Swingers, we made a trip to the Dresden where I ordered the drink. It was easy to say and sounded classy. Ever since then I have usually kept a bottle of Maker’s Mark in my liquor cabinet. I had just bought a new bottle a couple of months ago, but bought a new one tonight. Behold, a special edition bottle with black and gold wax! Thank you Maker’s Mark! WHO DAT!

(This picture reminded me of some old-school Derek Webb, but instead of running across a box of letters, it’s a box of music. Just go with it, okay?)

We haven’t done this in a while!

—

Dear Man on the Next Elliptical,

You are coughing or snorting kind of a lot. It is very distracting. And also weird. I keep trying not to look at you, but I can’t help it. Do you know you are making that noise? Can you help it? Can you please make it stop?

Do you need a tissue? I really want to help.
-Kari

—

Dear Book I am Reading While on the Elliptical,

I was enjoying you quite a lot, but the part where you decided that the mind actually has no control over the body was kind of uninspiring to someone who is exercising. Yes, I know that a real athlete would run outside on such a nice day. What made you think that I was anything resembling a real athlete?

I did, however, run 3.1 miles in exactly 30 minutes today.
-Kari (that’s a new record for me)

PS – Do I actually have to go back to running outside? I am so spoiled.

—

Dear Woman at Starbucks,

Why are you so annoying? No, seriously, what with the, “I don’t have a TV OR cable,” and, “I work for social services,” and your super complicated drink order. I think even the guy you were with was annoyed by you. So of course everyone around you WHO COULD HEAR EVERY WORD BECAUSE YOU WERE TALKING REALLY LOUDLY ABOUT HOW AWESOME YOU ARE was also annoyed.

Just . . . stop it.
-Kari

—

Dear Food Lion,

If I have to shop at 5:00, which I do not enjoy, I have to say that it is nice to shop with you. Your employees always greet me and answer my questions. Last week I went to that OTHER grocery store and wandered for several minutes before I found anyone to help me. So thanks for all the help. You rock.

Also your prices are lower. I especially enjoy the cheap bottles of wine.

Not a wino,
Kari

—

Dear Girl Scout Cookies, Bejeweled, and Hershey Kisses with Caramel,

Listen, I need you to stop. Mike is unable to control himself around you. Cookies, you need to stop being so tempting. Bejeweled, you need to stop being so mind-numbing. And Hershey Kisses, you are essentially crack. Leave my husband alone, sweet things and Bejeweled. I beg you.

My personal form of crack is chips and salsa,
Kari

—

Dear Olympics,

Please stop making me cry with inspiring stories. Whenever other people start crying, I also cry. It’s getting embarrassing. In related news, could you speak to NBC about how it doesn’t really WORK for me to stay up until MIDNIGHT to find the results of figure skating? Olympics, I love you, but I am not as young as I used to be.

Is this why I actually enjoyed the ice dancing? I always thought it was boring before but now I am OLD.
-Kari

—

Dear Curling,

You continue to be awesome. Please never change. Unless you add flaming brooms.

Also, please ask the Norwegian curlers to never change their pants.
-Kari