Hello, friends. You know the drill.
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
-I've been studying Proverbs for the past week, and may I just say, it's awesome. I love the Bible. It's so awesome. :)
Anyways, the keywords I've found so far are "wisdom", "wicked", "righteous", "life", "understanding", "mouth", "LORD" (SEVENTY TIMES!!), "heart", "fool", and "knowledge". I haven't really determined a key verse... The way the book is structured I'm not sure there is one. However, there's a HUGE concentration of keywords all throughout Chapter 10. So I'm thinking that's significant.
-So I don't know why, but I never thought to ask God for help on tests. I feel like that should have crossed my mind before this week, but it really didn't. But I had a physics test I was worried about, so I prayed about it right before I took it. It's not even that I did a ton better than I normally do (got a B... not bad, but I kinda wanted better), but I wasn't nearly as stressed out while I was taking the test. Which is just oddly comforting to me.
-I've been thinking a lot lately about how it doesn't really matter what people think of you, even if they think good things about you. If everyone thinks you're really faithful or you're doing better than so-and-so or whatever, God judges you by the Book, not by other people. Something to think about.
RANDOM OCCURENCES:
-My bestie Holly is dating a boy. Ah! It's kinda surreal. The best part for me, however, is that I got pink cookies out of it. You know the ones from King Soopers? The delicious ones that are a hundred calories a piece? Yeah. Those cookies. I kinda bet her that they'd be together by the end of the school year... she gets a boy and I get cookies. Win win. :) :)
-Well, first week back... not as bad as expected, but I miss break! Two tests, two quizzes, and a four page paper due on Monday. (Well, I knew about the paper over break... but I didn't know it was due on Monday. Eh. It's a report. Not an essay, a report. We don't have to argue anything. I'm not sure I remember how to not argue anything in a paper.)
-Two days ago marked one month until my AP History test, and tomorrow marks one month until AP Physics... AAAHHHH!! Nah, it'll be okay. I'll survive.
-We put more music on my brother's iPod... he now likes the Beatles and the Avett Brothers. Ahahaha! I had already converted him to Paramore long ago. The boy is well-rounded like his sister. :)
-We read an excellent poem in English. And I'm going to post it now. :)
"George Gray" by Edgar Lee Masters
I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me --
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire --
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.
Isn't that beautiful? I think so. In a tragic sort of way. But still beautiful. Taking risks is hard, but if you don't you'll never truly live.
THE LATEST TRAVESTIES:
-They finally cast Peeta and Gale in the Hunger Games movie... they're going to be Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, respectively. The annoying kid from Bridge to Terabithia is playing my FAVORITE CHARACTER, and the male lead from the Miley Cyrus Nicholas Sparks movie is playing the tough guy. AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! This is right up there with Anne Hathaway being Catwoman. Right up there.
-Donald Trump is running for President. BA to the HA to the HA. Really? How humiliating would it be to say that Donald Trump was our president? I couldn't take him seriously! I mean he gets up for State of the Union and goes, "Members of the Congress... you're fired. You're all fired!" Hehehe. It's so hilariously laughable.
AND AN EXCITEMENT...
I'm really, extremely, massively, wildly, heart-about-to-beat-out-of-my-chest excited to go see the Avett Brothers three months from tomorrow.
Really.
I'm not actually going to post videos, because I would have to post way too many. But I'm going to start listing songs now.
Songs I will be devastated if they don't play:
-Living of Love (haha... like you needed me to tell you that)
-Paranoia in B Major (I adore this song live. It's lovely.)
-The Ballad of Love and Hate (Again... love it live)
-Standing with You (This isn't even on an album! I've only ever seen it on YouTube! They have lots of songs that aren't on albums, apparently, but this is my favorite.)
-Colorshow
-Pretty Girl at the Airport (this is old enough that I don't know that they'll play it... but I really hope they do, because it's stinkin' gorgeous.)
-All My Mistakes
-At the Beach (okay, here's my story about At the Beach... we were at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina for Fourth of July when I was eleven or so. You can buy, like, ANY kind of fireworks there. It was crazy. All the way down the beach as far as you could see in either direction all you could see was fireworks lighting up the sky. "Midnight at the shoreline, fireworks above us, they are screaming blue"... So yeah. That's why I love that song. Not sure why they would play it in a land-locked state, but you never know. Girl can dream.)
-St. Joseph's
-November Blue
-Anything Bob Crawford. I just love Bob Crawford songs.
There are several more that I love and hope they play... but I don't have the time or memory capacity to list them all. Whatever they play, though, I'll be happy. Twenty-some rows away from the Avett Brothers. I'm going to implode from excitement. The only one they really have to play for me is Living of Love. They really do have to play that one.
Allllright, loverlies. That's all I got. Thanks for listening to me ramble about nothing in particular. I just like clearin' out my brain, you know?
Much love.
<3
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Friday, April 8, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Scratching the Itch
I hate this feeling. The "I want to write something but I don't have a clue what to write about" feeling. I don't know if you understand it if you're not a writer, but it's terrible. There's this feeling that wells up inside you so you feel like you're about to burst if you don't just get words out on paper.
That's my fancy way of saying that this is going to be another annoying list post.
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
1. Go read this article I wrote. I don't really know how to explain it, so you should just go read it. It's really cool, I promise. :)
2. Galatians 3:27-- "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." The metaphors in the Bible never cease to amaze me. One: you can't get much closer than your clothes! Two: if you're not wearing clothes, you're naked and you're vulnerable. Clothing ourselves with Christ gives us protection and means we're as close to Christ as we can be. :)
3. On a slightly different note, a God-related rant:
I'm kind of sick of the way the youth in the church are treated; not that we're treated unkindly or anything, but adults act like we can't handle anything deep. Last week I went to a youth rally, and out of the three speakers, there was ONE that I felt like taught me anything new. The other two were about how if we rely on God, He'll help us through life, and how great Heaven is going to be.
REALLY? NO WAY!!
For real, though, tell me something new! Tell me HOW to rely on God!! Dig into the text! We can handle it! \
Even today, I went to the Rocky Mountain Women's Renewal. I felt like we dug in a LOT more, which was awesome, but I think people
assume that if they're talking to teenagers they have to talk about sex and alcohol. Because that's apparently all we struggle with. Honestly, today, we're the girls who got up early on a Saturday morning to come to a church function. Do they really think we're the ones sleeping around and drinking? I mean, come on! It's beginning to seem like being a teenager in the church is all about what NOT to do rather than what to do. And I think that's why we lose so many teenagers in the church. We end up kind of "accidentally" spreading the idea that as long as we're being "good people" we're doing pretty good. Because we're just teenagers. We're not capable of doing anything deeper than being "good."
That being said, youth group classes and devos at my own congregation have been awesome lately. There are several activities I've been to that are an exception to this. Not all teen functions treat us like we're dummies. But... some of them do. And that's my rant. *steps off soapbox*
THINGS I DID THIS WEEK:
1. Turned in my term paper on Tuesday! Woot woot! I was going to post it here, because I think it's really good... but then I realized that's like screaming, "Hey! Free term paper!" to the world. So I actually don't think I will. Bummer.
2. On Wednesday something possessed me to alphabetize every movie we own. I was so proud of myself until I found Big Fish upstairs a day later.
3. Played Improv games in Acting class... I'm bad at it.
4. Brainstormed ideas for a school literary magazine with my friends Jenna, Dani, Jacquie, and Calais!! We're going to call it "Interrobang" (which means "!?") and we're going to have poems, and short stories, and articles, and art, and photographs, and it's going to be so awesome!! I'm probably going to get a blog up sometime in the near future as well. Cross your fingers that administration approves!
5. Learned about JFK in history... my teacher went off on conspiracy theorists. Apparently there are people who don't think Oswald actually
shot him. My history teacher thinks they're idiots. It was pretty funny.
6. FINALLY GOT ON SPRING BREAK!! Party on, peeps.
7. My mom found "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" at Sam's Club. You know, the clay-animation Easter special. One, I discovered that Peter is voiced by Casey Kasem (aka Shaggy from Scooby-Doo), and two, I realized Danny Kaye is the
narrator. (Random fact about me: I love old Danny Kaye movies. The Court Jester is hilarious. "The vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison... but the chalice from the palace holds the brew that is true." Hehe.)
8. Like I said, I attended the Rocky Mountain Women's Renewal today... pretty awesome! Hannah Colley spoke to the teens and I appreciated her bluntness. :)
9. I CLEANED MY ROOM! I have a floor! Who knew? (Yes, it really was that bad. I'm not kidding.)
9. As I'm writing this I'm watching a thing on the History Channel analyzing Star Wars... It's intriguing. Almost every hero story is the same, did you know? Compare them in your head sometime.
10. OH! I had to change my blog layout because my old background decided to stop working. On the downside... I really liked that
background. On the other... I found this awesome font for the titles! It makes me want to write a post simply to see something in that pretty font.
11. Lost my besties Holly and Aimee to SYD tour... Miss you guys! Come back to me soon!
THINGS I'M GOING TO DO THIS WEEK:
1. SLEEEEEEP! A lot. I like to sleep.
2. I'm having two of my besties over for a sleepover tomorrow... we're gonna watch movies and eat ice cream and then go modest dress shopping for prom alternative! (Which is NOT prom by the way... In case you didn't know. Our youth group is doing an alternative where we all go someplace nice to eat and dress up nice and stuff. Yay! No dancing. I'm a good girl. No drama either--I'm going stag. But I still want a pretty dress.)
3. Mom and I are having our friend Sheryl over to watch chick flicks! Yay!
4. A bunch of us are throwing around the idea of going to the zoo sometime? I don't know, but I hope we get to know. I like the zoo.
5. I'm going to watch movies. Specifically Tuck Everlasting and Peter Pan (the Universal version, not the Disney one.) And probably a few more.
Alright, Bloggerverse. I'm tired, and I have scratched my writing itch. Much love.
<3
That's my fancy way of saying that this is going to be another annoying list post.
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
1. Go read this article I wrote. I don't really know how to explain it, so you should just go read it. It's really cool, I promise. :)
2. Galatians 3:27-- "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." The metaphors in the Bible never cease to amaze me. One: you can't get much closer than your clothes! Two: if you're not wearing clothes, you're naked and you're vulnerable. Clothing ourselves with Christ gives us protection and means we're as close to Christ as we can be. :)
3. On a slightly different note, a God-related rant:
I'm kind of sick of the way the youth in the church are treated; not that we're treated unkindly or anything, but adults act like we can't handle anything deep. Last week I went to a youth rally, and out of the three speakers, there was ONE that I felt like taught me anything new. The other two were about how if we rely on God, He'll help us through life, and how great Heaven is going to be.
REALLY? NO WAY!!
For real, though, tell me something new! Tell me HOW to rely on God!! Dig into the text! We can handle it! \
Even today, I went to the Rocky Mountain Women's Renewal. I felt like we dug in a LOT more, which was awesome, but I think people
assume that if they're talking to teenagers they have to talk about sex and alcohol. Because that's apparently all we struggle with. Honestly, today, we're the girls who got up early on a Saturday morning to come to a church function. Do they really think we're the ones sleeping around and drinking? I mean, come on! It's beginning to seem like being a teenager in the church is all about what NOT to do rather than what to do. And I think that's why we lose so many teenagers in the church. We end up kind of "accidentally" spreading the idea that as long as we're being "good people" we're doing pretty good. Because we're just teenagers. We're not capable of doing anything deeper than being "good."
That being said, youth group classes and devos at my own congregation have been awesome lately. There are several activities I've been to that are an exception to this. Not all teen functions treat us like we're dummies. But... some of them do. And that's my rant. *steps off soapbox*
THINGS I DID THIS WEEK:
1. Turned in my term paper on Tuesday! Woot woot! I was going to post it here, because I think it's really good... but then I realized that's like screaming, "Hey! Free term paper!" to the world. So I actually don't think I will. Bummer.
2. On Wednesday something possessed me to alphabetize every movie we own. I was so proud of myself until I found Big Fish upstairs a day later.
3. Played Improv games in Acting class... I'm bad at it.
4. Brainstormed ideas for a school literary magazine with my friends Jenna, Dani, Jacquie, and Calais!! We're going to call it "Interrobang" (which means "!?") and we're going to have poems, and short stories, and articles, and art, and photographs, and it's going to be so awesome!! I'm probably going to get a blog up sometime in the near future as well. Cross your fingers that administration approves!
5. Learned about JFK in history... my teacher went off on conspiracy theorists. Apparently there are people who don't think Oswald actually
shot him. My history teacher thinks they're idiots. It was pretty funny.
6. FINALLY GOT ON SPRING BREAK!! Party on, peeps.
7. My mom found "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" at Sam's Club. You know, the clay-animation Easter special. One, I discovered that Peter is voiced by Casey Kasem (aka Shaggy from Scooby-Doo), and two, I realized Danny Kaye is the
narrator. (Random fact about me: I love old Danny Kaye movies. The Court Jester is hilarious. "The vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison... but the chalice from the palace holds the brew that is true." Hehe.)
8. Like I said, I attended the Rocky Mountain Women's Renewal today... pretty awesome! Hannah Colley spoke to the teens and I appreciated her bluntness. :)
9. I CLEANED MY ROOM! I have a floor! Who knew? (Yes, it really was that bad. I'm not kidding.)
9. As I'm writing this I'm watching a thing on the History Channel analyzing Star Wars... It's intriguing. Almost every hero story is the same, did you know? Compare them in your head sometime.
10. OH! I had to change my blog layout because my old background decided to stop working. On the downside... I really liked that
background. On the other... I found this awesome font for the titles! It makes me want to write a post simply to see something in that pretty font.
11. Lost my besties Holly and Aimee to SYD tour... Miss you guys! Come back to me soon!
THINGS I'M GOING TO DO THIS WEEK:
1. SLEEEEEEP! A lot. I like to sleep.
2. I'm having two of my besties over for a sleepover tomorrow... we're gonna watch movies and eat ice cream and then go modest dress shopping for prom alternative! (Which is NOT prom by the way... In case you didn't know. Our youth group is doing an alternative where we all go someplace nice to eat and dress up nice and stuff. Yay! No dancing. I'm a good girl. No drama either--I'm going stag. But I still want a pretty dress.)
3. Mom and I are having our friend Sheryl over to watch chick flicks! Yay!
4. A bunch of us are throwing around the idea of going to the zoo sometime? I don't know, but I hope we get to know. I like the zoo.
5. I'm going to watch movies. Specifically Tuck Everlasting and Peter Pan (the Universal version, not the Disney one.) And probably a few more.
Alright, Bloggerverse. I'm tired, and I have scratched my writing itch. Much love.
<3
Friday, March 11, 2011
Legacy
When the atomic bomb went off in Hiroshima, Japan at the end of World War II, it literally burned shadows into the surfaces that weren't themselves flammable. This picture to the right was taken in the 1960s, nearly twenty years after the dropping of the bomb. The heat was so intense that the shadows created a cool spot, so the impression left stood out from the rest of the carnage in terms of how much it was burned. The people and things who cast the shadows were effectually vaporized, but their shadows remained behind.
This man, without even trying to, shielded the space under him from the heat, and it created a lasting impression on that space, even though he has been gone for over sixty years now. How much more can we do when we intentionally try to leave people with the impact of the gospel?
Leave a legacy.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Memoirs of an Injured Blogger
It's 1:33 p.m. on a Monday. My school classes are in session right now. And I'm NOT THERE.
Words can't express to you how incredibly weird this is to me. I'm the "perfect attendance" kid. I haven't missed a day in three years, and before that I hadn't missed in about four (excluding my trip to Africa). So this is a little weird.
Yesterday I bent over to do something and my back started hurting. Like, really bad. So bad I ended up coming home from the library EARLY! (To fully realize what a travesty this is, see here.) I have no clue what I did... it's not like I'm overly athletic or anything like that. But whatever I did, it hurts ridiculously bad to move from about my lower back down or put much weight at all on my right leg. (Seriously. I couldn't put on my own socks this morning.) So I went to school for the first four classes (because I really can't afford to miss either of my AP classes) and then came home. I've done all my homework. I'm not going to the chiropractor for another couple hours. (I'm kinda scared of the chiropractor. It sounds scary. I've been assured, however, that she's not going to stick me with needles, so hopefully I'll survive.) I'm supposed to be off my back, which means sitting or laying down.
So I'll blog. Hi friends. :)
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
1. Another snippet of Dad's John study: the best translation of John 14:2 is "In my Father's house are many rooms," not "many mansions." It's all one house! And it's GOD'S HOUSE! God's like, "Hey, come stay with Me. In My house." DUDE!!! That's exciting.
2. I had a cool idea last night. I'm going to start writing a Bible verse on my hand every week about something that I need to work on. In Sharpie. This is this week's:
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
My prayer life has gotten a lot better, but I still need to step it up. I tend to pray every night and then whenever I need something, but I almost never pray any other time. I love how the "pray" part of this verse is sandwiched in between "rejoice" and "give thanks." So this will remind me to pray for the good things!
The idea is it won't come off until the latter part of the week, and by the time it starts wearing off whatever it is I'm working on will be more instinctive and I won't need the reminder so much. And the next week I move to something else! So... yeah!
LIFE IN GENERAL:
1. Take a real good look at this, America...
Because this is your Melissa for the NEXT THIRTY-ONE DAYS!! Yeeehhsss, it's that time of year again, ladies and gentlemen! NO! MAKEUP! MARCH!
Ok, it's not as exciting as I'm making it sound. It's actually a little exasperating at times. But you know what? I'm beautiful. (gasp.) Without makeup. (Double gasp.) Whether you think so or not! Hahaha! I WIN, America!
So yeah. No makeup. I'll probably talk more about that later.
2. I have an article due tomorrow for Come Fill Your Cup... and I think I'm gonna do it on No Makeup March. Yup. One track mind.
3. My back. That's eventful. But I already talked about that.
4. Saturday I had a mommy daughter day with my momma. I love her. :)
I wish I could relate to you just how fun it is to hang out with my mom. She's one of my best friends. She's just one of those people where there's no awkward silences. You're always talking, and any silences are comfortable silences. You know, a best friend. :)
... So it's obviously not about what we bought. But we bought some cool stuff. And that's much easier to blog about with clarity.
This is my charm bracelet:
I've had it since about June (my dear friend Bri gave it to me) and we've been adding charms since. My mom has one too, so it's kind of our "thing."
From left to right:
-A laptop, because I write and blog profusely
-a "Sisters" bead from Bri. :)
-A piece of sweet potato pie, because my mom calls me Sweet Potato. (Yes, Mom, I did just broadcast that to the world. Never say I don't love you.)
-A pretty bead I just liked because it looked like a crown (new Saturday)
-A music note, because I'm ADDICTED to my music (the little heart says "Music fills my heart") (also new Saturday)
-A "Friends" bead, also from Bri
-And an "m". For obvious reasons. (Also new Saturday).
Yeah. I'm a fan of my charm bracelet. :)
We also went to Panera (awweessoommeee!) and Borders (which is CLOSING!!) and Penney's, where I got a really cute outfit. But I'm not currently wearing it, and I'm too lazy-I-mean-in-pain to get up and change that. So no picture on this one.
5. I love my friends. I have the best friends ever. Sometimes I need a reality check to really realize just how blessed I am, and my latest reality check told me that my friends are awesome. So I love you all. :)
A SMALL TASTE OF WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND....
Okay. Bear with me here.
I don't believe in aliens. That is to say, I don't believe in intelligent life forms on other planets. If there were life forms on other planets, Jesus would have had to come to die for them all on every planet, and we know He didn't do that.
HOWEVER.
I think unintelligent life forms are completely plausible.
By unintelligent life, I mean animals. But space animals. I mean, really! There could be space monsters running around in space and we just haven't found any yet. Still don't think we should be putting even CLOSE to as much tax money as we are into "extraterrestrial research", but I kind of really hope we find space beasts.
Sigh. This is what happens when I watch Star Trek.
COMMENTING ON THE ACTION...
The Oscars give me much more hope for the artistic taste of our culture than the Grammies do. That being said... I still don't have that much hope. In what world is a flick about a psycho-schizophrenic ballerina going up against a John Wayne remake for Best Picture? Sigh. (Note: The only best picture nominee I've actually seen was Toy Story 3. But the mere fact that Toy Story 3 was up for Best Picture brings me hope.)
I didn't actually watch the Grammies, and I didn't see really any of the movies, so I don't actually have much more to say on the matter. Toy Story won Best Animated Picture and Best Original Song (for a great song... Randy Newman just can't really go wrong on Toy Story songs). Alice in Wonderland won Best Costumes (for good reason... the costuming was incredible.) I know Inception didn't get much acclaim, which surprises me seeing how many people raved about it. (I wouldn't know, as I still haven't seen it... someone's supposed to lend it to me soon.) But honestly, if we're gonna be real...
This whole section was just an excuse to show you this video.
Ahahahaha! I haven't even seen Inception and that's hilarious. I like how Ken looks just a little bit like Leonardo DiCaprio. Enough that it intensely amuses me. They've got the same hair.
Oh goodness! This may be even better...
Bahahahaha. Oh dear. I need to get off YouTube. Anyways..
COMING SOON...
I'm trying out for the Jeopardy Teen Tournament tomorrow. It's an online test. Cross your fingers for me! I tried out last year and didn't make it... which is obnoxious, because the show is SO STINKIN' EASY. I could dominate. Provided I passed the personality test, which is iffy. (Yeah, they make you take a personality test. If you're not likeable enough you don't get on Jeopardy. How stupid.) But yeah. Think of me tomorrow at seven!
That's really all I have, lovelies. Thanks for keeping me entertained for a while. Now off to the chiropractor... Sigh. Much love.
<3
Author's note: The chiropractor helped a TON. I feel much, much better. I'm sure the prayers helped more than the chiropractor did! :)
Words can't express to you how incredibly weird this is to me. I'm the "perfect attendance" kid. I haven't missed a day in three years, and before that I hadn't missed in about four (excluding my trip to Africa). So this is a little weird.
Yesterday I bent over to do something and my back started hurting. Like, really bad. So bad I ended up coming home from the library EARLY! (To fully realize what a travesty this is, see here.) I have no clue what I did... it's not like I'm overly athletic or anything like that. But whatever I did, it hurts ridiculously bad to move from about my lower back down or put much weight at all on my right leg. (Seriously. I couldn't put on my own socks this morning.) So I went to school for the first four classes (because I really can't afford to miss either of my AP classes) and then came home. I've done all my homework. I'm not going to the chiropractor for another couple hours. (I'm kinda scared of the chiropractor. It sounds scary. I've been assured, however, that she's not going to stick me with needles, so hopefully I'll survive.) I'm supposed to be off my back, which means sitting or laying down.
So I'll blog. Hi friends. :)
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
1. Another snippet of Dad's John study: the best translation of John 14:2 is "In my Father's house are many rooms," not "many mansions." It's all one house! And it's GOD'S HOUSE! God's like, "Hey, come stay with Me. In My house." DUDE!!! That's exciting.
2. I had a cool idea last night. I'm going to start writing a Bible verse on my hand every week about something that I need to work on. In Sharpie. This is this week's:
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
My prayer life has gotten a lot better, but I still need to step it up. I tend to pray every night and then whenever I need something, but I almost never pray any other time. I love how the "pray" part of this verse is sandwiched in between "rejoice" and "give thanks." So this will remind me to pray for the good things!
The idea is it won't come off until the latter part of the week, and by the time it starts wearing off whatever it is I'm working on will be more instinctive and I won't need the reminder so much. And the next week I move to something else! So... yeah!
LIFE IN GENERAL:
1. Take a real good look at this, America...
Because this is your Melissa for the NEXT THIRTY-ONE DAYS!! Yeeehhsss, it's that time of year again, ladies and gentlemen! NO! MAKEUP! MARCH!
Ok, it's not as exciting as I'm making it sound. It's actually a little exasperating at times. But you know what? I'm beautiful. (gasp.) Without makeup. (Double gasp.) Whether you think so or not! Hahaha! I WIN, America!
So yeah. No makeup. I'll probably talk more about that later.
2. I have an article due tomorrow for Come Fill Your Cup... and I think I'm gonna do it on No Makeup March. Yup. One track mind.
3. My back. That's eventful. But I already talked about that.
4. Saturday I had a mommy daughter day with my momma. I love her. :)
I wish I could relate to you just how fun it is to hang out with my mom. She's one of my best friends. She's just one of those people where there's no awkward silences. You're always talking, and any silences are comfortable silences. You know, a best friend. :)
... So it's obviously not about what we bought. But we bought some cool stuff. And that's much easier to blog about with clarity.
This is my charm bracelet:
I've had it since about June (my dear friend Bri gave it to me) and we've been adding charms since. My mom has one too, so it's kind of our "thing."
From left to right:
-A laptop, because I write and blog profusely
-a "Sisters" bead from Bri. :)
-A piece of sweet potato pie, because my mom calls me Sweet Potato. (Yes, Mom, I did just broadcast that to the world. Never say I don't love you.)
-A pretty bead I just liked because it looked like a crown (new Saturday)
-A music note, because I'm ADDICTED to my music (the little heart says "Music fills my heart") (also new Saturday)
-A "Friends" bead, also from Bri
-And an "m". For obvious reasons. (Also new Saturday).
Yeah. I'm a fan of my charm bracelet. :)
We also went to Panera (awweessoommeee!) and Borders (which is CLOSING!!) and Penney's, where I got a really cute outfit. But I'm not currently wearing it, and I'm too lazy-I-mean-in-pain to get up and change that. So no picture on this one.
5. I love my friends. I have the best friends ever. Sometimes I need a reality check to really realize just how blessed I am, and my latest reality check told me that my friends are awesome. So I love you all. :)
A SMALL TASTE OF WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND....
Okay. Bear with me here.
I don't believe in aliens. That is to say, I don't believe in intelligent life forms on other planets. If there were life forms on other planets, Jesus would have had to come to die for them all on every planet, and we know He didn't do that.
HOWEVER.
I think unintelligent life forms are completely plausible.
By unintelligent life, I mean animals. But space animals. I mean, really! There could be space monsters running around in space and we just haven't found any yet. Still don't think we should be putting even CLOSE to as much tax money as we are into "extraterrestrial research", but I kind of really hope we find space beasts.
Sigh. This is what happens when I watch Star Trek.
COMMENTING ON THE ACTION...
The Oscars give me much more hope for the artistic taste of our culture than the Grammies do. That being said... I still don't have that much hope. In what world is a flick about a psycho-schizophrenic ballerina going up against a John Wayne remake for Best Picture? Sigh. (Note: The only best picture nominee I've actually seen was Toy Story 3. But the mere fact that Toy Story 3 was up for Best Picture brings me hope.)
I didn't actually watch the Grammies, and I didn't see really any of the movies, so I don't actually have much more to say on the matter. Toy Story won Best Animated Picture and Best Original Song (for a great song... Randy Newman just can't really go wrong on Toy Story songs). Alice in Wonderland won Best Costumes (for good reason... the costuming was incredible.) I know Inception didn't get much acclaim, which surprises me seeing how many people raved about it. (I wouldn't know, as I still haven't seen it... someone's supposed to lend it to me soon.) But honestly, if we're gonna be real...
This whole section was just an excuse to show you this video.
Ahahahaha! I haven't even seen Inception and that's hilarious. I like how Ken looks just a little bit like Leonardo DiCaprio. Enough that it intensely amuses me. They've got the same hair.
Oh goodness! This may be even better...
Bahahahaha. Oh dear. I need to get off YouTube. Anyways..
COMING SOON...
I'm trying out for the Jeopardy Teen Tournament tomorrow. It's an online test. Cross your fingers for me! I tried out last year and didn't make it... which is obnoxious, because the show is SO STINKIN' EASY. I could dominate. Provided I passed the personality test, which is iffy. (Yeah, they make you take a personality test. If you're not likeable enough you don't get on Jeopardy. How stupid.) But yeah. Think of me tomorrow at seven!
That's really all I have, lovelies. Thanks for keeping me entertained for a while. Now off to the chiropractor... Sigh. Much love.
<3
Author's note: The chiropractor helped a TON. I feel much, much better. I'm sure the prayers helped more than the chiropractor did! :)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
A Week in Retrospect
In the immortal words of Little Bill, "Hello, friend." :D
It's been a long week, despite the fact that I'm now going into a four day weekend. (Joy! Rapture!) Some weeks are easier to get through than others, but this was a hard one. My brain is fried. I don't have the energy to write anything that sounds good. So I'ma gonna write lists.
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
1. Alright, so on Monday, my locker was jammed. And I mean, JAMMED. That thing was not going to open. I was going to be late for class. I was so incredibly frustrated. I'd kicked the locker three times already and it just wasn't going to budge.
So I prayed about it. And the very next time I tried, my locker opened without a hitch. There are people dying and people being born and people with all kinds of issues all over the world praying to God, and He still has the time to deal with my stupid locker problem. That amazes me.
2. In Matthew 26, Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross, and when Judas kisses him to betray him, He says, "Friend, do what you have come for" (Matthew 26:50). Friend. He's sending Him to His death, and He calls him friend! That's incredible to me.
3. In John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Two cool thoughts about that (courtesy of my daddy): first, He waited four days after Lazarus' death to bring him back. The Jewish culture by this point believed that the spirit lingered around the body for THREE days after one's death trying to get back into the body (not inspired, obviously, but it's in the Mishna.) So Jesus waited FOUR days to make sure no one could think that it was just the spirit getting back into the body. Cool. Secondly, verse 44 of that chapter says "The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings." It's not until after he's out of the tomb that Jesus tells the people to untie him! So he had to FLOAT out of the tomb. Sweetness.
CURRENT EVENTS:
1. The Grammies upset me. Justin Bieber was nominated? Really? Lady Gaga won best album?? Really? was Modern music. It makes me weep. Bitterly. However, there is hope. Because Mumford and Sons performed with my boys THE AVETT BROTHERS!! (Who immediately jumped to the number 2 album on iTunes, and are still in the top ten.) At last the world catches on. And I have the distinction of saying I caught on before that happened. :) Anyways, they were amazing. I love how the best performance on the entire awards show came from a group that wasn't nominated. *shakes head*
2. I don't watch TV that much. I watch Food Network, Boy Meets World, That Girl (on DVD), and Jeopardy. So, needless to say, I was pleased to witness the historical moment in television that was the Jeopardy IBM Challenge. You have to understand that I've been watching Jeopardy for YEARS. I saw the entire Ken Jennings run (except for the day he lost... and yes, I'm still a little bitter about that). So seeing a COMPUTER beat Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, by a ridiculously large margin, was... wow. I'm torn between appreciating the progress of science and fearing the digression in our quality of life once the robots take over. It's a good thing Ken Jenning's facial expressions provided some comic relief.
SCHOOL:
1. On Wednesday I had a big physics test. I got an 89 on it. In AP, that's a big deal for me. Small victories. They make me happy. :)
2. Also on Wednesday, I had to perform a fight scene in Acting. We've been doing stage combat for the last week or so, and that was our combination. It works well in large public settings too. I "slapped" Aimee in the break room at the church building on Wednesday night and confused everyone. Great fun.
3. We're FINALLY done talking about Huckleberry Finn. That being said, my rant on the censorship of the n-word: I would never use that word. I get that it's offensive to a lot of people. But if it offends you, don't read it! Don't tamper with a classic like that. First, Twain uses that word to strengthen his satire; he's not using it to degrade or offend. Secondly, if you take it out, you lose a piece of the history the book represents. As is, it's realistic and true to the time. Take that away and the novel loses a ton. That's my thought. *steps off soapbox*
4. Registered for classes: AP Biology, AP English, AP Latin, AP Calculus (the only one I'm not excited about... but I have to take it), Government/Econ, and Concert Choir. (Concert Choir is audition, so we'll see if I make it! Be crossing your fingers for me!)
MISCELLANEOUS:
1. I found Tuck Everlasting at Sam's Club. I've been looking for that movie FOREVER (well, for the last year). It may be one of the only movies that I like better than the book. In the book, the heroine is about twelve, but in the movie she's older, so there's romance. And I'm one of the biggest saps on the planet. Anyways, good movie.
2. I didn't have enough present injustices to make this a whole category, but I definitely have one. Gnomeo and Juliet. Need I say more? Yes. I need say more. Shakespeare is rolling over in his grave. Screaming. Angrily. (On a side note, fall play next year is Romeo and Juliet. Ha.)
2. This song has been stuck in my head all week:
Ah. I love Adam Young.
And this one....
(I think I've posted that exact video before but it just don't get any better than that. I can't believe that sounds even better live than it does on the CD.)
And this one... because it's cute and catchy. And is going to be the backdrop for the script me and Aimee are going to write for Script Frenzy.
And since I'm on YouTube, here's a hilarious video I found quite a while ago and just didn't ever bother to share with you.
Yeeeaaahhhh, I'm even nerdier than you thought, ain't I?
Sigh. As my mom would say, "I guess I don't know much." Thanks for keepin' up with me. Much love.
<3
It's been a long week, despite the fact that I'm now going into a four day weekend. (Joy! Rapture!) Some weeks are easier to get through than others, but this was a hard one. My brain is fried. I don't have the energy to write anything that sounds good. So I'ma gonna write lists.
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
1. Alright, so on Monday, my locker was jammed. And I mean, JAMMED. That thing was not going to open. I was going to be late for class. I was so incredibly frustrated. I'd kicked the locker three times already and it just wasn't going to budge.
So I prayed about it. And the very next time I tried, my locker opened without a hitch. There are people dying and people being born and people with all kinds of issues all over the world praying to God, and He still has the time to deal with my stupid locker problem. That amazes me.
2. In Matthew 26, Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross, and when Judas kisses him to betray him, He says, "Friend, do what you have come for" (Matthew 26:50). Friend. He's sending Him to His death, and He calls him friend! That's incredible to me.
3. In John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Two cool thoughts about that (courtesy of my daddy): first, He waited four days after Lazarus' death to bring him back. The Jewish culture by this point believed that the spirit lingered around the body for THREE days after one's death trying to get back into the body (not inspired, obviously, but it's in the Mishna.) So Jesus waited FOUR days to make sure no one could think that it was just the spirit getting back into the body. Cool. Secondly, verse 44 of that chapter says "The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings." It's not until after he's out of the tomb that Jesus tells the people to untie him! So he had to FLOAT out of the tomb. Sweetness.
CURRENT EVENTS:
1. The Grammies upset me. Justin Bieber was nominated? Really? Lady Gaga won best album?? Really? was Modern music. It makes me weep. Bitterly. However, there is hope. Because Mumford and Sons performed with my boys THE AVETT BROTHERS!! (Who immediately jumped to the number 2 album on iTunes, and are still in the top ten.) At last the world catches on. And I have the distinction of saying I caught on before that happened. :) Anyways, they were amazing. I love how the best performance on the entire awards show came from a group that wasn't nominated. *shakes head*
2. I don't watch TV that much. I watch Food Network, Boy Meets World, That Girl (on DVD), and Jeopardy. So, needless to say, I was pleased to witness the historical moment in television that was the Jeopardy IBM Challenge. You have to understand that I've been watching Jeopardy for YEARS. I saw the entire Ken Jennings run (except for the day he lost... and yes, I'm still a little bitter about that). So seeing a COMPUTER beat Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, by a ridiculously large margin, was... wow. I'm torn between appreciating the progress of science and fearing the digression in our quality of life once the robots take over. It's a good thing Ken Jenning's facial expressions provided some comic relief.
SCHOOL:
1. On Wednesday I had a big physics test. I got an 89 on it. In AP, that's a big deal for me. Small victories. They make me happy. :)
2. Also on Wednesday, I had to perform a fight scene in Acting. We've been doing stage combat for the last week or so, and that was our combination. It works well in large public settings too. I "slapped" Aimee in the break room at the church building on Wednesday night and confused everyone. Great fun.
3. We're FINALLY done talking about Huckleberry Finn. That being said, my rant on the censorship of the n-word: I would never use that word. I get that it's offensive to a lot of people. But if it offends you, don't read it! Don't tamper with a classic like that. First, Twain uses that word to strengthen his satire; he's not using it to degrade or offend. Secondly, if you take it out, you lose a piece of the history the book represents. As is, it's realistic and true to the time. Take that away and the novel loses a ton. That's my thought. *steps off soapbox*
4. Registered for classes: AP Biology, AP English, AP Latin, AP Calculus (the only one I'm not excited about... but I have to take it), Government/Econ, and Concert Choir. (Concert Choir is audition, so we'll see if I make it! Be crossing your fingers for me!)
MISCELLANEOUS:
1. I found Tuck Everlasting at Sam's Club. I've been looking for that movie FOREVER (well, for the last year). It may be one of the only movies that I like better than the book. In the book, the heroine is about twelve, but in the movie she's older, so there's romance. And I'm one of the biggest saps on the planet. Anyways, good movie.
2. I didn't have enough present injustices to make this a whole category, but I definitely have one. Gnomeo and Juliet. Need I say more? Yes. I need say more. Shakespeare is rolling over in his grave. Screaming. Angrily. (On a side note, fall play next year is Romeo and Juliet. Ha.)
2. This song has been stuck in my head all week:
Ah. I love Adam Young.
And this one....
(I think I've posted that exact video before but it just don't get any better than that. I can't believe that sounds even better live than it does on the CD.)
And this one... because it's cute and catchy. And is going to be the backdrop for the script me and Aimee are going to write for Script Frenzy.
And since I'm on YouTube, here's a hilarious video I found quite a while ago and just didn't ever bother to share with you.
Yeeeaaahhhh, I'm even nerdier than you thought, ain't I?
Sigh. As my mom would say, "I guess I don't know much." Thanks for keepin' up with me. Much love.
<3
Friday, January 21, 2011
Rants and Ramblings
Hey there Bloggerverse. Nice to see you.
It's been a while since I made lists. And I miss that. So here you go. Lists. :)
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
-The way God answers prayer. Oh wow. My congregation had a prayer session last Saturday night about Thinking Souls, asking for opportunities to reach people and the courage to talk to them and all that stuff, right? THE NEXT MORNING there are two teen girls visiting. So we asked them to sit with us up front where we usually sit and told them about the devo after worship that night. And they CAME! And now I'm texting them and they're coming to our Girls' Retreat tonight. Awesome. God doesn't hesitate to give you opportunities if you're asking for them and looking for them!
-The Gospel of Mark is an awesome book. Fact. I love the use of "Immediately" throughout the book. I wrote an article on it, actually, if you want to go check it out.
-"Thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools." (C.S. Lewis). But that's so not what humility is! Pride is all a matter of keeping yourself in perspective. It's okay to appreciate your talents and rejoice in them, but it's when you start putting yourself in a place you don't belong (i.e. above others or even above God) that it's a problem. If you remember your talents are coming from God, and not you, and that God has given everybody equally awesome talents (even though they're not all the same), you oughta be fine. Yeah. Rant.
-Would you think twice about saving a complete stranger who was drowning if you knew for a fact you could save them? No? Then how come we do that almost every day? How many hundreds of souls do we pass right by in a week without saying a word to them? How many people do we write off as "complete strangers" and so decide not to share the gospel with them? Just a thought.
NEW GOALS:
-Weekly posting on Christ Crossed My Heart. And not the same articles I send to Come Fill Your Cup.
-Deeper study in my articles.
-Chapter a week on my book (more on that later).
-Chapter a week on my still-in-progress novel (but that's last on my list of priorities at this point).
FUN STUFF:
-Girls' day out with my mommy last Saturday. I love hanging out with her. She's the coolest. :) And, this day resulted in my purchase of a new hair flower, some chopsticks to do up my hair with, the complete works of William Shakespeare (for THREE BUCKS!) and a one volume Lord of the Rings trilogy (for two bucks). Oh! And Valentines! Hehehe. I won't tell you what's on them because some of you are getting them (hemhemhem Holly and Aimee). But suffice it to say that I'm pretty stoked about their awesomeness.
-Girls' Retreat tonight into tomorrow! I'm stoked. This is the fourth year in a row I've gone and they're always really great and uplifting. Love it.
NEW MUSIC:
-I gotta LOT of iTunes money for Christmas. And I'm quite happy about it. So I recently acquired Four Thieves Gone, The Gleam, and The Second Gleam all by the Avetts. (And Four Thieves was only $3.94 on Amazon. I am the bargain queen.) Oooooohhhh man. I always think I love the Avetts as much as is possible until I get a new CD and then I fall in love all over again. Quick favorite song run through (by track listing):
Four Thieves Gone:
1. Talk on Indolence, even though I like it better live. I like the odd little drum in the background starting at the "I've grown too aware of my mortality" part. That's not in the live version.
3. Colorshow-- because this is just a great song.
5. Sixteen in July-- because it's beautiful.
7. A Lover Like You-- Because it's cute.
8. Pretend Love-- Alright, this is only on this list because I love WHERE they put it on the album. The song itself probably isn't my favorite but you listen to the sugary sweet "Lover Like You" and then this comes on and you feel like he's talking about everything he said in the last song. Maybe they didn't even do that on purpose, I don't know, but if they did they're BRILLIANT!
10. The Lowering (A Sad Day in Greenville)-- The melody on this is just indescribably beautiful and the lyrics make me want to cry.
12. Famous Flower of Manhattan-- I've actually had this one for a long time. It was one of the first Avett songs I ever heard and the first time I listened to it I cried. I love how the Avetts can do that. They get under your skin and into your heart before you even know what happened.
13. 40 East-- This is my current favorite Avett song, I think. Maybe. I don't know, I have too many. But it's beautiful. Bob Crawford rocks. I LOVE Bob Crawford songs. They should let him sing more often.
The Gleam:
2. When I Drink-- I talked about this one in my Live Volume 3 post but it's just unbelievably good. Enough said. (And again. It's not really about drinking. It's about LIFE.)
3. Yardsale-- This is just a cool song. I can't put my finger on exactly why I like it so much, but it's good.
4. If It's the Beaches-- If you listen to this song and it has absolutely no effect on you... check your pulse. Oh wow. Gorgeous. I love how they put phone messages in songs. They did that with "Pretty Girl from Chile" on Emotionalism too. I do hope they're real phone messages and not fake studio recorded ones. Being that it's the Avetts, I'm pretty sure they're legit.
The Second Gleam:
1. Tear Down the House-- "And I remember cryin' over you, and I don't mean a couple of tears and I'm blue. I'm talking 'bout collapsing and screamin' at the moon..." Poetry. Pure poetry.
2. Murder in the City-- Just listen to it. It's a good song.
3. Bella Donna- This is just a beautiful, beautiful melody line. And a belladonna is also a poisonous flower. Which I doubt is a coincidence.
6. St. Joseph's-- There's a St. Joseph's hospital downtown. I doubt it's the same one they're talking about, but there is! Haha. But for real, this is a gorgeous song. "It's not where I am, it's who I'm with."
In other music news, I discovered Florence + the Machine and Blitzen Trapper. Neither of which are a thing like the Avetts. Well, Blitzen Trapper CAN be. But they're not ALL the time.
MISCELLANEOUS INJUSTICES:
-Lady Gaga. Katy Perry. Justin Bieber. What do all these freakshows have in common? They're ALL GRAMMY NOMINEES. Proving that the Grammies have ceased to mean a thing when it comes to talent, depth, or musical quality. Boo.
-The Dark Knight Rises casting is out. First, Johnny Depp is NOT in fact playing the Riddler, which is an injustice against me. (The Riddler's not even in it. I'm mad at whoever started that rumor and got my hopes up.) Second, ANNE HATHAWAY is playing Catwoman, which is an injustice against all of humanity. NO! Anne Hathaway cannot pull off Catwoman. No taco.
-I have to plod through a book analysis on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn... enough said. Five symbols, three targets of satire, three key scenes, and a reaction. Phew. Shoot me now.
OTHER STUFF:
-I can officially give blood again! I am past my 52 day mark and I can't wait to go again. We're trying to get my mom to go with me this time... she's kinda terrified of blood, but I keep telling her it was soooo easy. When we do go (whether she gives with me or not), I shall blog about it.
-American Idol came back this week, and I was pleasantly surprised to find I like Steven Tyler AND Jennifer Lopez as judges. I mean, I was bound to hate one of them, right? But I don't. Steven Tyler is hilarious, but he takes over the blunt criticism from Simon quite nicely as well. And I was expecting Jennifer Lopez to be a prima donna "I know everything" type of girl, but she appears to be quite down to earth. A pleasant surprise.
AND FINALLY....
My book. :)
Here's my thing with books for Christian girls. The premise is "Pray. Read your Bible. Don't have sex. Don't do drugs. Don't drink. Don't dance. You're good!" So what do the good girls do? How do we go any deeper than that? I've kinda reached the point where I've heard it all a million times. I KNOW to read my Bible. I KNOW to pray. I'm a "good girl". I don't have an issue with sex or drugs or drinking because I was raised to know those things were bad. So where do I go from there? So I'm going to write a book for "good girls" (maybe called Higher Ground) about how to go from good to BETTER. :) My ideas so far for topics:
-Prayer (specifically getting a better more personal prayer life, ACTS, stuff like that.)
-Bible STUDY (not just Bible reading)
-Evangelism
-Encouragement
-Speech
If you're a teenage girl and you have ideas for me, PLEASE PLEASE comment for me! I'd love to hear it! I kinda want to focus more on the do's than the don'ts, because I feel like we know the don'ts inside and out at this point and Christianity isn't just a checklist, but regardless of what you have an idea for let me know! Muchas gracias!
Mmmm... alright. I have to go get ready for my retreat. Thank you for reading my useless rambling. Much love, Bloggers. :)
It's been a while since I made lists. And I miss that. So here you go. Lists. :)
COOL GOD THOUGHTS:
-The way God answers prayer. Oh wow. My congregation had a prayer session last Saturday night about Thinking Souls, asking for opportunities to reach people and the courage to talk to them and all that stuff, right? THE NEXT MORNING there are two teen girls visiting. So we asked them to sit with us up front where we usually sit and told them about the devo after worship that night. And they CAME! And now I'm texting them and they're coming to our Girls' Retreat tonight. Awesome. God doesn't hesitate to give you opportunities if you're asking for them and looking for them!
-The Gospel of Mark is an awesome book. Fact. I love the use of "Immediately" throughout the book. I wrote an article on it, actually, if you want to go check it out.
-"Thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools." (C.S. Lewis). But that's so not what humility is! Pride is all a matter of keeping yourself in perspective. It's okay to appreciate your talents and rejoice in them, but it's when you start putting yourself in a place you don't belong (i.e. above others or even above God) that it's a problem. If you remember your talents are coming from God, and not you, and that God has given everybody equally awesome talents (even though they're not all the same), you oughta be fine. Yeah. Rant.
-Would you think twice about saving a complete stranger who was drowning if you knew for a fact you could save them? No? Then how come we do that almost every day? How many hundreds of souls do we pass right by in a week without saying a word to them? How many people do we write off as "complete strangers" and so decide not to share the gospel with them? Just a thought.
NEW GOALS:
-Weekly posting on Christ Crossed My Heart. And not the same articles I send to Come Fill Your Cup.
-Deeper study in my articles.
-Chapter a week on my book (more on that later).
-Chapter a week on my still-in-progress novel (but that's last on my list of priorities at this point).
FUN STUFF:
-Girls' day out with my mommy last Saturday. I love hanging out with her. She's the coolest. :) And, this day resulted in my purchase of a new hair flower, some chopsticks to do up my hair with, the complete works of William Shakespeare (for THREE BUCKS!) and a one volume Lord of the Rings trilogy (for two bucks). Oh! And Valentines! Hehehe. I won't tell you what's on them because some of you are getting them (hemhemhem Holly and Aimee). But suffice it to say that I'm pretty stoked about their awesomeness.
-Girls' Retreat tonight into tomorrow! I'm stoked. This is the fourth year in a row I've gone and they're always really great and uplifting. Love it.
NEW MUSIC:
-I gotta LOT of iTunes money for Christmas. And I'm quite happy about it. So I recently acquired Four Thieves Gone, The Gleam, and The Second Gleam all by the Avetts. (And Four Thieves was only $3.94 on Amazon. I am the bargain queen.) Oooooohhhh man. I always think I love the Avetts as much as is possible until I get a new CD and then I fall in love all over again. Quick favorite song run through (by track listing):
Four Thieves Gone:
1. Talk on Indolence, even though I like it better live. I like the odd little drum in the background starting at the "I've grown too aware of my mortality" part. That's not in the live version.
3. Colorshow-- because this is just a great song.
5. Sixteen in July-- because it's beautiful.
7. A Lover Like You-- Because it's cute.
8. Pretend Love-- Alright, this is only on this list because I love WHERE they put it on the album. The song itself probably isn't my favorite but you listen to the sugary sweet "Lover Like You" and then this comes on and you feel like he's talking about everything he said in the last song. Maybe they didn't even do that on purpose, I don't know, but if they did they're BRILLIANT!
10. The Lowering (A Sad Day in Greenville)-- The melody on this is just indescribably beautiful and the lyrics make me want to cry.
12. Famous Flower of Manhattan-- I've actually had this one for a long time. It was one of the first Avett songs I ever heard and the first time I listened to it I cried. I love how the Avetts can do that. They get under your skin and into your heart before you even know what happened.
13. 40 East-- This is my current favorite Avett song, I think. Maybe. I don't know, I have too many. But it's beautiful. Bob Crawford rocks. I LOVE Bob Crawford songs. They should let him sing more often.
The Gleam:
2. When I Drink-- I talked about this one in my Live Volume 3 post but it's just unbelievably good. Enough said. (And again. It's not really about drinking. It's about LIFE.)
3. Yardsale-- This is just a cool song. I can't put my finger on exactly why I like it so much, but it's good.
4. If It's the Beaches-- If you listen to this song and it has absolutely no effect on you... check your pulse. Oh wow. Gorgeous. I love how they put phone messages in songs. They did that with "Pretty Girl from Chile" on Emotionalism too. I do hope they're real phone messages and not fake studio recorded ones. Being that it's the Avetts, I'm pretty sure they're legit.
The Second Gleam:
1. Tear Down the House-- "And I remember cryin' over you, and I don't mean a couple of tears and I'm blue. I'm talking 'bout collapsing and screamin' at the moon..." Poetry. Pure poetry.
2. Murder in the City-- Just listen to it. It's a good song.
3. Bella Donna- This is just a beautiful, beautiful melody line. And a belladonna is also a poisonous flower. Which I doubt is a coincidence.
6. St. Joseph's-- There's a St. Joseph's hospital downtown. I doubt it's the same one they're talking about, but there is! Haha. But for real, this is a gorgeous song. "It's not where I am, it's who I'm with."
In other music news, I discovered Florence + the Machine and Blitzen Trapper. Neither of which are a thing like the Avetts. Well, Blitzen Trapper CAN be. But they're not ALL the time.
MISCELLANEOUS INJUSTICES:
-Lady Gaga. Katy Perry. Justin Bieber. What do all these freakshows have in common? They're ALL GRAMMY NOMINEES. Proving that the Grammies have ceased to mean a thing when it comes to talent, depth, or musical quality. Boo.
-The Dark Knight Rises casting is out. First, Johnny Depp is NOT in fact playing the Riddler, which is an injustice against me. (The Riddler's not even in it. I'm mad at whoever started that rumor and got my hopes up.) Second, ANNE HATHAWAY is playing Catwoman, which is an injustice against all of humanity. NO! Anne Hathaway cannot pull off Catwoman. No taco.
-I have to plod through a book analysis on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn... enough said. Five symbols, three targets of satire, three key scenes, and a reaction. Phew. Shoot me now.
OTHER STUFF:
-I can officially give blood again! I am past my 52 day mark and I can't wait to go again. We're trying to get my mom to go with me this time... she's kinda terrified of blood, but I keep telling her it was soooo easy. When we do go (whether she gives with me or not), I shall blog about it.
-American Idol came back this week, and I was pleasantly surprised to find I like Steven Tyler AND Jennifer Lopez as judges. I mean, I was bound to hate one of them, right? But I don't. Steven Tyler is hilarious, but he takes over the blunt criticism from Simon quite nicely as well. And I was expecting Jennifer Lopez to be a prima donna "I know everything" type of girl, but she appears to be quite down to earth. A pleasant surprise.
AND FINALLY....
My book. :)
Here's my thing with books for Christian girls. The premise is "Pray. Read your Bible. Don't have sex. Don't do drugs. Don't drink. Don't dance. You're good!" So what do the good girls do? How do we go any deeper than that? I've kinda reached the point where I've heard it all a million times. I KNOW to read my Bible. I KNOW to pray. I'm a "good girl". I don't have an issue with sex or drugs or drinking because I was raised to know those things were bad. So where do I go from there? So I'm going to write a book for "good girls" (maybe called Higher Ground) about how to go from good to BETTER. :) My ideas so far for topics:
-Prayer (specifically getting a better more personal prayer life, ACTS, stuff like that.)
-Bible STUDY (not just Bible reading)
-Evangelism
-Encouragement
-Speech
If you're a teenage girl and you have ideas for me, PLEASE PLEASE comment for me! I'd love to hear it! I kinda want to focus more on the do's than the don'ts, because I feel like we know the don'ts inside and out at this point and Christianity isn't just a checklist, but regardless of what you have an idea for let me know! Muchas gracias!
Mmmm... alright. I have to go get ready for my retreat. Thank you for reading my useless rambling. Much love, Bloggers. :)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
My life! The real one!
...Haha... weren't expecting that, were ya? For real, I probably should be working on my novel, but I'm procrastinating a little bit. I have writer's block. So maybe writing aimlessly will free me up a little bit. So, here it is... you know the drill.
Cool God thoughts:
1. God didn't have to make us the way He made us. Me and my friend Lorel were talking about food the other day and I realized God could have made us so we all just plugged into the ground and recharged or something. But we get to EAT! And not only that, we get to LIKE eating!! Cool.
2. I've been meaning to put this on for a long time, but every one's a minister, because ministry has a ton to do with service. That's my Wednesday night class at church this quarter. I'm lovin' it.
3. Subcategory -- cool Heaven thoughts (a lot of this is speculation on my part... but it's cool speculation!).
~You know how on earth you click with some people ridiculously well, but then there are those other people whom you love just as much, but can't carry on a conversation with quite as easily? I bet in Heaven everybody clicks perfectly. Which is awesome.
~Past conflicts between people are gone in Heaven. Like you don't even remember they've ever happened.
~My grandpa is in Heaven right now, and he gets to hang out with Rachel's grandpa, and Laesha's grandpa, and Warren Wilcox, and Emmett Roberts, and Paul! All at the same time! (Do you think they have like "anniversary of coming to heaven" parties in Heaven? That'd be cool. Happy belated anniversary of going to Heaven, Grandpa. :') )
Yeah. I like Heaven. Excited to go there. :)
Things I did this week:
1. Tried out for my school musical (and made it into chorus!)... but I'm having doubts as to whether I'm actually going to stay. Some of the jokes are extremely bawdy and I'm not comfortable with it. (And if you go to my school, NO, this has NOTHING to do with the casting. They can cast it however they like. This is purely based on my convictions.) They're still cleaning it up though, so I'm not quitting just yet. I'll stick around to see how much better it gets and we'll go from there.
2. I'm up to about 14,000 words on my novel... HOLY COW! I think this is the longest thing I've ever written and I've only been working on it for a week today. Wow. I'm really loving it... it's cathartic. The NaNoWriMo website calls it "thirty days and thirty nights of literary abandon"... I like literary abandon. It's a fun place to be. :) Again, if there are plot discrepancies and they're confusing you... sorry. Also, if the name "Henry" popped up anywhere in the last chapter... I meant Patrick. He was originally Henry but I changed his name. I think I caught 'em all but if I didn't, yeah. It's Patrick.
3. Somehow I misplaced a $15 iTunes giftcard... sigh. The days of frivolous whim-based music buying are over until Christmas.
4. Had a dream about an old friend from elementary/middle school last night-- I need to call you Katherine!! (I don't know if you actually read this or not, but that's ok.)
5. FINISHED MY TERM PAPER ROUGH DRAFT!!! It was quite the undertaking, too. I'm nervous... my teacher is a tough grader.
6. Got my two of my besties back from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and wherever else in the world they were... I take my girls for granted! Hol and Aimee... I love you. And I'm glad you're back. :)
7. Rediscovered iPhone Bananagrams... fun stuff. What a fantastic waste of time. :)
8. It SNOWED!! And I watched it snow!!! I love snow.
9. I turned my clock back and got an extra hour of sleep... and the benefits end there. I hate being off Daylight Savings time. Hate it. Yesterday I got home at about 5:30 and it was dark. Boo. Boo on Daylight Throwing-Away time.
10. I saw a CHIK-FIL-A COMMERCIAL!! I've never seen one of those before in my life.
11. Oh! I discussed Scarlet Letter in English... aaah! I love that book. Unlike everybody else, I liked Dimmesdale... what do you think? (Yes, Aimee, I am talking to you. Because no one else has read this book. Hehe.)
12. I watched "Avalon High" on Disney Channel last night, and was severely disappointed. It's based on a book and they completely changed the ending, and it was so clever in the book! They made it all "preteenish"... oh well. I'm slowly losing my Disney Channel love.
Things I still need to do in the near future:
1. Two physics labs (well, I've done about half of both of them... so one physics lab?)
2. An article for CFYC
3. Start working on a persuasive speech for Friday... my argument is that music stimulates brain activity, hence helping you study. I am living proof of this argument. :)
4. Start working on the Kite Runner... I still haven't started. What a bad book club leader I am.
Random things you probably could care less that you now know about me:
1. I kinda love awesome socks. Plain white socks are desperately depressing. I'm currently wearing a Buzz Lightyear sock on one foot and a Rex the dinosaur sock on the other. So they're friends. But on my feet.
2. I have a weakness for Chewy Chips Ahoy. It's bad. Two of them have 180 calories, and I have THREE just about every day. And I wonder why I'm gaining weight.
3. I love taking long walks. They help me sort things out or just relax. The other day I discovered I can walk all the way to the park about a mile away from my house without even getting tired. I'm kinda really sad the weather is getting cold because now it's harder to take walks.
4. In my house there's this spot on the rightmost cushion of our couch. It's the comfiest part of the couch and has the best view of the TV and the closest proximity to the outlet where I have to charge my laptop. And it's DAD'S SPOT. I never get to sit in Dad's spot. Sigh. Well, I say never... actually I'm sitting in it right now, 'cause he's upstairs. I'm such a rebel.
5. I type a lot slower when I'm cold. So this cold front is not helping my novel-writing pursuits.
Thoughts of the week:
1. People need to learn to show some respect for other people's feelings, in both directions. (And if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's ok. If you're supposed to, then I can guarantee you do.)
2. The most entertaining part of the GA/Auburn football game is the Pirates of the Caribbean/Star Wars music. (No, I am not directly watching the game. If I were, you would know, because the world would be coming to an end as we speak. I can just hear it from the other room. I am, however, going to move into that room because my laptop is about to die and I need to plug it in.)
3. Christmas comes AFTER Thanksgiving. Santa comes at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then it is the Christmas season. That means the Christmas commercials should come on AFTER Thanksgiving and decorations should come up AFTER Thanksgiving. I'm looking at you, shopping center by my house. Christmas decorations up by November 1st. Good grief.
4. Some people get very worked up over nothing at all... and that's all I'm gonna say.
Songs of the Week:
1. "Taking the World On" by Meese-- I don't necessarily relate to the lyrics, but they're just so beautiful. "It's like one voice in the choir buried by the rest..." Sigh. I'm sad I didn't get into this band before they broke up.
2. "Breakeven" by the Script-- I like it all except for the "prayin' to a God that I don't believe in" part. Because I definitely believe in God. So I change it to "hangin' on a hope that I don't believe in." And then it's a good song!
3. "November Blue" by the Avett Brothers-- I bought the live version. And it's gorgeous. Yup.
Alright, my novel is calling, whether I know where it's going or not. At 2000 words a day, I can't afford to get behind. Thanks for checkin'.
Cool God thoughts:
1. God didn't have to make us the way He made us. Me and my friend Lorel were talking about food the other day and I realized God could have made us so we all just plugged into the ground and recharged or something. But we get to EAT! And not only that, we get to LIKE eating!! Cool.
2. I've been meaning to put this on for a long time, but every one's a minister, because ministry has a ton to do with service. That's my Wednesday night class at church this quarter. I'm lovin' it.
3. Subcategory -- cool Heaven thoughts (a lot of this is speculation on my part... but it's cool speculation!).
~You know how on earth you click with some people ridiculously well, but then there are those other people whom you love just as much, but can't carry on a conversation with quite as easily? I bet in Heaven everybody clicks perfectly. Which is awesome.
~Past conflicts between people are gone in Heaven. Like you don't even remember they've ever happened.
~My grandpa is in Heaven right now, and he gets to hang out with Rachel's grandpa, and Laesha's grandpa, and Warren Wilcox, and Emmett Roberts, and Paul! All at the same time! (Do you think they have like "anniversary of coming to heaven" parties in Heaven? That'd be cool. Happy belated anniversary of going to Heaven, Grandpa. :') )
Yeah. I like Heaven. Excited to go there. :)
Things I did this week:
1. Tried out for my school musical (and made it into chorus!)... but I'm having doubts as to whether I'm actually going to stay. Some of the jokes are extremely bawdy and I'm not comfortable with it. (And if you go to my school, NO, this has NOTHING to do with the casting. They can cast it however they like. This is purely based on my convictions.) They're still cleaning it up though, so I'm not quitting just yet. I'll stick around to see how much better it gets and we'll go from there.
2. I'm up to about 14,000 words on my novel... HOLY COW! I think this is the longest thing I've ever written and I've only been working on it for a week today. Wow. I'm really loving it... it's cathartic. The NaNoWriMo website calls it "thirty days and thirty nights of literary abandon"... I like literary abandon. It's a fun place to be. :) Again, if there are plot discrepancies and they're confusing you... sorry. Also, if the name "Henry" popped up anywhere in the last chapter... I meant Patrick. He was originally Henry but I changed his name. I think I caught 'em all but if I didn't, yeah. It's Patrick.
3. Somehow I misplaced a $15 iTunes giftcard... sigh. The days of frivolous whim-based music buying are over until Christmas.
4. Had a dream about an old friend from elementary/middle school last night-- I need to call you Katherine!! (I don't know if you actually read this or not, but that's ok.)
5. FINISHED MY TERM PAPER ROUGH DRAFT!!! It was quite the undertaking, too. I'm nervous... my teacher is a tough grader.
6. Got my two of my besties back from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and wherever else in the world they were... I take my girls for granted! Hol and Aimee... I love you. And I'm glad you're back. :)
7. Rediscovered iPhone Bananagrams... fun stuff. What a fantastic waste of time. :)
8. It SNOWED!! And I watched it snow!!! I love snow.
9. I turned my clock back and got an extra hour of sleep... and the benefits end there. I hate being off Daylight Savings time. Hate it. Yesterday I got home at about 5:30 and it was dark. Boo. Boo on Daylight Throwing-Away time.
10. I saw a CHIK-FIL-A COMMERCIAL!! I've never seen one of those before in my life.
11. Oh! I discussed Scarlet Letter in English... aaah! I love that book. Unlike everybody else, I liked Dimmesdale... what do you think? (Yes, Aimee, I am talking to you. Because no one else has read this book. Hehe.)
12. I watched "Avalon High" on Disney Channel last night, and was severely disappointed. It's based on a book and they completely changed the ending, and it was so clever in the book! They made it all "preteenish"... oh well. I'm slowly losing my Disney Channel love.
Things I still need to do in the near future:
1. Two physics labs (well, I've done about half of both of them... so one physics lab?)
2. An article for CFYC
3. Start working on a persuasive speech for Friday... my argument is that music stimulates brain activity, hence helping you study. I am living proof of this argument. :)
4. Start working on the Kite Runner... I still haven't started. What a bad book club leader I am.
Random things you probably could care less that you now know about me:
1. I kinda love awesome socks. Plain white socks are desperately depressing. I'm currently wearing a Buzz Lightyear sock on one foot and a Rex the dinosaur sock on the other. So they're friends. But on my feet.
2. I have a weakness for Chewy Chips Ahoy. It's bad. Two of them have 180 calories, and I have THREE just about every day. And I wonder why I'm gaining weight.
3. I love taking long walks. They help me sort things out or just relax. The other day I discovered I can walk all the way to the park about a mile away from my house without even getting tired. I'm kinda really sad the weather is getting cold because now it's harder to take walks.
4. In my house there's this spot on the rightmost cushion of our couch. It's the comfiest part of the couch and has the best view of the TV and the closest proximity to the outlet where I have to charge my laptop. And it's DAD'S SPOT. I never get to sit in Dad's spot. Sigh. Well, I say never... actually I'm sitting in it right now, 'cause he's upstairs. I'm such a rebel.
5. I type a lot slower when I'm cold. So this cold front is not helping my novel-writing pursuits.
Thoughts of the week:
1. People need to learn to show some respect for other people's feelings, in both directions. (And if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's ok. If you're supposed to, then I can guarantee you do.)
2. The most entertaining part of the GA/Auburn football game is the Pirates of the Caribbean/Star Wars music. (No, I am not directly watching the game. If I were, you would know, because the world would be coming to an end as we speak. I can just hear it from the other room. I am, however, going to move into that room because my laptop is about to die and I need to plug it in.)
3. Christmas comes AFTER Thanksgiving. Santa comes at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then it is the Christmas season. That means the Christmas commercials should come on AFTER Thanksgiving and decorations should come up AFTER Thanksgiving. I'm looking at you, shopping center by my house. Christmas decorations up by November 1st. Good grief.
4. Some people get very worked up over nothing at all... and that's all I'm gonna say.
Songs of the Week:
1. "Taking the World On" by Meese-- I don't necessarily relate to the lyrics, but they're just so beautiful. "It's like one voice in the choir buried by the rest..." Sigh. I'm sad I didn't get into this band before they broke up.
2. "Breakeven" by the Script-- I like it all except for the "prayin' to a God that I don't believe in" part. Because I definitely believe in God. So I change it to "hangin' on a hope that I don't believe in." And then it's a good song!
3. "November Blue" by the Avett Brothers-- I bought the live version. And it's gorgeous. Yup.
Alright, my novel is calling, whether I know where it's going or not. At 2000 words a day, I can't afford to get behind. Thanks for checkin'.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Yet another long, obnoxious, relatively pointless post...
Another week (Monday to Monday) in lists. Because I enjoy lists. And I've done a few interesting things this week.
Some interesting God thoughts:
1. Okay, so God made the stars on Day 4, right? But stars are billions of lightyears away, meaning it takes millions of years for the light to get where we can see it. So God made the light from the stars retrospective so Adam and Eve would be able to see them right when He made them. Whoa!
2. Leviticus 24:16-- "Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall surely stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death." Wow. How seriously do we take God's name today? Certainly not THAT seriously, and not as seriously as we should. Interesting thought.
3. New addition to my favorite verses: "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him, and let him see My salvation." -Psalm 91:14-16. I just love that. God gives us so much reassurance when we're His.
Fun stuff:
1. On Tuesday we had the first meeting of the NEHS (National English Honors Society) book club, which I happen to be in charge of. There's only about six of us, but I'm excited none the less. I think it'll be a lot better if we have a few people who are actually gonna read the book rather than a bunch who aren't. We're reading The Kite Runner. Maybe more later if I see fit to review it when we're done.
2. Monday night I began my study of James... my Bible looks like a rainbow threw up in it. A wonderful rainbow of knowledge. :) I'm loving the Greek word for "do" and all the different ways its used. It literally means "to make happen" and is translated a bunch of different ways in the NASB. It's really cool.
3. Bear Valley cowboy party-- yummy food and good fellowship. Does it get any better?
4. After much panic and indecision, I finally found a halloween costume. I was a red electric guitar. Yes. Yes indeed. I would post pictures, but I only got two and they're both on my phone. When I finally get them to my computer I'll update this. Maybe. If I think of it.
5. In my lovely Halloween costume, I went to a party at my friend Jenna's house. We went on a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood (the knocking on doors and asking people for stuff kind of scavenger stuff... people were surprisingly nice about it considering we were running around in our costumes a night early). Then, in true nerd fashion, we had a Poe reading at about 10 at night in the park behind her house. Our punky, shaggy-haired, death-metal loving friend Cameron knew "Annabel Lee" by heart and kept correcting Alex while she read it. Hahaha.... I love my school!
6. Recent obsession-- The Twilight Zone. Yes. (If you think I'm talking about sparkly vampires, get off my blog. Now. Goodbye. You are not worthy.) I love the just slightly creepiness of it. It's not scary, but it kinda runs shivers down your spine just a little bit. I love the twists. The twists are the best part. Anyways, I've Tivo season passed it on two different channels. My favorite episode of the week (maybe of all time?) is "The Obsolete Man"... look it up! It's a social commentary (very 1984-esque) and it's incredibly powerful. Seriously. Go find it and watch it.
7. Wrote a poem for Come Fill Your Cup... it oughta be up in a few days. I'll post a link on facebook.
8. New edition of Katharos NOW (a Christian girls' e-zine I write for) went up... go check it out! The theme this month is "Costumes" and I've got an article up. :)
9. I discovered the Owl City blog... Oh Adam Young. How I love you. The boy can WRITE. And he posts poems and song lyrics like me. I'm feelin' a kindred spirit. Except for that... he's famous... and I'm not... oh well. I'll go buy his t-shirt instead. :)
10. Watched maybe my favorite holiday special OF ALL TIME.... "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" It's either that or "A Charlie Brown Christmas". I just love Linus... "Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker!" Every year I'm devastated that (1) Lucy still won't let poor little Charlie Brown kick the football and (2) The Great Pumpkin doesn't come!! What? I'm always convinced some year he'll actually show up... he never does. Sigh.
10. I had a bunch of fun trick-or-treating (after evening church service, of course... God's more important!) with my bestest friends. (And yes, I still trick-or-treat. You are NEVER too old for free candy. NEVER.)
11. Today was the first meeting of the NEHS writing group... how I love writing. Jenna taught us how to write love poems that don't make people want to puke. I cranked out a couple good ones. I will not, however, be posting them here. I don't think. Maybe. Less personal things might show up here in the future as a result of these workshops though! I'm lovin' it.
12. I received a late birthday present from my aunt, uncle, and cousins... $30 in iTunes money. As music is slowly becoming a synonym for sanity, this made me QUITE happy. Which leads me to....
CDs bought (in order of preference):
1. Churchill- EP
2. Meese- Broadcast
3. Taylor Swift- Speak Now
I may write reviews if I get around to it. Yay for music.
My political rant for the week (since you're already here):
In the United States of America, any one who harms a bald eagle EGG can be sentenced to jail for up to a year and be forced to pay a $100,000 dollar fine (see this article). An EGG. An unborn baby eagle. However, a girl my age can go to an abortion clinic and be assured that it is absolutely fine to kill her child. Without even notifying her parents. Girls under 18 need parental consent to get their ears pierced, but not to MURDER an unborn baby. What kind of sick society do we live in? There's a commercial against Ken Buck going around of a woman saying, "We need a Senator who will stand with us whether we're in high heels or cowboy boots." Yeah, lady? Who's standing with the babies, huh? It honestly makes me nauseous.
Amendment 62 will give every single person in the state of Colorado the right to life, from the moment of conception. If you can vote, vote Yes on 62. Let's give those babies a chance at living.
Well... that's all I got for now. Thanks for wasting your time on random tidbits of my life. :)
<3
Some interesting God thoughts:
1. Okay, so God made the stars on Day 4, right? But stars are billions of lightyears away, meaning it takes millions of years for the light to get where we can see it. So God made the light from the stars retrospective so Adam and Eve would be able to see them right when He made them. Whoa!
2. Leviticus 24:16-- "Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall surely stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death." Wow. How seriously do we take God's name today? Certainly not THAT seriously, and not as seriously as we should. Interesting thought.
3. New addition to my favorite verses: "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him, and let him see My salvation." -Psalm 91:14-16. I just love that. God gives us so much reassurance when we're His.
Fun stuff:
1. On Tuesday we had the first meeting of the NEHS (National English Honors Society) book club, which I happen to be in charge of. There's only about six of us, but I'm excited none the less. I think it'll be a lot better if we have a few people who are actually gonna read the book rather than a bunch who aren't. We're reading The Kite Runner. Maybe more later if I see fit to review it when we're done.
2. Monday night I began my study of James... my Bible looks like a rainbow threw up in it. A wonderful rainbow of knowledge. :) I'm loving the Greek word for "do" and all the different ways its used. It literally means "to make happen" and is translated a bunch of different ways in the NASB. It's really cool.
3. Bear Valley cowboy party-- yummy food and good fellowship. Does it get any better?
4. After much panic and indecision, I finally found a halloween costume. I was a red electric guitar. Yes. Yes indeed. I would post pictures, but I only got two and they're both on my phone. When I finally get them to my computer I'll update this. Maybe. If I think of it.
5. In my lovely Halloween costume, I went to a party at my friend Jenna's house. We went on a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood (the knocking on doors and asking people for stuff kind of scavenger stuff... people were surprisingly nice about it considering we were running around in our costumes a night early). Then, in true nerd fashion, we had a Poe reading at about 10 at night in the park behind her house. Our punky, shaggy-haired, death-metal loving friend Cameron knew "Annabel Lee" by heart and kept correcting Alex while she read it. Hahaha.... I love my school!
6. Recent obsession-- The Twilight Zone. Yes. (If you think I'm talking about sparkly vampires, get off my blog. Now. Goodbye. You are not worthy.) I love the just slightly creepiness of it. It's not scary, but it kinda runs shivers down your spine just a little bit. I love the twists. The twists are the best part. Anyways, I've Tivo season passed it on two different channels. My favorite episode of the week (maybe of all time?) is "The Obsolete Man"... look it up! It's a social commentary (very 1984-esque) and it's incredibly powerful. Seriously. Go find it and watch it.
7. Wrote a poem for Come Fill Your Cup... it oughta be up in a few days. I'll post a link on facebook.
8. New edition of Katharos NOW (a Christian girls' e-zine I write for) went up... go check it out! The theme this month is "Costumes" and I've got an article up. :)
9. I discovered the Owl City blog... Oh Adam Young. How I love you. The boy can WRITE. And he posts poems and song lyrics like me. I'm feelin' a kindred spirit. Except for that... he's famous... and I'm not... oh well. I'll go buy his t-shirt instead. :)
10. Watched maybe my favorite holiday special OF ALL TIME.... "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" It's either that or "A Charlie Brown Christmas". I just love Linus... "Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker!" Every year I'm devastated that (1) Lucy still won't let poor little Charlie Brown kick the football and (2) The Great Pumpkin doesn't come!! What? I'm always convinced some year he'll actually show up... he never does. Sigh.
10. I had a bunch of fun trick-or-treating (after evening church service, of course... God's more important!) with my bestest friends. (And yes, I still trick-or-treat. You are NEVER too old for free candy. NEVER.)
11. Today was the first meeting of the NEHS writing group... how I love writing. Jenna taught us how to write love poems that don't make people want to puke. I cranked out a couple good ones. I will not, however, be posting them here. I don't think. Maybe. Less personal things might show up here in the future as a result of these workshops though! I'm lovin' it.
12. I received a late birthday present from my aunt, uncle, and cousins... $30 in iTunes money. As music is slowly becoming a synonym for sanity, this made me QUITE happy. Which leads me to....
CDs bought (in order of preference):
1. Churchill- EP
2. Meese- Broadcast
3. Taylor Swift- Speak Now
I may write reviews if I get around to it. Yay for music.
My political rant for the week (since you're already here):
In the United States of America, any one who harms a bald eagle EGG can be sentenced to jail for up to a year and be forced to pay a $100,000 dollar fine (see this article). An EGG. An unborn baby eagle. However, a girl my age can go to an abortion clinic and be assured that it is absolutely fine to kill her child. Without even notifying her parents. Girls under 18 need parental consent to get their ears pierced, but not to MURDER an unborn baby. What kind of sick society do we live in? There's a commercial against Ken Buck going around of a woman saying, "We need a Senator who will stand with us whether we're in high heels or cowboy boots." Yeah, lady? Who's standing with the babies, huh? It honestly makes me nauseous.
Amendment 62 will give every single person in the state of Colorado the right to life, from the moment of conception. If you can vote, vote Yes on 62. Let's give those babies a chance at living.
Well... that's all I got for now. Thanks for wasting your time on random tidbits of my life. :)
<3
Saturday, October 9, 2010
My week in lists. Because I like lists.
Four cool God-related thoughts:
1. God imagined the imagination. I can't even get my mind around that.
2. Satan doesn't know anything I don't reveal to him! (Courtesy of this article by my preacher... thanks Mr. Neal!)
3. Is a talent called a gift because it's been given to us... or because we're supposed to give of it to serve others? (result of looking at Romans 12 at Wednesday Night Bible Class)
4. Jacob and Joseph both died in Egypt and were embalmed (Gen. 50:2-3)... does that mean they were mummified? And their mummies are buried somewhere? Not that we'd ever know it was them if we were to find their mummies, but it's a neat thought. (Courtesy of my bestest Aimee.)
Eight things on my mind:
1. My prayer life needs work. Prayers please. However, my daily Bible reading is going awesome... I haven't missed a day in three weeks (which is really good for me... I needed to get in the habit). Aimee, Holly, and I are going through the whole Bible in a year. We started Exodus a couple days ago.
2. Funny the things that can come and go in less than a year.
3. SCHOOL... It's eating my life... Two AP classes is starting to sound like a really stupid idea. I've got all A's though... I guess that's the fruit of my extreme stress and labor.
4. Less than two weeks until opening night! I'm the assistant producer of The Importance of Being Earnest (which is a fantastic play, by the way)... if you want to come see it get in touch with me! But if I don't actually know you and you just read this 'cause you're a creeper... I don't want you to come. No offense.
5. I want my eight cookies. Harrumph.
6. I don't have any idea when I'm going to go get my permit... I could have had it ages and ages ago, but I just haven't ever gone to get it. At this point I'm not gonna have my license 'til I'm thirty. (My mom keeps going, "I didn't get my license 'til I was 18"... that doesn't help, Mom.)
7. I miss Kamp Koinonia. Badly. There's a little hole in my heart when I'm not there.
8. The future... and the fact that I have no earthly clue what's coming my way. Lord, I'm glad You've got a plan... 'cause I don't. At all. About anything. Haha.
Five things I did this week:
1. Stayed after school for play practice two hours every day... and is proud of the casts' progress. Even Cast B. Who still need to learn their lines. :)
2. Finished fifty notecards for my term paper on Frederick Douglass... phew.
3. Bought three Avett Brothers CDs (sorry, Holly... haha.)
4. Finished rereading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
5. Practiced making paper cranes for my demonstration speech on Thursday.
And yeah, I did a lot more than that, but not much of the rest was all that interesting.
Seven songs I'm currently addicted to (in no particular order. They're all Avett Brothers... I'm on a kick):
1. Living of Love
2. Pretty Girl at the Airport
3. Die Die Die
4. Paranoia in B Major
5. Day that Marvin Gaye Died
6. I Would Be Sad
7. Swept Away (Sentimental Version)
Plus all of I and Love and You... yeah just all of that.
Three things I learned in Latin class:
1. There is an American Mustache Institute. And it protects against discrimination toward mustached people and promotes awareness of the proper care of a mustache. Yes.
2. There's a guitarist who has no arms and plays the guitar with his feet.
3. You can levitate a frog between two big electromagnets.
DISCLAIMER: I do actually learn things in Latin. But those things wouldn't be very interesting to you, dear blog reader. :)
Five quotes I found this week:
1. "One person's craziness is another's reality." -Tim Burton
2. "There is nothing more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit." -J. K. Rowling
3. "Fantasy is a necessary ingredient for living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of the telescope." -Dr. Seuss
4. "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -Oscar Wilde
5. "Yes, I am a dreamer; for a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world." -Oscar Wilde
Thanks for wasting a few minutes of your time reading this. Haha. :)
<3
1. God imagined the imagination. I can't even get my mind around that.
2. Satan doesn't know anything I don't reveal to him! (Courtesy of this article by my preacher... thanks Mr. Neal!)
3. Is a talent called a gift because it's been given to us... or because we're supposed to give of it to serve others? (result of looking at Romans 12 at Wednesday Night Bible Class)
4. Jacob and Joseph both died in Egypt and were embalmed (Gen. 50:2-3)... does that mean they were mummified? And their mummies are buried somewhere? Not that we'd ever know it was them if we were to find their mummies, but it's a neat thought. (Courtesy of my bestest Aimee.)
Eight things on my mind:
1. My prayer life needs work. Prayers please. However, my daily Bible reading is going awesome... I haven't missed a day in three weeks (which is really good for me... I needed to get in the habit). Aimee, Holly, and I are going through the whole Bible in a year. We started Exodus a couple days ago.
2. Funny the things that can come and go in less than a year.
3. SCHOOL... It's eating my life... Two AP classes is starting to sound like a really stupid idea. I've got all A's though... I guess that's the fruit of my extreme stress and labor.
4. Less than two weeks until opening night! I'm the assistant producer of The Importance of Being Earnest (which is a fantastic play, by the way)... if you want to come see it get in touch with me! But if I don't actually know you and you just read this 'cause you're a creeper... I don't want you to come. No offense.
5. I want my eight cookies. Harrumph.
6. I don't have any idea when I'm going to go get my permit... I could have had it ages and ages ago, but I just haven't ever gone to get it. At this point I'm not gonna have my license 'til I'm thirty. (My mom keeps going, "I didn't get my license 'til I was 18"... that doesn't help, Mom.)
7. I miss Kamp Koinonia. Badly. There's a little hole in my heart when I'm not there.
8. The future... and the fact that I have no earthly clue what's coming my way. Lord, I'm glad You've got a plan... 'cause I don't. At all. About anything. Haha.
Five things I did this week:
1. Stayed after school for play practice two hours every day... and is proud of the casts' progress. Even Cast B. Who still need to learn their lines. :)
2. Finished fifty notecards for my term paper on Frederick Douglass... phew.
3. Bought three Avett Brothers CDs (sorry, Holly... haha.)
4. Finished rereading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
5. Practiced making paper cranes for my demonstration speech on Thursday.
And yeah, I did a lot more than that, but not much of the rest was all that interesting.
Seven songs I'm currently addicted to (in no particular order. They're all Avett Brothers... I'm on a kick):
1. Living of Love
2. Pretty Girl at the Airport
3. Die Die Die
4. Paranoia in B Major
5. Day that Marvin Gaye Died
6. I Would Be Sad
7. Swept Away (Sentimental Version)
Plus all of I and Love and You... yeah just all of that.
Three things I learned in Latin class:
1. There is an American Mustache Institute. And it protects against discrimination toward mustached people and promotes awareness of the proper care of a mustache. Yes.
2. There's a guitarist who has no arms and plays the guitar with his feet.
3. You can levitate a frog between two big electromagnets.
DISCLAIMER: I do actually learn things in Latin. But those things wouldn't be very interesting to you, dear blog reader. :)
Five quotes I found this week:
1. "One person's craziness is another's reality." -Tim Burton
2. "There is nothing more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit." -J. K. Rowling
3. "Fantasy is a necessary ingredient for living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of the telescope." -Dr. Seuss
4. "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -Oscar Wilde
5. "Yes, I am a dreamer; for a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world." -Oscar Wilde
Thanks for wasting a few minutes of your time reading this. Haha. :)
<3
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Apathy
"A young preacher stood sobbing as he overlooked a city street filled with throngs of people. An older preacher asked him, 'Young man, why are you crying?'
'Look at those people-- there are thousands of them, and they're all lost!'
The older man consoled him, 'Don't worry... you'll get over it.'
'I know,' the young man said, 'that's why I'm crying.'"
Apathy. Don't let it get you.
'Look at those people-- there are thousands of them, and they're all lost!'
The older man consoled him, 'Don't worry... you'll get over it.'
'I know,' the young man said, 'that's why I'm crying.'"
Apathy. Don't let it get you.
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