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Archive for December, 2014

What I’m Into – December 2014

Posted in What I'm Into on December 31, 2014| 2 Comments »

December has seemed really long. Thanksgiving seems like it was a year ago. I guess that’s good, since there’s usually a lot to cram into December. It’s also a little overwhelming, so much so that I’m almost at the end of my two and a half weeks of vacation, and I feel like I’m just getting started. But no – work comes back on Monday. I told Steph last night that what I really need is two weeks vacation and then another two weeks secret vacation where I’m still off work but no one else knows about it. Because you know what happens when you tell *cough*brag*cough* people you have oodles and oodles of free time? They trip over themselves to try to fill it up. Then you no longer have free time, which to me is the whole point of vacation. And I let them fill it up, because seeing them is wonderful, but while I have not done a single thing these last two weeks that I didn’t want to do, I have still done a lot of things and *omg tired* I need a break.

Here are some of the things I’ve been into this month:

1. Advent. It feels weird to say I’m “into” Advent. It’s not a club or a hobby. But yeah. I’m into it. It’s one of my favorite seasons of the liturgical year. I get waiting and anticipation, and it’s nice to take time to sink into it. Brenna D’Ambrosio’s In the Edges of the Day group has been vital to my ability to abide in Advent this year.  Thank you, Brenna!

2. The Newsroom. I have devoured all three seasons this month. I waited until after final speeches and papers were graded, because it’s just not fair to watch Aaron Sorkin while grading undergraduates in a freshman-level course. It’s too high a standard. But after grades were in, this is pretty much the main thing I did for the next week.

3. Food scavenging. I have been shameless. I can’t remember cooking once this whole month.  I take that back – I made meatballs. But other than that, I basically scavenged. I took home a vat of leftovers from Thanksgiving, and freezing some of them took me all the way through finals week. Every time I went to a party or gathering (and it was December, so I went to A LOT), and the host at the end of the night said, “Please. Everyone take some of this home,” (this might be a Southern thing) I did. I said yes to every freebie food that was offered to me this month. Favorite score – half a dozen everything bagels.

4. Reconnecting. I visited my hair stylist/colorist for the first time since August. We had a lot of catching up to do. I saw lots of family at Christmas, spent a day with Michelle, Steve, and Savvy, and have had dinner with beloved ones whom I hardly ever get to see when we’re living our normal lives. It was nice.

5. Dog sitting. I have been spending the week with these two little nuggets:

photo 1

I caught them sharing a pillow, even though most of the time they act like they don’t like each other. Sleep shots don’t lie, pups.

photo 2

D’aw. They’re so cute and cuddly. I just want to squish their faces with love. Some of their cutest moments are when they are sleeping. You know, when they are NOT staring at me or following me around the house or smacking their gums or barking at absolutely nothing. That is NOT cute. But most of the time – cute.

Buddy, Maddie, and I have enjoyed the crisp weather from the backyard, taken naps, and binge-watched New Girl. Good times.

Another thing I am into this month is nostalgia. December is a looking-back month. Five things I’ve been into this year that I want to carry into 2015 –

1. Meeting online friends in person. I haven’t done that since fandom, and I forgot how much I love it.

2. Feeding people and entertaining. That’s going to be a theme for me this year.

3. Poetry – writing it, reading it, reciting it to innocent bystanders/students.

4. Art journaling. My art journal is less art/more journal, but it’s mine, and I enjoy it.

5. Playing around with the blog. I’ve guest posted and hosted others here, and I have plans to do more of that (invitation coming next week, in fact). I also have enjoyed having themes and series. I want to continue the Coffee Shop Road Trip this coming year, and I haven’t given up on Getting It Together, although I am willing to admit that it might be a life project. I think it is for everyone, though, so I’m okay with that. I can’t wait to see what happens here this coming year!

So that’s my month/year in review.  What are you into?

I’m linking up with Leigh Kramer – join us?

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The Year of Beauty

Posted in Beauty on December 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This year has not gone exactly according to plan (do they ever with me?). I didn’t read 100 books (which is two books a week – really not hard for me if I just read every day). Or finish Fishbowl (started Feast, however, and I’m pretty psyched about that). Or try 100 new vegan recipes (or probably not, anyway. I did eat a lot of vegan food.  However, I also really love goat cheese).

But I did embrace beauty.

I had all these preconceived notions of what having beauty for my word for the year would mean. I set up a Pinterest board to track them. Take a few minutes and peruse it. There are some pretty awesome things there. Beauty longs to be found, and it was pretty easy to do.

I found beauty where it was hidden. I looked around my world and, with the help of Jennifer Upton’s Re-Frame course, found beauty hiding in all sorts of overlooked places.

I found beauty where it had been neglected. I rediscovered things I liked about the way I look and see things, and I discovered new ways to look and see things that make them even more beautiful.

Most of all, I found beauty in a way that evokes a response. The most important thing about beauty that I learned this year is that once you see it, it’s hard to ignore. Beauty makes me want to create. I want to honor and celebrate the beauty in my life and the world. I want to embody it. I want to share it with others.

I thought for a while that my word for 2015 would be dance. Because that’s what beauty makes me want to do, both figuratively and literally. I want to celebrate my way through the year, basking in all the beauty that has been unleashed around me.

But dance is only part of it. Stay tuned.

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Dwarves are very upsetting…

Posted in Lists on December 30, 2014| 2 Comments »

Yesterday, I went to see the new Into the Woods with my sister and Mel and Hope.  It was really the only way we could have seen it, since Mel and Hope were the people who introduced us to it to begin with. We giggled all the way through it, sometimes before the line was even finished. It was a great outing.

Amendment: Tammy and I totally saw the filmed version of this play in high school. We have loved it even longer than I remembered.

On the movie itself, I have some thoughts.

1. I know what was missing from my life.  Chris Pine singing Agony. It made me so happy.

2. How dare they cut out the reprise of Agony from the second act! I know the whole play is too long to do as a film.  But come on!  “There’s a dwarf standing guard?” That’s just good comedy. Imagine Chris Pine singing this:

Excellent, no?

3. I really liked Anna Kendrick as Cinderella.  She did a great job.

4. Okay.  I know I’m going to lose some people here.  Meryl Streep. She’s awesome. She’s amazing. She’s fantastic. She did a fine job – a job she should be proud of. Worth every penny.

But.

She’s no Bernadette Peters.  There.  I said it.

Let’s move on.

5. This movie really should be a sing-along.  I know at least four people who would really enjoy that.

6. Just because it’s Disney and involves fairy tales does not automatically make it a movie for children. At least, not a public movie for children. Sure, it was funny when a certain character said, “May I kiss you?” and a kid in the theatre shouted out “NO!” But there were some moments when it was really uncomfortable that the children were there. Maybe they could watch it when it comes out on video at home, where they are free to ask questions or be redirected or distracted by puppets or something when scenes come up that raise questions that parents aren’t prepared to answer yet. That’s what a parental guidance rating means – that some parental guidance might be necessary, and that’s hard to do (and terribly annoying to others who are old enough to understand the movie without it being explained to them) while whispering in a theater.

7. Speaking of moments (or whole, complete scenes) that are not necessarily child-friendly, Johnny Depp as the wolf was everything I imagined he would be.

8. I didn’t enjoy Lilla Crawford as Red Riding Hood.  She wasn’t bad, and she has a nice voice.  But…the timing or something was off.  There were some great lines that she just didn’t hit right.

All in all, I liked it, and I really love that Hope drove in for the afternoon just to see it with us. That made it spectacular. Good friends.  Good times.

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Portals of Water and Wine by R. L. Haas

Posted in Books on December 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

In the wee hours of this morning, I finished Portals of Water and Wine, the first in what promises to be a terrific trilogy by R. L. Haas.

powaw

My first reaction to finishing was to implore Rachel to “Write, Faster.” Because I’m gonna need the next one as soon as possible.

There are many reasons why I think you should buy, read, and fall in love with this book, but I’ll stick to my top three.

3. The Twists

Without giving away any of the plot, suffice it to say that when one is writing a story where ____ happens or someone does ____, it is tempting to get to resolution as soon as possible. We like good things to happen to good people and bad things to happen to bad people, and we want it to be straightforward and easy. But that’s not real, and that’s not good storytelling.

That’s not a problem in this book.

There are twists and turns, and they happen as jarringly in this story as they do in life. I kept glancing down at the percentage bar on the bottom of my Kindle. 85%. 90%. 95%. I kept thinking, “Whew.  That’s it. The book’s almost finished. It’s done. We can all relax.” Nope. The twists kept coming just as strongly at the end as they did in the beginning. The end is an excellent setup for the next installment.

2. The Imagery

This beautiful fantasy world that Rachel has created is so easy to picture. Her descriptions are gorgeous. I was right there with the main character, going breathless at the sights before us.

Better yet, she somehow avoided what many authors seem to think is a necessary dullness in describing the characters’ appearances like they’re walking down a runway, so everyone has to stop what they’re doing and watch politely before the story can go on. She describes them by weaving the descriptions into the story in a way that it not only gave us a description of what they looked like but of who they are and, in some cases, even helped move the plot along.

Which leads me to my number one reason…

1. The Characters

Getting to know the characters in this book – and growing to love them – was a gradual process. That is exactly as it should be. Too often, first chapters read like the characters’ social media profiles, telling us what the author wants us to think of them. As a reader, though, I don’t want to be told by a third party what to think or how to relate to a character. I want to observe the character and draw my own conclusions.

Rachel trusts her characters to reveal themselves. And they do.  And I love them.

This will mean very little to anyone who doesn’t know me from fandom days or who has never been an active part of a fandom themselves, but I have to say it – these characters are so alive that I want to write fanfiction about them.

For a point of reference, when I say that, it puts them up there with such iconic characters as Superman and Lex Luthor. Pippin and Merry. I’ve only read the first of this trilogy, and I already have an OTP (and no – I’m not going to tell you who it is…it’s too soon…maybe after the second book…maybe).

Buy this book. Buy the paperback. Buy the ebook. But buy it.

And Rachel – thank you.  And write faster!

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Wisdom Streaks

Posted in Beauty on December 18, 2014| 4 Comments »

In a few months, I will be turning 40. I plan on celebrating the whole year.  I plan on being thoroughly obnoxious about it.  So there’s that for you to look forward to.

I usually dye my hair, but this semester, partly out of curiosity as to what was really going on under there and partly out of the more pressing matter of dealing with the whale of semester it has been, I have let my natural hair grow in a little.

Observation: I have some pretty serious wisdom streaks going on.

photo 1

“Wisdom streaks” is the term one of my beloved friends uses for the effect created when gray hairs are growing among the rest of the hair. One of my residents called it “tinsel.” Acceptable.

I like to play with my hair color, so I’m not quite ready to go all gray. And really – neither is my hair.  As you can see in the picture above, there’s still some brown peeking through. But in another ten years, when I imagine the majority of it will have turned, I just might.

It is beautiful. The picture doesn’t do it justice. My tinsel hairs are shiny and silver. This means that when I am old enough for all my hairs to be gray, not only will I be even more well-rounded, well-read, and generally badass than I am now, I will have the metallic rock star hair to match.

For now, though, I am having fun with the mocha color.  And in the new year, I’m going red again. Or copper streaks. I haven’t decided. But I’m still having fun with colors.

I also love the little flippy thing the long bob (or lob, as it was called in the magazine I was reading while waiting for the color to set) does at the end. Observe:

photo 2

Underneath it all, though – I know. Shiny wisdom streaks. I’m going to look awesome when I’m old.

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December

Posted in awake the bones, Beauty, Church on December 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

photo (15)

We are in the final two weeks of the semester.  I had grand plans for grading, decorating, writing, and art journaling last week that just didn’t happen. I had plans this year to get it together, to focus on beauty, and to read 100 books, and I feel like all of those have fallen short of expectation as well. It would be easy to be discouraged. It would be really easy to power through and forget about Advent for the next two weeks, but I am pretty sure that doing so would have the exact opposite of the intended effect.

So I am engaging in intentional reflections. I am reading, journaling, and poetry-ing my way through Isaiah. I am joining Susannah Conway’s community project called December Reflections, and I am finishing up my year of beauty by looking for beauty in the ordinary through Awake the Bones. They will mostly be found on Instagram, but I’m sure they will make an occasional appearance here.

Right now, I’m just going to mind the mug and drink my coffee in peace.

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