Boy, has it been a busy past few weeks! Looking forward to a real update soon, but for now... just a quick post to announce my entry into the world that is Bloglovin'. It seems to be a fun and simple way to find and follow writers of interest on the interwebs. (I am loving the app!) Check it out, if you will!
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high adventure, fearless cooking, insight and humor accumulated throughout a 27-year journey...
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
20 January 2014
18 December 2013
Now Presenting....
Welcome to "Pearls of Wisdom!"
After - like - seven years.... I have changed the name of this blog.
"Deterioration of the fight or flight response" sounded cool (it's the name of an episode of Grey's Anatomy, which I watched religiously in my post-college years), but it was kind of long. It also wasn't very concise. I think I had written one or two posts in particular on the ideal of striving to act kindly, rationally, and considerately, rather than brashly and instinctually.
I think that topic fits into the broader scope of wisdom in general. As I tend to write equal amounts of anecdotes, life lessons, and stuff learnt whilst reading... I decided to "officially" change the title and refine the purpose of my blog.
Therefore... Welcome, readers! I'm looking forward to discussing and sharing tidbits of knowledge, and having some fun along the way.
Cheers!
After - like - seven years.... I have changed the name of this blog.
"Deterioration of the fight or flight response" sounded cool (it's the name of an episode of Grey's Anatomy, which I watched religiously in my post-college years), but it was kind of long. It also wasn't very concise. I think I had written one or two posts in particular on the ideal of striving to act kindly, rationally, and considerately, rather than brashly and instinctually.
I think that topic fits into the broader scope of wisdom in general. As I tend to write equal amounts of anecdotes, life lessons, and stuff learnt whilst reading... I decided to "officially" change the title and refine the purpose of my blog.
Therefore... Welcome, readers! I'm looking forward to discussing and sharing tidbits of knowledge, and having some fun along the way.
Cheers!
22 August 2012
Something New
Something new; a project for Greg and I to share; creative writing; kitchen experimentation; work in the garden; tasting new libations; sharing with the world on-the-line...
...presenting:
The Gastronomes
http://gastronomes.blogspot.com
A new online journal of our adventures in gardening, cooking and eating.
Check it out - and bon apetit!
...presenting:
The Gastronomes
http://gastronomes.blogspot.com
A new online journal of our adventures in gardening, cooking and eating.
Check it out - and bon apetit!
24 March 2012
Blue Like Jazz
I read Blue Like Jazz years ago and loved it. A few years ago, I heard news of the pre-production for a Blue Like Jazz film - which was difficult to imagine, since the book is such a lovely, meandering collection of essays on spirituality and conversations and experiences. Now that I've seen the trailer, I'm so excited to watch the story come to life on the big screen.
26 June 2009
climb mountains
live in a house
sleep under stars
shoes on pavement
feet on dirt
cityscape
clean air, clear skies
work for the man
climb trees, explore rivers, climb mountains
sleep under stars
shoes on pavement
feet on dirt
cityscape
clean air, clear skies
work for the man
climb trees, explore rivers, climb mountains
02 December 2008
Not even at a crossroads
Hello friends of the internet,
Now that NaNoWriMo is over (as well as No-Shave November, which I haven't personally concluded) I can do other things with the time I don't spend at work or with people. I ended at 50,062-something words, although my novel isn't near finished. I had kind of mapped out a plot in my mind, and would skip ahead to write different parts, bouncing back and forth so I wouldn't tire of a particular part of the story. Maybe I'll complete the story during next November.
Recently I read the first half of The Secret Life of Bees, recommended to me by Christine Barlow two summers back. Last night I began reading The Lord of the Rings, because this weekend a TV channel aired all three movies of the "trilogy" and I felt my brain could use some stimulation from Tolkien's adventures in language. (Writing my own wimpy book, I could see how awfully limited my own vocabulary is right now - which I attribute to only having been required to write about art during the past four years of my life)
Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. It's much more difficult to discern the call of God when I don't spend time listening. I read Brennan Manning's The Signature of Jesus, in which he described how to do a "centering prayer". It's meditative, and you do it for about twenty minutes at a time, before breakfast or dinner so your soul can connect with the hunger of your body. My problem is that I need a clean, peaceful space to do it, and my room is not in that condition at the moment. I miss the Christopher House in a time like this, because it had the chapel - small, intimate, quiet. Lined with a few chairs, stocked with diverse musical instruments for worship, and with candles always lit, it really felt like a sacred space where we as individuals or the whole fellowship could come for quiet (or loud!) time with the Lord, because that space was created specifically to meet with Him there.
Soon I'll be starting a youth ministry internship at my church, which I'm pretty ecstatic about. It makes me very glad that God doesn't call the qualified, but qualifies the called. I'll make curriculums for pre-school through senior high, teach, lead events, work on communications (don't I wish I took some graphic design courses?), and learn how to administrate. My pastor and the elder in charge of youth will be mentoring me through the process, so I'm going to ask that they also keep me accountable for my own spiritual growth, challenging me through this season (ooo, Christian vocab word).
Unpaid internships usually need to be paired with part-time jobs, so that's the thing I worry about. Working at Pier 1 has been a lot of fun, I actually enjoy it a lot, but I'm unure how long employment lasts after the buy-stuff-in-December season ends. (don't you hate having to associate Jesus' birthday with giving gifts to everyone but Him?) The career-building/resume-sending/connect-with-employers websites are okay. Without a degree in nursing or engineering, there aren't many jobs available. There are a few positions as postal workers or typists for the state, so perhaps something like that will hold me over. I feel like I just need a short-term job where I can earn some money to save up for a car; and once I have that, I'll have mobility and I'll be independent and I'll have peace about that.
Saturday was a really cool day because I got to hang out with a bunch of people I graduated high school with, whom I hadn't seen in maybe two or three years. It was hard not to feel discouraged, though, because they're all doing real things, having graduated with real majors that led to real jobs. More (?) importantly, they've all got their own places and aren't living with their parents. Of course, some of them received cars from their parents; something I don't have the luxury of, and also something that keeps me immobilized, tied down.
I know I need this transition period, this internship, because I didn't go to school for what I'm called to do - stupid - so I am hoping to put a lot of energy and effort into mentoring and loving on the kids in my church, and learning as much as I can from this experience so I can go do it, serve where I'm called to serve on my own. I'm still on the road toward the point of decision making, and that intersection seems so far off right now.
Fighting a battle against time is stupid. However, I seem to subconciously enjoy doing that. I feel tied down, like I want to start the great adventure of my life, but I have to save up some money before doing that. I have so many friends who are serving in different ministries around the country, around the world, because they had opportunities to jump out into the unknown in faith, following God with reckless abandon. I want that. I'm crushed under the waiting for it. Hopefully I can bear this all for as long as it takes...
Now that NaNoWriMo is over (as well as No-Shave November, which I haven't personally concluded) I can do other things with the time I don't spend at work or with people. I ended at 50,062-something words, although my novel isn't near finished. I had kind of mapped out a plot in my mind, and would skip ahead to write different parts, bouncing back and forth so I wouldn't tire of a particular part of the story. Maybe I'll complete the story during next November.
Recently I read the first half of The Secret Life of Bees, recommended to me by Christine Barlow two summers back. Last night I began reading The Lord of the Rings, because this weekend a TV channel aired all three movies of the "trilogy" and I felt my brain could use some stimulation from Tolkien's adventures in language. (Writing my own wimpy book, I could see how awfully limited my own vocabulary is right now - which I attribute to only having been required to write about art during the past four years of my life)
Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. It's much more difficult to discern the call of God when I don't spend time listening. I read Brennan Manning's The Signature of Jesus, in which he described how to do a "centering prayer". It's meditative, and you do it for about twenty minutes at a time, before breakfast or dinner so your soul can connect with the hunger of your body. My problem is that I need a clean, peaceful space to do it, and my room is not in that condition at the moment. I miss the Christopher House in a time like this, because it had the chapel - small, intimate, quiet. Lined with a few chairs, stocked with diverse musical instruments for worship, and with candles always lit, it really felt like a sacred space where we as individuals or the whole fellowship could come for quiet (or loud!) time with the Lord, because that space was created specifically to meet with Him there.
Soon I'll be starting a youth ministry internship at my church, which I'm pretty ecstatic about. It makes me very glad that God doesn't call the qualified, but qualifies the called. I'll make curriculums for pre-school through senior high, teach, lead events, work on communications (don't I wish I took some graphic design courses?), and learn how to administrate. My pastor and the elder in charge of youth will be mentoring me through the process, so I'm going to ask that they also keep me accountable for my own spiritual growth, challenging me through this season (ooo, Christian vocab word).
Unpaid internships usually need to be paired with part-time jobs, so that's the thing I worry about. Working at Pier 1 has been a lot of fun, I actually enjoy it a lot, but I'm unure how long employment lasts after the buy-stuff-in-December season ends. (don't you hate having to associate Jesus' birthday with giving gifts to everyone but Him?) The career-building/resume-sending/connect-with-employers websites are okay. Without a degree in nursing or engineering, there aren't many jobs available. There are a few positions as postal workers or typists for the state, so perhaps something like that will hold me over. I feel like I just need a short-term job where I can earn some money to save up for a car; and once I have that, I'll have mobility and I'll be independent and I'll have peace about that.
Saturday was a really cool day because I got to hang out with a bunch of people I graduated high school with, whom I hadn't seen in maybe two or three years. It was hard not to feel discouraged, though, because they're all doing real things, having graduated with real majors that led to real jobs. More (?) importantly, they've all got their own places and aren't living with their parents. Of course, some of them received cars from their parents; something I don't have the luxury of, and also something that keeps me immobilized, tied down.
I know I need this transition period, this internship, because I didn't go to school for what I'm called to do - stupid - so I am hoping to put a lot of energy and effort into mentoring and loving on the kids in my church, and learning as much as I can from this experience so I can go do it, serve where I'm called to serve on my own. I'm still on the road toward the point of decision making, and that intersection seems so far off right now.
Fighting a battle against time is stupid. However, I seem to subconciously enjoy doing that. I feel tied down, like I want to start the great adventure of my life, but I have to save up some money before doing that. I have so many friends who are serving in different ministries around the country, around the world, because they had opportunities to jump out into the unknown in faith, following God with reckless abandon. I want that. I'm crushed under the waiting for it. Hopefully I can bear this all for as long as it takes...
29 November 2008
05 November 2008
Hey
Hey, I just noticed an abundance of litter out in the world in general today. Now that the election's over, all those ugly signs with folks' last names on them don't count for anything. I hope the political advocates take responsibility and pack them away.
Hey, tonight there's a band playing a show at Messiah College. They are called The Psalters. Phil described them as "tribal folk crazy smelly awesome." This is something I'm looking forward to.
Hey, I found out today that Don Miller is making his super-famous book Blue Like Jazz into a movie. It seems they're looking for financial support, because the website advertises that you can become an "associate producer" and get your name in the credits at the end of the film. It's not going to follow the book exactly [since it's really a collection of essays], but it'll be about young Don struggling against his Bible belted childhood and entering into the "most godless campus in America" for higher education. I am excited about this as well.
Hey, I also just read that Jon Acuff landed a book deal for Stuff Christians Like, which I read pretty much on a daily basis. It's not supposed to come out until 2010 [oh-twelve?], but I know I'll be reading it when it's printed. Hey, be a sweetheart and support an aspiring writer by buying a copy. Booty, God, booty
Hey, speaking of aspiring writers, I'm doing this thing - it's called National Novel Writing Month [NaNoWriMo] and Wallace told me about it. You write 50,000 words during the month of November; no editing, just straight creative output. I never really wrote anything before, so I'm discovering that maybe it's not as hard as I'd thought. Using one of those baby name websites, I picked out eccentric, unisex names for all my characters. I do enjoy spending time just spouting out plot and dialogue stuff. I also like that it doesn't matter if the story is good or not, it's just about putting yourself out there and creating story. It won't all be completely fantastic, but I recommend giving it a try.
Hey, tonight there's a band playing a show at Messiah College. They are called The Psalters. Phil described them as "tribal folk crazy smelly awesome." This is something I'm looking forward to.
Hey, I found out today that Don Miller is making his super-famous book Blue Like Jazz into a movie. It seems they're looking for financial support, because the website advertises that you can become an "associate producer" and get your name in the credits at the end of the film. It's not going to follow the book exactly [since it's really a collection of essays], but it'll be about young Don struggling against his Bible belted childhood and entering into the "most godless campus in America" for higher education. I am excited about this as well.
Hey, I also just read that Jon Acuff landed a book deal for Stuff Christians Like, which I read pretty much on a daily basis. It's not supposed to come out until 2010 [oh-twelve?], but I know I'll be reading it when it's printed. Hey, be a sweetheart and support an aspiring writer by buying a copy. Booty, God, booty
Hey, speaking of aspiring writers, I'm doing this thing - it's called National Novel Writing Month [NaNoWriMo] and Wallace told me about it. You write 50,000 words during the month of November; no editing, just straight creative output. I never really wrote anything before, so I'm discovering that maybe it's not as hard as I'd thought. Using one of those baby name websites, I picked out eccentric, unisex names for all my characters. I do enjoy spending time just spouting out plot and dialogue stuff. I also like that it doesn't matter if the story is good or not, it's just about putting yourself out there and creating story. It won't all be completely fantastic, but I recommend giving it a try.
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