One Day Down...

The first day of class has come and gone. I survived. I'm really curious to see how my classes shape up. Today everyone seemed to be at least mildly interested in what I was saying (or at least pretending to be so), so that's a plus.

I am worried about how I'll manage five classes, but I think it will only be terrible when I have 95 papers waiting to be graded (that will happen 4 times this semester). I don't like to think about all those papers too much. :)

I ended each of my classes in prayer, which was so nice, as that's a privilege I didn't have at UT. I really hope I can connect with my students and help them become better writers. I don't want my class to just be one the students just cross off their list of requirements; I want them to leave my class feeling more confident in who they are as writers and as Christians living in the world. I am honored to be at a university that cares about developing a Christian worldview, and I hope I can rise to the challenge.

EDIT: I can't believe it's been two years.

Maps in "the Iraq"

Why can't 1/5 of Americans locate the U.S. on a world map? According to Miss Teen South Carolina, it's because they don't have maps. Watch the video, and note her use of "the Iraq" as a phrase. At least she didn't win.

From the Blog Archives

You've had control of me too long. It's time for you to leave. I'm through with the negativity, the lies, the constant assaults. I'm through feeling like I'm worthless, through feeling sorry for myself, through believing that I'm a failure. I can't keep waking up every morning wish I hadn't. I can't keep questioning every move I make, wondering if it's the right one. I can't keep looking in the mirror and hating the reflection I see. I can't keep doubting my faith, doubting myself, doubting God. That's just what you want me to do. You taunt me and tempt me, whispering seductive lies and distracting me with my own insufficiency.

But no more. The power you had over me is gone. I will not bow down. I will not yield. I am a daughter of the Most High God, and He bought me with the blood of His Son. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and it is for freedom that I have been set free. So I stand firm. I will not be burdened again by the yoke of slavery, of sin. I demolish all arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the word of God. I take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. I cast my cares on the LORD, for He cares for me. He LOVES me, desires me, calls to me to come out of the darkness and into the light. He showers upon me blessing upon blessing, mercies that are new every morning, grace that can't be measured. He is from all things, in all things, and by Him all things were created. My flesh and my heart may fail, my life may dwindle to a vapor, but God is the strenth of my heart and my portion forever. He is my light and my salvation, so I will fear you no more, for there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear. Through Him I have in my possession the very power He used to raise Christ from the dead. Through Him I have the victory. Through Him you are defeated.

Get behind me, satan. You are welcome here no longer.

Straws: A Tribute

Straws and I go way back. I remember the first "fun" straw I got, probably as part of a Happy Meal, that had a bunch of loops in it, and I loved drinking Kool-Aid with it. I would slowly suck the colorful liquid, watching it make its ascent up the loops, fascinated by the simple science. Drinking with a straw made the beverages taste better and last longer (at least it seemed that way), and using a straw was much more entertaining than merely using my lips (and I could blow bubbles in my sodas). The delight I found in getting the liquid halfway up the straw and then lifting the straw out of the glass, liquid frozen in space, stays with me to this day.

I don't have any "fun" straws anymore; now mine are of the basic grocery store variety, but I still insist on buying the straws that are fun colors instead of the ones that are just blue and white striped. Stephen is baffled by my affection for straws, and it saddens me that he does not use them. (I must content myself with blowing the paper wrapper at him. He doesn't much care for that, either.) I tried to explain the wonder of straws to him, even insisted upon their utility (many a straw has saved me from having the ice at the bottom of the glass come rushing to the top, thus preventing liquid from splashing onto my face), but to no avail. All couples have their disagreements, and I suppose if this is ours, we have it pretty good. :)

What is one object you use on a regular basis that you couldn't go without?

Thursday Thirteen #2

Thirteen Words I Love 1. Effervescent 2. Superfluous 3. Epiphany 4. Facetious 5. Imbroglio 6. Cupidity 7. Atavistic 8. Felicitous 9. Insipid 10. Fabulous 11. Melancholy 12. Sanguine 13. Vacillate Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) 1. Mama Archer 2. Denise Patrick 3. Ally Bean 4. Lazy Daisy 5. Cindy 6. WhatWorksforMom 7. Robin 8. The Gal Herself 9. L^2 10. Malcolm 11. Splash 12. Elisa

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

What are some of your favorite words? (You don't have to be a Thursday Thirteen participant to comment!)

Back to the Bulldogs

Next Wednesday I start teaching at the college where I was a student not too long ago. It's going to be weird.

I can't wait.

Song Showcase: Heavenly Day

I adore this song by Patty Griffin. First, if you're not familiar with Patty Griffin, she's an amazing talent, and her voice both soothes and challenges. The song I've picked, "Heavenly Day," is one of my favorites because her voice is so subtly powerful and the lyrics are romantic and lovely. Enjoy:

Oh heavenly day, all the clouds blew away
Got no trouble today with anyone
The smile on your face I live only to see
It's enough for me, baby, it's enough for me
Oh, heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

Tomorrow may rain with sorrow
Here's a little time we can borrow
Forget all our troubles in these moments so few
All we've got right now, the only thing that
All we really have to do
Is have ourselves a heavenly day
Lay here and watch the trees sway
Oh, can't see no other way, no way, no way
Heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

No one at my shoulder bringing me fears
Got no clouds up above me bringing me tears
Got nothing to tell you, I've got nothing much to say
Only I'm glad to be here with you
On this heavenly, heavenly, heavenly, heavenly
Heavenly day, all the trouble's gone away
Oh, for a while anyway, for a while anyway
Heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Poems Worth Reading

I've discovered a fun little meme called Thursday Thirteen, and for my inaugural list I could think of nothing better than to list thirteen poems I think everyone should read. I love each of them, for different reasons, but they all share one thing: when I read them, something in my soul awakens and the longing to write is renewed within me. I've posted links to each poem, and I invite you to follow each one and discover the joys of poetry, the splendor of the well-crafted line and the well-chosen word.

Thirteen Poems to Read 1. "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop 2. "I carry your heart with me" by ee cummings 3. "Sonnet XVII" by Pablo Neruda 4. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas 5. "Sonnet XLIII (How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...)" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 6. "Hope is the thing with feathers" by Emily Dickinson 7. "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota" by James Wright (O to write a last line with a punch like the one in this poem!) 8. "Batter My Heart" by John Donne 9. "Sonnet 116" by Shakespeare 10. "Oatmeal" by Galway Kinnell 11. "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats 12. "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 13. "What Work Is" by Philip Levine Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Malcolm 2. Gattina 3. Sandra 4. Nicole Austin 5. What Works For Us 6. Penguinsandladybugs 7. L^2 8. Splash 9. Damozel 10. Susan Helene Gottfried 11. The Gal Herself 12. J. Lynne 13. Thomma Lyn 14. Denise Patrick 15. Jennie 16. Pat J 17. Lori 18. Kristee 19. Nicholas 20. MissMeliss

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Post-its: A Tribute

Stephen and I made a trip to Office Max yesterday, and he received a firsthand glimpse into my fixation on office supplies. Seeing those rows of pens, those stacks of notebooks, those beautiful Post-its, and those wonderful storage containers gives me joy I can only call weird but persistent. While in the store I was trying to decide which office supply would be my favorite, and I've come up with my top 5 must-have office supplies that are both fun and functional--all that the perfect office supply should be.

5. A white-out pen (Not only can you correct errors, you can use it to label things!)
4. Paper clips (The multi-colored ones are the most fun)
3. A stapler (hearing that "click" as staple meets paper is oddly satisfying)
2. A good gel pen (I love the Pilot G-2)
1. Post-its (My mother-in-law gave me Post-its and gel pens last Christmas, thereby solidifying her place forever in my heart.)

In honor of my number one office supply, the Post-it, I offer this poetic tribute:

O delightfully sticky pad of goodness,
how I revel in your many hues,
adore your reliable adhesive power
and your willingness to travel
from office to home, from planner to wall.
O Post-it, thou shelter of memory,
forever may my desk be graced by your presence.

Give it a Throw

Thanks to Steven, I now have a fun new diversion: paper airplane throwing. See if you can beat my best shot:


Go here to try it for yourself! Note: It works much better if you use a mouse rather than a laptop touch pad.

Such a Beautiful Surrender: Song Showcase

This week's song showcase features one of my favorite bands of the moment, Mute Math (MySpace; website). The song is called "Control," and it features some great music matched with great lyrics (that's pretty much the extent of my musical critiquing abilities). Enjoy!(the video I picked is basically just the song playing with a shot of the album cover)



The lyrics:

Take control of the atmosphere
Take me far away from here
There is no better loss than to lose myself in you
In a parachute to glide, I am captive in your sky
Surrender has somehow become so beautiful

Take control of the atmosphere
Take control of the atmosphere
You can take my world you can fill the air
Take control, take control

It's such a beautiful surrender
It's such a beautiful surrender
It's such a beautiful surrender
It's such a beautiful surrender

Move me up through the darkest clouds
Till I've lost in the sun every shadow of doubt
There is no better find than to find myself with you
In a fog you are all I see
I'm inviting you closer with each time I breathe
Surrender has somehow become so beautiful

Take control of the atmosphere
Take control of the atmosphere
There is no reason I should breathe unless you're in the air
Take control

Its such a beautiful surrender
Its such a beautiful surrender
And I'm calling out
would you take control
And I'm calling out

P.S. Don't forget to visit Saturday's post and answer my questions!

Questions for My Readers

I thought it might be fun to have a little interaction with the blog, so I'm posing some questions to you, my fabulous readers. Post your responses as comments, and leave a link to your blog as well, so people can visit your blog, too! And if you have some questions you'd like me to answer, leave those in the comment also. Let the comments begin!


1. Do you prefer to reply to people's comments on your blog by replying on their blogs, or on your own blog (does this question even make sense)? I've seen it done both ways, but it seems that most bloggers respond to comments within their blog, and I have always done the opposite. Is there some sort of blogging etiquette I should be aware of? What would you have me do?

2. What is one TV show you've watched this summer that you would recommend?

3. What is one book you think I should definitely read?

4. What is one blog you read that I should read, too?

5. What is one grammar rule you've never understood?

6. What is one pet peeve that drives you absolutely nuts?

7. What is your favorite Scripture passage or verse?

8. If you could go anywhere in the world (all expenses paid), where would you go?

9. On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate my blog? (With 1 being I really like it and 5 being I really really really really like it.)

10. Where did the word napkin come from?

To Take What We Love Inside

The first time I read this poem, I read it again. And again. I adore Li-Young Lee. His love of words pours from every line of his writing, and when I read his poems I am swept up in the fervor. Read his words, and then read them again.

From Blossoms
Li-Young Lee
published in Rose

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

Li-Young Lee gave a reading during my last semester as an undergrad, and he also hosted a writers' workshop afterwards. He read one of my poems during that workshop and offered his comments and even a bit of praise. It was one of the most surreal, proudest moments of my life. I need to read poetry more often. I used to read it almost every day, but I slowly got out of the habit. I used to write poems almost every day as well, but that was before grad school squelched any ounce of creativity I possessed. I want the poet in me to come back. I want the writer in me to come back. "O, to take what we love inside..."

All That Thrills My Soul

All that thrills my soul is Jesus
He is more than life to me
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see

We sang this hymn in church Sunday morning, and it's been floating around in my head ever since. As I was singing it, I kept thinking, "Is this true? Is Jesus really all that thrills my soul? Does He even thrill my soul?" And I didn't like the answers to those questions.

I don't dwell nearly enough on Jesus; I'm too busy thinking about myself. When did I lose the wonder and the joy of Jesus? How do I get
it back?

Love of Christ so freely given
Grace of God beyond degree
Mercy higher than the heavens
Deeper than the deepest sea...

Caught Between the Moon and New York City

Of course the No. 1 song on the day of my birth would be completely cheesy:

Once in your life you find her
Someone that turns your heart around
And next thing you know you're closing down the town
Wake up and it's still with you
Even though you left her way across town
Wondering to yourself, "Hey, what've I found?"

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do ......
The best that you can do is fall in love

Arthur he does as he pleases
All of his life, he's mastered choice
Deep in his heart, he's just, he's just a boy
Living his life one day at a time
And showing himself a really good time
Laughing about the way they want him to be

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do .....
The best that you can do is fall in love


Poor Arthur, "he's just, he's just a boy."

What's your song?

HT: Brody Harper

Song Showcase

I thought I would try to start posting some of my current favorite songs every once in a while, so here is my first one: "Love Will Come Through" by Travis. The video is a little weird, but then I tend to think that about a lot of music videos, so maybe it's just me.

Happiness

I was going through old files on my external hard drive to see if there were files I could get rid of, and while doing so I came across one called "My Happy Book." The utter cheesiness of the title aside, I was instantly reminded of what this file contained. In the winter break before my last semester at Union, I was browsing around one of my favorite haunts, Barnes & Noble, when I happened upon a book in one of the carousels by the cafe'. I think the title was something like 10,000 Reasons to be Happy or 10,000 Things to Be Happy About, but I can't seem to find a book of that title, so perhaps I made it up. However, I do remember thinking several things about this book.
1) It was a little sad that people needed to read a book of generic things someone else had come up with, in the hopes that it would make them happy.
2) It would be silly to buy this book, as I could make a much more personal list of my own for free, thereby saving myself $10.99 and ensuring that each item truly was a reason for me to be happy. (For example, I remember one of happy things being "cigars after dinner," and cigars are disgusting.)
3) Making a list of happy things would be a good way to remember all that is good in my life, all that God has so richly and lavishly bestowed upon my small existence.

After leaving the store that day I started the document, resolving to add at least 5 items to the list every day. Unfortunately, I'm notoriously bad at coming up with good ideas and never seeing them through, so the 5-happy-things-a-day plan lasted perhaps two weeks before life crowded in and caused me to forget to dwell on the happy things. Every now and then, though, I would remember, and I'd go back to my list and add whatever came to mind, often adding a lot more than the self-imposed 5 happy things minimum.

My Happy Book, as I came to call it, hadn't been opened for a while, as far as I could tell. When I opened it today, the last item was #317: The smell of freshly-cut grass. It's been almost four years since I first started that list, and I only managed to get to #317. Reading over the list was quite interesting, and I found my happy things ranging from the general (#27: God's infinitude) to the very specific (#88: a Miles Davis CD on eBay for $.250), to the academic (#37: Making an A on a paper and knowing I earned it; #201: Correctly breaking up a word into morphemes [I've completely forgotten how to do that!]), to the food-related (#20: Chocolate brownie frappuccino from Starbucks [which they no longer have!]; #211: Cherry limeades from Sonic), to the book-related (#29: Sitting in front of a blazing fire and reading a good book; #43: Finishing a really good book with the knowledge that I will definitely want to read it again; #68: Beginning a new book; #69: The smell of a new book; #195: Lying in a hammock on a spring day and reading a good book).

The funny thing about a list like this is that it's easy to tell what stage of life I was in at the time. I could tell when I wasn't at Union because I looked forward to break being over so I could go back, and I could tell when I had left Union and had begun grad school at UT because there were mentions of a new city and an apartment and small victories in theory class or Old English. Reading these happy things is like opening up a box of photos and thumbing through them one by one, and I'm so glad I have new happy things--more verbal photographs--to add (#318: My husband; #319: My husband bringing home flowers; #321: Being able to use the word "husband").

Life is good. I am deeply blessed by a God who shows me His grace every day.

What would you put in your happy book?