What's in a blog?

There is unspoken pressure to write blogs in a certain way. I don't mean that they are all written in the same style, but once you have a style it must be lived up to. This is even more true when you start getting followers, especially when they make affirming comments to your posts.

I think this is why my blog sits idle for months between posts. It started as random deep thoughts I'd come up with while mindlessly drafting at work, or when I couldn't sleep at night. Then I tried to be funny (hopefully you can at least distinguish the humorous ones from the rest or I've REALLY failed.) There was that set of chapter reviews as I read Bono's interview biography... still haven't finished it btw. And then... then... it all just stopped. My roommate likes to point out that I am at the bottom of her link list b/c my last update was so long ago. This post might all be for you Kac.

So I got to thinking... what should I write about? Do I go deep and serious? Pulling out metaphysics and theology... challenging readers with biblical truths I myself have been learning... Should I hold off posting until I can recite a cleverly worded anecdote about an odd happening in my usually ordinary life? Maybe I start to share a hobby or talent and make that my focus... constantly trying to out-do myself!

I find that I can't settle on any one of those common blog themes. I'm not always super deep... yet in the middle of girl's night last Friday I was able to tie The Vampire Diaries to CS Lewis in a convincing juxtaposition about stories of redemption... maybe I should blog about that. Or... hmm.. off the cuff I don't have any amusing stories to tell... I saw Fame last weekend.. I could blog about that, or how much I love the music in Glee... or come up with theories for Fringe... or I could review the audiobooks I listen to at work. Even more personal I could show photos of my 25th birthday party and the level I went to accomplish my "sweet and savory" theme. Then I could continue in that vein and discuss the latest songs I'm learning on piano, how I mean to play my cello more, how I stumbled across my old high school drama stuff which rekindled a theatrical flair. Or how I started crying during the ballet portion of the Fame finale b/c dance can be so moving and I miss it.

Maybe I just settle on comments about the weather changing and pointing out God's creation, because the colors really are beautiful.. and the anticipation of Christmas is already starting to coil in the bottom of my stomach (and at Target.)

But, here we are... I've managed to fill an adequate length entry without really saying anything and certainly without anything worthwhile. I will continue to muse of what form my blog should take on, for you see... that is an inherent flaw of mine. I can't ever just spout things off, they must be carefully thought through before escaping from my lips, or in this case, my fingers. Trust me... I've proof-read even this eclectic update. :)

Loyalty.

When I was waiting in the check-out line at HyVee I noticed this festive display. All red, white and blue... very 4th of July... you know the type. I had nothing else to do and having been to the grocery store only last night I'd already perused the tabloid headlines, so I took a closer look at the patriotic stand and what, you may be wondering, were they selling?... 4th of July Conversation Hearts! yes... those little, normally pink, boxes illustrating pastel shaped candy that spout 'I Love You' or 'XOXO' or the more modern 'Text Me' were now providing that same level of sweet endearment for another holiday.

My emotions were a bit befuddled as I stood there; wondering why it was taking so long in the 'Express' aisle. Conversation Hearts are a Valentine's Day candy... I couldn't help feeling a little betrayed that here they were boldly (as they had done away with the pastels in favor of red, white and blue) proclaiming "USA" and "Brave One." Then a stroke of irony hit that forced a smirk across my mouth. Feeling betrayed by candy. Candy that was patriotically supporting its country. This candy wasn't committing treason, which I had wanted to acuse it of at first, at least not according to Definition 1 at dictionary.com. (I had to check my semantics to be sure.) Definition 2... possibly. Definition 3... most definitely! Conversation Hearts have indeed acted in a treacherous manner, betraying my confidence and breaching the faith I had in them to be loyal to one holiday and one holiday alone.

Sadly this is not the first time I've noticed this. Peeps. Those little marshmallow, coated in sugar, chick-shaped sweets. Easter! Easter is the holiday they are associated with. Several years ago Peeps branched out and started making bunny shaped treats as well. While bunnies don't say "peep" as chicks do I let it slide since bunnies are even more iconic of Easter than chicks. (Neither having anything to do with Jesus I might point out... but that's another day entirely) I draw the line at; Christmas, Halloween and Valentine Peeps. For those holidays they have no place. You dont' see them selling mint m&ms at Easter! (although... I'd probably buy them if they did... hypocrat that I am) All the same, the priciple of the matter stands.

I know the economy's rocky, I know companies have marketing departments to hatch these 'brilliant' ideas. In regards to the Conversation hearts... they aren't that good to begin with, the only reason I end up buying them at Valentine's is b/c I've had a year to delude myself into thinking that they are better than they are. As they say, absense makes the Conversation Heart grow fonder.

This has been my stand for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Loyal Candy.

What's new?

I read on Chris and Katie's website/blog about him feeling convicted not having a good answer to the "what's new?" question so I thought I'd better come up with something myself.  This is just a brief overview of the goings-on in my life these days...

-Studying for the LEED AP exam.  I take the test tomorrow... hopefully I will pass, otherwise I'm down $400.  ouch.  (should be studying right this moment, but I took a blog break)  I've learned that being 2 years out of college, I just don't have the stamina to study like I used to!  Where has the girl who stayed up 'til 3, 4, 5, 6... all night... gone?  I guess it's not really a bad thing that I can't pull repeated all-nighters.  It's a marvel of God's ingenuity regarding the human body that while we require sleep we can endure weeks, even months averaging 4-6 hours of sleep a night.  Moral of that story... if you like to sleep, don't go to architecture school.

-Kaci's moving in!!  Which means I've been moving stuff OUT of her future room.  However, with studying I haven't completed the task prior to her stuff coming in.  Oops!  Fortunately (that sounds mean) but fortunately she's not actually living here until July 1st, so I have another few weeks to get things organized.  I'm super excited to have a housemate though!  Plus, today she brought a futon which fits perfectly in the sun room.  I bought some over priced 'patio' (Christmas) lights and rearranged a bit... I have a few more projects to work out but soon the sun room will officially be the pineapple room (tasteful, I promise; no pun intended).

-British TV.  My new addiction.  Can I blame Jane Austen, posthumously for this?  Possibly... Ever since the JAMM Session I can't seem to pull away from all things England!  That... and Spooks is a pretty good show.  I signed up for Netflix and they have a whole category of "British TV"  it's brilliant!  Which transitions nicely into how I keep incorporating British colloquialisms into my everyday speech.  I'm tempted to end sentences with 'yea?'  and 'lovely.' has become my new favorite acquiescent reply.  (stop me when I start adding unnecessary 'u's to words) Plus, I find when I read out loud I tend to slip into an accent, not great, but the best I've got.  Maybe it's a sign that I'm supposed to go to England?  Or marry a Brit?  Or...  who knows yea?  ;)

-My brother and I are headed to Seattle at the end of the month.  His best friend, our childhood neighbor, is getting married out there.  Brother didn't think it through very far since he's only 20 and can't rent a car or anything, so I'm coming with him!  I'm really looking forward to it.  I've never been there, unless you count the airport, briefly, which I don't.  We'll visit the Space Needle, fish market, coffee shop, and spend a day traveling around to the coast.  Definitely have to stop in Forks!  I know.. I'm one of those.  But the setting really is beautiful based on photos I've seen, and while I do want a cliche 'Welcome to Forks' photo... I more want to see the ocean, and the rain-forest.  Two things so close together and so uncommon to an Iowan.  Like I said, I'm really looking forward to the trip!

-Summer connection group (bible study) starts up this weekend after a month off.  Pretty excited about this too!  I really love my group.  The summer is always more laid back.  We still go to church and sit together on Saturday night, then eat together, but instead of diving into the Word like during the school year we just hang out and enjoy one another, catch up and fellowship.  While I liked the time off during May I've missed keeping up with everyone.  I think we're grilling in the park this Saturday.  Should be a lovely time!

I should get back to studying...  $400 test tomorrow and all.

First Annual JAMM Session

There are an array of topics I could write about since it's been so long since my last post... yet I've decided to write about the First Annual JAMM Session.

JAMM; Jane Austen Movie Marathon took place Sunday, May 24, 2009.  The idea was came as a culmination of several thoughts.  First, my friend Jessica and I love Jane Austen books, there seems to be a reference to something Austen every time we hang out.  Second, Jessica and I combined happen to own a complete collection of dvds... minus Northanger Abbey since neither of us can get into the atypical gothic novel.  Third, it was memorial weekend, which meant 3 days off work, which provided the perfect setting for a movie marathon!

While Jessica was providing most of the movies, I did my part in researching typical English cuisine.  As I love cooking/baking anyway I thought it would help our day be more complete.  Since this was only the first annual we didn't do anything outlandish and come in costume, or only speak in 1810 English...  but having tea and scones didn't seem too much.

As it was Sunday we met up for out America part of the day; coffee stop at Caribou on the way to church.  (Great message at Westwind this weekend, I really appreciated that he incorporated memorial day into it)  After church we headed back to my place where I started getting lunch ready.  I had decided that something simple would be best.  So... as much as I would have liked to flex my cooking skills I held off from preparing any Beef Wellington (someday...) and opted instead for Chicken Pasties.  Basically like a pot pie but made in a pocket of dough instead of a mini pie, and without the gravy.

I also made the dough using whole wheat flour.  It made it a bit more crumbly, but also provided a heartier taste.  The pasties were filled with chicken, potatoes, onions and carrots, seasoned simply with salt and pepper (I did add some cayenne to mine later).  Popped them in the oven and it was time for the first film to roll!

Early in the week we had discussed an order, Mansfield Park, being our least favorite of the five was to be first.  I had just listened to the audiobook earlier in the week to refresh myself, as it's been 3 years for that one.  (Librivox.org is a great website!  Free audiobooks that are in the public domain; no longer under copyright law)  Although it was the second shortest film we would watch it seemed to drag on and on...  also, I was so frustrated with the many 'artistic liberties' they had taken that I no longer liked half the characters I had in the book.  I wasn't sorry at all when it finished.

We moved on to Sense and Sensibility.  The one with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant.  It's just cast so well!  The good characters are so good, and you just empathize right along with them, and the bad characters truly are insufferable!  Good show.

Keeping the projector rolling we went right on the our shortest film, Persuasion.  I just LOVE this one!  Now, I adore Pride and Prejudice, the dialogue is so great in that... yet Persuasion, since reading it 2 years ago, has become a very close second.  Maybe it's b/c I'm getting older that I relate more to Anne Elliot... maybe it's just that good.  At any rate, I had read the book and watched a version of the movie, as I said, 2 years ago, and I thought the movie was just 'ok.'  Jessica introduced me to the most recent movie version a few months ago and it has become an instant favorite in my dvd collection.  While Anne remains a bit forlorn and plain they have finally cast a Captain Wentworth worthy of the accolade "most handsomest man in the navy!" Luisa Musgrove bestows upon him.  Rupert Penry-Jones makes an excellent Captain Wentworth!  This movie is always a joy to watch, I wish it wasn't so short... just when I really start to get into it, it's suddenly almost over.

Never fear!  We valiantly pressed on.  We did break for tea (mint, both of our favorites) and scones (thanks for the recipe Kate!) and my homemade lemon curd spread.  Emma was next on the list.  This is definitely the lightest, most warmly colored film.  Every outfit they have Gwenyth in is so feminine and pretty, and the interior design of the rooms looks like a catalog.  The shots constantly create these beautiful pictures for the scenes to occur in.  All in all a great follow up to Persuasion, which was beautiful for the love finally, finally allowed.  Emma is humorous and pretty and all around lovely to watch.

There's no other way of saying it... we saved the best for last.  Pride and Prejudice, Austen's crowning achievement.  I'm more a fan of the 5.5 hour BBC version... yet the newer one with Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen has grown on me.  As we didn't want to double the length of the marathon we opted for the 2 hour version. :)  While the BBC version is so near word for word the new one remains quite faithful to the book as well.  A few more liberties are taken, but so they must be to condense it as they did.  The most memorable lines are still delivered as written originally, and I don't know if the 'country atmosphere' may be more accurately portrayed in this one than in the BBC's.  Either way... Darcy and Elizabeth overcome both their pride and their prejudice by the end.

The day was a complete success!  Capitol, capitol!

Bono-fide Ch. 2

Ahh Chapter 2... not as stirring as Chapter 1 for me, but I still enjoyed it!

I really admire this man who lives this mix of celebrity and normal, yet on either side he freely transitions to his faith and humanitarian convictions. Maybe it takes the confidence of a international star to be able to say exactly what you think and feel about things. Maybe not, I know I don't often feel as free as I should to speak my mind, to speak truth.

If it was me interviewing Bono... as soon as he mentioned God I'd pick up that trail and take it as far as I could. I just love having spiritual discussion with people. Unfortunately the writer doesn't seem as intrigued with that as with other topics. Which, is fine, he wrote the book, not me. Still, I relish in even the bits of sentences Bono gives that provide a deeper understanding of his relationship with God.

I love to see how universal God is. Whether it's someone in Thailand or China or Ireland or even Iowa, USA God is the same. I enjoy so much hearing people throughout the world talk about their experience with God, with the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It's so beautiful!

Anyway, I think my favorite line from the chaper came right at the end. The interviewer asks Bono "what are you?" as he's been oscillating between his life as a regular guy and that of a celebrity. Bono begins his answer saying, "I am a scribbling, cigar-smoking, wine-drinking, Bible-reading man." I love that, such freedom and security in who he is, and more importantly, who he is in Christ.


I bought the new U2 album yesterday, and asked my co-worker if he was going to get it. He said he never cared for U2 b/c he found them too preachy. I must confess.. it is probably their being 'too preachy' that attracts me most. There is such raw, honest, depth to the songs. Bono talked about that in chapter 2 as well, saying they are a bit different than other bands.. yet they've been around b/c the music is the kind you take and listen to again and again when it's dark and you're alone. It's familar and real. I get that... its what keeps me coming back.