Song I'm Digging This Week

"Running away won't change anything - it only puts it off.
Stand on the spot - work out where you are and take it all from there."

I've loved The Swell Season since I became obsessed with their amazing, had-me-speechless movie "Once" a few years ago.

It also impresses me that even though this duo broke up as romantic partners (still kills me! I think they were so perfect together), they were able to stay together as a band and channel all that breakup heartache into gorgeous music.


"The Verb" - The Swell Season

Um...

I want this:

available here

Book #10: Permission to Speak Freely

Permission to Speak Freely by Anne Jackson

I heard Anne Jackson speak about this book at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta last year, and I was intrigued by the title and thought behind it.

This book began with one question that Jackson asked on her blog:

"What's the one thing you feel like you can't say at church?"

The response was overwhelming. Confessions started pouring in - affairs, disbelief, addictions, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, depression, anger, and a myriad of other struggles that church members felt they couldn't address in their places of worship without judgment.

Jackson is unbelievably candid in this book. She speaks frankly about her past addiction to pornography and struggles with disillusionment because of past events.

While I couldn't identify with all her confessions, I so related to her feelings of bitterness at church congregations for their treatment of her family. Just like Jackson, my father is a minister, and my family has been on the receiving end of a lot of unfair treatment due to my dad's job. Preacher's children are supposed to just turn the other cheek while some people feel comfortable saying whatever they want about their dad, mom, family, etc. It's tough. It's so, so tempting to want to just walk away from church altogether at times.

I admire Jackon's tenacity and honesty. It's refereshing, and something we could use way more of in Christian circles.

Song I'm Digging This Week

Peter Pan is my favorite fairytale. My dad read the entire book to my little sister and me when we were small, and the magic stuck with me. The first sentence of the book still gives me excited goosebumps:

All children, except one, grow up.

While the movie "Finding Neverland" was oh, so sad, I loved every minute of it. And the soundtrack is a gem, too.


"Neverland (Minor Piano Variation)" - Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (from the "Finding Neverland" soundtrack)

Self Realization #8

If you pronounce the number "six" as "sex" (as in "it costs about sex hundred dollars"), I am not going to like you.

Say it out loud. Trust me. It's annoying.

Song I'm Digging This Week

"That's no way to live - all tangled up like balls of string..."

I've had a depressing week so far - boy trouble mixed with job frustration. I'm in desperate need of like-minded music.

This song suits my mood perfectly. Pass the Kleenex, please.


"A Light on a Hill" - Margot and the Nuclear So & So's

I'd like to needlepoint this on a pillow...and give it to someone I don't like.

She's the sort of woman who lives for others - you can always tell the others by their hunted expression.

- C.S. Lewis, from The Screwtape Letters

And we all know at least one woman like that, don't we? Of course, if I gave the pillow to the woman I'm thinking about, I'd have to substitute "You're" for "She's."

You know. To really drive my sarcasm and passive-aggressiveness home.

And she couldn't really get mad, because c'mon - it's a C.S. Lewis quote, for Pete's sake.

Right?

Book #9: The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

This was one of the books that Amazon recommends after you've ordered other books in the same genre. Normally I don't pay much attention, but the title grabbed my interest. Reviewers consistently said it was a great "classic" ghost story. I love classic ghost stories. One reviewer said "if you liked the film 'The Others,' then you will love this book."

Sold. I love "The Others."

It was a really quick read - just an hour or so - but oooh, it's chill-inspiring. The main character, Arthur Kipps, is sent to a remote English town to settle the will of a reclusive woman who lived in a house practically in the middle of a marsh. At the woman's funeral, he sees an emaciated woman dressed in black sitting in the back of the church. He sees her again at the graveside service, and initially feels sorry for her, since she looks so pitiful.

That doesn't last long.

I don't want to give away the plot, but I got satisfactory shivers throughout the story. Evidently, there's a new movie version coming out this year with Daniel Radcliffe (of "Harry Potter" fame) playing Arthur Kipps. From the movie stills I found on Google, it looks pretty good. And when did Harry Potter get so British-ly handsome?

Self Realization #7

I do not like hearing people swallow.

Please swallow on the other side of the room.

Thank you.

Song I'm Digging This Week

"There's just a time when we must all let go of the breath that we hold..."

It stormed all afternoon yesterday. Gilbert and I snuggled in bed, listening to the rain and some Maria Taylor, and generally enjoying being melancholy.

And nobody does good melancholy like Maria Taylor.



"Xanax" - Maria Taylor

Fancy Feast

I have been searching in vain for stylish food and water dishes for Gilbert, but I've had absolutely no luck. All I seem to come across are standard ceramic bowls plastered with fish skeletons. So not my style.

So I when I saw this picture here, I did a little happy dance. This idea has never occurred to me - it's so quaint and adorable! Gilbert is about to get way more refined and hoity-toity.



And just because, here's my favorite picture of Gilbert. Yep. He's a precious baby.