Science (non) Fiction

OK, I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting til I had some solid answers about the future, but as it seems my life will stay in a state of semi-chaos for a while longer, I figure it’s time to catch y’all up with the goings-on.

First of all, in case you’ve forgotten, in my absence, what I look like:

And, even though I posted since then, I don’t think I’ve actually said that Rebecca and I have moved into a cute little house in Ardmore just over a mile from school and less than that from church:

We love it – it’s been really nice to be close to school again (not that I was that far before, but it’s still nice to be closer), and to have enough space to have people over regularly (despite having a couple issues with neighbors), and Dinah appreciates having more people to regularly love her.

Also, this has been my life recently:

I’ve been running gels like mad, trying to get things wrapped up so I can finish this thesis and graduate in the near future – for those counting, it will likely be either May or June, so stay tuned in for the last-minute thesis issues that I’m sure will be coming along shortly. I’m looking for jobs in the area, as I’d love to stay here, but I might end up looking farther afield, but still in the state at least. Let me know if you hear of any good teaching jobs (preferably small, liberal arts colleges, but I can be flexible).

The brother is still doing well out in Cali:

Well, he doesn’t look like he’s doing well there, but he just wasn’t pleased with all of my picture-taking at Christmas. He’s working at Sony, doing some writing, and looking for a good production job now that things are gearing back up after the strike. Dad got to fly out and visit him this past week, so I’m very jealous. Maybe when I have a real, grown-up job…

Mom is still adjusting to her new job and schedule – and she and Dad are having to make some tough decisions in the next little bit. I’m going home tonight to celebrate Dad’s belated birthday, so that will be good.

Hopefully I can keep this more updated than it’s been lately – entering the home stretch may make that difficult, but I will try.

Sorry I’ve been so absent lately. But to distract you from the pain caused by my lack of blogging, I present you with more excellent LOLcats.

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and my current favorite:

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I submit the following photo for your viewing pleasure. Mom brought back these shirts from her trip to Disney World last year (without us, I might add), and we finally got around to taking a picture of us in them this Christmas while Matthew was home from Cali for the holidays. Enjoy!

So here it is, the long-awaited book list for 2007, the whole point of me keeping track of what I read this past year. All in all, it was a really good year for me, reading-wise at least – having an idea ahead of time of what I wanted to read next really kept me moving and kept me from watching too much trashy tv or re-reading too many old favorites. I’ll list my favorites from this year at the bottom.

1. Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
2. Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
3. Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst
4. The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult
5. Thirty-three Swoons by Martha Cooley
6. Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
7. Speaking with the Angel edited by Nick Hornby
8. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
9. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
10. Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner
11. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
12. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
13. Good Harbor by Anita Diamant
14. Everyone Else’s Girl by Megan Crane
15. The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
17. Intuition by Allegra Goodman
18. On Agate Hill by Lee Smith
19. The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Priscilla Warner
20. Heat by Bill Buford
21. Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir
22. The Last Girls by Lee Smith
23. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
24. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (re-read)
25. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
26. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregor
27. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling (re-read)
28. English as a Second Language by Megan Crane
29. Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras by Jeff Henderson
30. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (re-read)
31. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
32. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
33. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
34. The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry
35. Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell
36. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling (re-read)
37. The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King
38. Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
39. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling (re-read)
40. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (re-read)
41. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling (re-read)
42. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
43. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
44. Possession by A.S. Byatt
45. The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
46. The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman
47. Callander Square by Anne Perry
48. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
49. The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman
50. Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg
51. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
52. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (re-read)
52. Father Melancholy’s Daughter by Gail Godwin.
54. Evensong by Gail Godwin
55. The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig
56. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (re-read)
57. Patron Saint of Liars by Anne Patchett
58. The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig
59. Atonement by Ian McEwan
60. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
61. Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson
62. The Alchemyst: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
63. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
64. Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters
65. 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
66. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
67. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
68. The Copenhagen Connection by Elizabeth Peters
69. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
70. Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
71. Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith
72. Run by Ann Patchett
73. Digging to America by Anne Tyler
74. Looking for Alaska by John Green
75. The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
76. Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett
77. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson

All right, so favorites from this year:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. Long anticipated conclusion to my favorite series, and well worth the wait.
2. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Beautiful writing, intriguing story, this is what really kicked off my Patchett fandom.
3. Digging to America by Anne Tyler. Such an incredible story, and really well-told. I definitely cried at the end, which is awesomely moving.
4. 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. I don’t know if this will end up being my favorite from the series, but I really enjoy the series as a whole – witty and ironic and full of life.
5. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I didn’t necessarily love reading this book, but it has definitely stayed with me longer than most books. Really powerful and well written.
6. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. Way better than I expected this to be, and much deeper than I thought it could be. One of the lighter favorite books.
7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I wasn’t sure which of his books to put on here, but this one is one that I will be more likely to re-read (as opposed to Kiterunner). A really beautiful and moving picture of life in Afghanistan.
8. Father Melancholy’s Daughter by Gail Godwin. I loved this prequel to Evensong, and I enjoyed being able to carry the story over into that second book – but I related more to Margaret in this one than in Evensong.
9. Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. Such a fun book, full of dark humor and southern-isms and family idiosyncrasies.
10. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. One that I will definitely need to re-read again to fully understand, but it was still incredible the first time through.

There were a few disappointments, but overall it was a good list. I’m open to suggestions for what to read in 2008, and tell me what you read and enjoyed in 2007!

We used this Advent prayer in church a few weeks ago, and it struck me again with the paradox of Christ’s incarnation among us that we celebrate at this time of year.

Almighty God, who, having created all worlds and mankind, has profoundly pitied us; who has come to us that we might be saved, not of our merit, but of your unquenchable love; look on us who worship in comfort, in light and warmth, in health and prosperity, in pride and in presumption.

For, having all glory,

you became incarnate in the dishonor of a defeated line of kings;

having all riches,

you became incarnate in the poverty of the working class;

having all illumination,

you became incarnate in the darkness of night and obscurity;

having all wisdom,

you became incarnate in the confounding simplicity of a child;

having all life,

you became incarnate in the emptiness of a virgin’s womb;

having all power,

you became incarnate in the weakest form of human life – a male infant.

Help us to recognize our shame, our poverty, our darkness, our foolishness, our emptiness, our weakness, that we may know our need of you. And then … become incarnate in us. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

LOLCats are my new current obsession – I don’t even think I can explain why I find them funny, but I do, quite hysterically so. So I’m going to share a few of my more recent favorites.

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We’re about to head into our last, crazy week of rehearsals for this year’s production of Handel’s Messiah with The Mozart Club of Winston Salem. I was looking back through my posts for this time last year and found this, and it pretty much sums up how I still feel about Messiah, so I’m re-printing it here. The 2007 performance will be at Reynolds Auditorium at 3pm on Sunday, December 2nd – hope to see you there!

I’m performing in the chorus of Handel’s magnificent oratorio Messiah this weekend (Dec 3rd at 3pm in Reynolds Auditorium, for those interested). The community group that sponsors didn’t perform it last year, but I’ve done it every other year I’ve been in Winston Salem since I started graduate school. And moreso this year than any of the years previously (mostly cause I haven’t been doing any choral singing for over a year now), I’m so grateful for this chance to sing a masterpiece with other people who love Messiah as much as I do, with really great soloists and instrumentalists who do the work justice in performance.

We’ve had our rehearsals this week with the guest conductor who’s come in from NYC (he’s the choral conductor for the NYC Opera), and it’s amazing how much physical work actually goes into singing something like this. I was exhausted after a 2.5 hour rehearsal last night, and in pretty much the same place tonight after another one. But there are times in the middle of rehearsal where you can catch these glimpses of the genius of Handel, things that no matter how many times you’ve sung it will suddenly catch you by surprise; the power of a lyric you hear in a different way, or the clarity of an ascending line from the sopranos that brings a deep emotional response.

And every year, I’m amazed at the poignancy of his description of Christ’s birth, and the vitriole and anguish expressed in the Passion section, and the joy found in the Resurrection. Handel’s choruses describing the trial and death of Jesus are full of text-painting, with chorusmembers representing at one point the angry mob calling for Christ’s crucifixion (’He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him’), and at another the whips during His beatings (’The chastisment of our peace was upon Him’). Our guest conductor this year describes Messiah as more opera than oratorio and I think I agree with him – singing it, you feel like you’re living in the middle of ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’, not just standing by watching it.

And it’s a good reminder as I kick off the busy holiday season, that beyond the ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’ platitudes, there is this: that Christ’s arrival on eath as a baby, while miraculous and glorious on its own, fits in the much larger scheme of God’s plan for redemption, and that His birth would mean little to us without his subsequent death on the cross. And that, friends, is what Messiah means to me.

It’s been a long time since I posted last – sorry. Things have been really busy, and I’ll eventually try to update you about the goings-on in my life lately. But that will have to wait til I have more time. Until then, enjoy this list.

Things you might not know about me

1. I almost have to have the toilet paper roll over the top in order to use it – it drives me crazy to have it come out from the bottom.

2. I care way too much what people think about me. I’m working on that.

3. I think I walk in a strange way – when the ground is wet, my shoes throw water droplets onto the backs of my calves – does that happen to everyone?

4. I have a tiny scar under my right eye from falling into a metal-rimmed ping-pong table when I was little.

5. My handwriting varies a lot from day to day – I mean, if I signed two checks on two different days, it might look like two completely different people signed them.

6. I am often easily coerced into agreeing with you, unless I really don’t like you.

7. I hate throwing anything away. Seriously, anything.

8. I am seriously bothered by grown adults who refer to themselves in the third person. *shudder*

9. I don’t like talking to people I don’t know on the phone. Though I’m getting better at that.

10. I can’t wink my right eye, only my left. And I apparently have no control over my right eyebrow.

There you go. 10 useless facts about me. To tide you over until I can really post.

I think I need to take more risks.

(I’m sure this would get a resounding AMEN from my mother at this point, actually. So I’ll pause for that.)

I have never been much of a risk-taker – even as a kid, I think. I was never the one that went the highest up in the climbing tree, or that liked to speed around corners on roller skates (or later, roller blades), or that enjoyed having the older boys in the neighborhood take me on go cart rides careening through the streets. This has led to not liking roller coasters, or downhill skiing, or going too fast in cars.

And I think a lot of it comes down to me needing to have control over what’s going on with me and the things around me. If I don’t feel like I have control over my body when downhill skiing, for example, that removes all of the enjoyment from it, despite the adrenaline rush from the speed. And maybe that means that I just need more experience (and/or lessons), so that I do have a bit more control, but part of me feels like it’s the desire for control in the first place that’s the problem.

I know that I’m not ultimately in control of my life – that’s in God’s hands, and I can say that I trust Him with my life, but am I actually living that? Is my fear showing a lack of faith in God’s ability to rule my life?

(And this totally applies to things less physical than roller coasters as well. Like taking risks with relationships and telling people how I really feel. But that’s a whole other post.)

Now I’m not talking about sky-diving or base jumping or anything crazy. But I’m thinking I could use a little more ‘risk’ in my life. Maybe a roller coaster at the fair this week? or pulling out the roller blades for some roller derby-style racing? or heading up to Virginia for some downhill skiing when it turns chillier? I am open to suggestions for my risky-ness. What do you think?

I seem to oscillate in my music choices for running lately – between music with a really strong beat, and music with really strong lyrics. Sometimes I need the push of the rhythm to keep me moving when I feel like quitting, and then sometimes I need to have something other than my own thoughts to focus on, words that draw me away from all the stuff cluttering up my life. So tonight when I started my run (2 miles, woo!), I began with (and continued with) Indelible Grace. I love the depth of the lyrics, written long ago, but now set to different, beautiful melodies. This one especially struck me tonight, so I’m sharing it with you. It was just the thing I needed to hear tonight, so maybe it will be just the thing you need to hear too.

Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On Thee, when sorrows rise
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies
To Thee I tell each rising grief,
For Thou alone canst heal
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel

But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call Thee mine
The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline
Yet gracious God, where shall I flee?
Thou art my only trust
And still my soul would cleave to Thee
Though prostrate in the dust

Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face,
And shall I seek in vain?
And can the ear of sovereign grace,
Be deaf when I complain?
No still the ear of sovereign grace,
Attends the mourner’s prayer
Oh may I ever find access,
To breathe my sorrows there

Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet,
Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet