I apologize for my slacker nature and lack of posts. I have been taking time to read books lately instead of playing around on the internet so much. Two very excellent books, mind you. I live the philosophy that life is too short to read bad books. What's the point? Alas, I only have a handful of books that I will read multiple times. I hate when I already know where the story is going and what will happen. So it has to be the language that keeps me coming back to a book. The poetry.
On that note, the first book I've been reading is Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. I fell in love with the movie when it came out and then happened upon the book after that. While they certainly have similar story lines and themes, they are beautifully different. So the book stays interesting because I always remember how the movie goes before I remember how the book goes. This reading is my third time through and I am discovering it with new eyes. I've decided it is a book about two sisters: one who falls in love too easy and one who finds it hard to fall in love at all. It is the study of this particular difference and how each sister copes with her "problem" through her life (you follow the two sisters from youth to late 30's). Some quotes for your personal enjoyment:
"Goodness, in their opinion, was not a virtue but merely spinelessness and fear disguised as humility."
"He knew exactly how to hit a woman, so that the marks hardly showed. He knew how to kiss her, too, so that her heart began to race and she'd start to think forgiveness with every breath. It's amazing the places love will carry you. It's astounding to discover just how far you're willing to go."
"There's no point being afraid to see people for who they really are, because every once in a while you see into someone like Gideon. Deception and dishonesty are alien to him; sooner or later he'll have to take a crash course in the ABC's of bullshit to ensure that he won't get eaten alive out in the world he's so anxious to get into."
Fabulous, no?
The most recent book I picked up is Don Miller's Searching for God Knows What. I'm only two chapters in but I already enjoy the guy. I read most of Blue Like Jazz my Freshman year and saw the guy speak at the Tivoli a year or so ago. While I know some of my Christian friends can't respect him, I believe that taking his story/advice with a grain of salt (like you should ALL christian "self-help" books and bible studies) is completely fabulous. He is very real and very upfront about our faults as Christians. Here goes:
"The very scary thing about religion, to me, is that people actually believe God is who they think he is." Which discusses the idea that we ALL have God in a box.
And after discussing the idea that people can't change, he says this: "That said, I do believe people change, and I do believe life can get better. I have changed, slowly and with time, the way a tree grows by a river. [... A friend of mine] believes the only thing that truly changes a person is God's truth, that is, His Word and His working in our lives through the Holy Spirit. This makes a lot of sense to me, because the times in my life when I have been most happy haven't been the times when I've had the most money or the most freedom or the most anything, but rather when I've been in love or in community or right with people." -Don Miller
Again, I love it. Makes my mind crank and churn. Hurts a little, all that honesty. But I keep on reading. I like his theory that religion is merely an invitation to know God. That's it. Bottom line. How beautiful is that?
So I've also been listening to a lot of music. What else is new, right? I just made my friend J a cd and am working on a "Goodbye Mix" to leave behind in my stead when I head north. If you'd like a copy, let me know. You might already be on my list. I decided I needed to start keeping track (no pun intended) of these playlists in the event that you might want to download a few tracks for yourself. So here's J's mix. It is mostly about moving on and growing up and dealing with being single (since we are both in the same place, this was an easy cd to make seeing as I've been listening to all these songs on repeat).
Red Head Survival CD
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Chocolate -Snow Patrol 3:12
Far Away - Ingrid Michaelson 3:04
Time - Chantal Kreviazuk 4:07
Let Your Beat Go On - Brendan James 4:01
Your New Twin Sized Bed - Death Cab For Cutie 3:06
Can't Get It Right Today - Joe Purdy 3:54
Disappear - The Gabe Dixon Band 4:57
On Your Porch - The Format 5:12I
Miss You - Blink-182 3:48
Lately - David Gray 4:14
Somewhere Only We Know - Keane 3:57
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor 2:50
No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses 3:37
The Underdog Spoon 3:42
Intervention - Arcade Fire 4:19
Control Mute - Math 4:36
The Weight - The Band 4:35
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan 3:40
Breakable - Ingrid Michaelson 3:10
I'd Say I'm Sorry Now - Shawn Colvin 2:22
I also picked up Panic at the Disco and Death Cab's newest albums and have made my way through them. My thoughts if you are interested are jumbled. First of all, I bought the Death Cab CD, "Narrow Stairs," right away and my brother and I worked our way through the tracks telling one another to listen to "Cathy" or "Twin Sized Bed." I think this album is sort of a regression into their older style of music. If you were a fan of Death Cab before 2005's "Plans" came out, then you will most likely be a fan of this album. I think it will be a harder album to get into for those that only jumped on the bandwagon with the Plans album. My friend G and I decided that this album hearkens back to 2003's "Transatlantacism," but that both Trans and Plans are better. Don't get me wrong, Narrow Stairs is a great album, but it isn't nearly as cohesive as Plans. I can sit and listen to Plans without stopping. With Narrow Stairs, I find myself skipping around, skipping over, and eventually changing discs. Maybe as the album becomes more familiar, I will enjoy it more. I'm still trying to be okay with the fact that "I Will Possess Your Heart" is 8 1/2 minutes and doesn't get into the vocals until over half way through. It's a shame that I generally don't have the patience to make it to the amazing lyrics (which I will now, of course, quote for you).
"How I wish you could see the potential; the potential of you and me. It's like a book elegantly bound but in a language that you can't read just yet. You gotta spend some time, love, you gotta spend some time with me. I know that you'll find, love, that I will possess your heart."
Only slightly creepy in that incredibly romantic way that only Death Cab can pull off.
As for Panic at the Disco, be prepared for something ENTIRELY different than you've heard before. Perhaps you are one of those that believes Panic was merely a fad of the high school crowd and would phase out of popularity in due time. Ok. Perhaps their popularity ship has sailed because this new album, "Pretty. Odd." has lost the blood pumping peppiness of their former "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out." If you are seeking out Panic! for that "fever"ish sound, you will be disappointed. If you love Panic! for a little more than that, please pick up this cd and give it a try. I adored "9 In the Afternoon" the first time I heard it on the radio. I'm warning you, however, it is one of the most upbeat tracks. You know how "Camisado" picks up after that quiet intro? If it lived on the Pretty. Odd. album, it wouldn't. The most delightful surprise was track 12, "Folkin' Around." I have always loved that Panic! plays with words. Being an English major, I appreciate lyrics that aren't typical. God bless country music but I could probably sing along to any country song the first time I heard it. So "Folkin' Around"... totally a banjo bluegrass sound. AMAZING lyrics, however, cause it to now be track one on my Goodbye Mix. Be prepared for a sound you've not heard before.
Folkin' Around
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"Allow me to exaggerate a memory or two
Where summer's lasted longer than
Longer than we do
Where nothing really mattered
Except for me to be with you
But in time we all forgot
And we all grew
Your melody sounds as sweet
As the first time it was sung
With a little bit more character for show
And by the time your father's heard
Of all the wrong you've done
Then I'm putting out the lantern
Find your own way back home
If I've forgotten how to sing
Before I sung this song
I'll write it all across the wall
Before my job is done
And I'll even have the courtesy
Of admitting I was wrong
As the final words before I'm dead and gone
You've never been so divine
In accepting your defeat
And I've never been more scared to be alone
If love is not enough to put my enemies to sleep
Then I'm putting out the lantern
Find your own way back home."
Well I think that's all you need from me, today. Best wishes for a fabulous week!!
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