.feeling a little hypocritical.

Ok, so I'm having a little bit of a hard time writing my papers and teaching at the same time.  I feel like I'm having to shift gears really quickly - like I'm using two different parts of my brain.  When I'm replying to my students' "Mrs. M." letters that they have to write to me each week asking me questions and such, the words flow and I enjoy reflecting on their questions.  However, when I sit down to write my academic papers, I feel like I have nothing at all to say.  I never had to deal with this during my student teaching because I was only taking one class during that time and I only had a couple small papers to write.  And the reason I'm feeling hypocritical is because I've been advising my students to "just start writing" when they get writer's block.  I've been telling them to "free write" about anything.  So in order to free myself from this feeling, I'm taking my own advice and "just writing!"

All the TAs had one-on-one conferences this week and I thought mine went really well.  It was wonderful sitting down with each student and talking to them about their papers.  Since I have been evaluating them on all their writing assignments, I could talk to them about their individual strengths and weaknesses, rather than making it a generalized lesson in class.  I suggest conferences to any teacher who requires students to write papers.  I'm trying to decide how this would work in the high school environment since you can't obviously talk to one person at a time - what would the other students be doing?  (Any suggestions?)

During one of my conferences I found out that one of my students (who wants to be an editor at a publishing company) is a fan of Audrey Niffenegger.  I've talked about Niffenegger's books here before, but today I'm suggesting her new graphic book: The Night Bookmobile. I haven't actually read it all the way through yet, but I did get to skim through the lovely, high gloss pages at a local bookstore in Yellow Springs. If you are a book-lover, you will definitely appreciate the nostalgia of reading in this book. You can visit her website here to view more of her works and art. 

 

.I heart Fall.

A couple posts ago, I expressed my deep love for fall, and so today I am posting some of my favorite fall decorating ideas.  I've decorated our apartment with a couple things here and there, but I can't wait to go all-out when we get a house.  Now, I know some of these may be a bit much, but they're so fun! Enjoy...

{from Pottery Barn}

{from AustraliaEntertains}

{from PoshPosh}

{from thestoriesofa2z}

{from Hostessblog}

{from FurnitureStoreBlog}

.playing "school."

As I had expected, I have been unable to update the blog as much as I would like.  I've never really had any sort of set schedule, so I don't feel too bad about it.  Teaching my freshman Composition class is going quite well.  I have to say that sometimes it feels a little surreal to have my own classroom, my own students, and their homework to take home and grade.

I say "surreal" because when I was little my Granny and Pa had a small storage building beside their house.  It looked like a miniature barn because it was painted red with white trim.  It even had a tiny porch and windows - I called it my "old schoolhouse."  It was where decorations were kept, and where my Pa parked his lawnmower.  There were also small shelves inside that Granny had cleared and placed some of her old school books.  She had old grammar and math primers, handwriting notebooks and old Nancy Drew books.  In the spring, summer, and fall while visiting Granny and Pa, I would slip away to the little red barn and teach (mostly English and Spelling).  I went so far as making up names for my imaginary students, writing them down and giving them grades.  (I realize I'm going out on a limb here admitting these childhood tendencies, but I look back on these memories now with fondness).  I would play school at home too, lining up teddy bears and dolls on my bed and reading to them (showing them the pictures and illustrations, of course).

{clas.ufl.edu}

So sometimes when I enter my classroom now, I feel like I'm just playing "school" in the barn.  I have so much fun getting to know the students, encouraging their writing, and helping them learn new ideas and concepts.  For as long as I've been working toward teaching, I've heard mixed reactions towards teaching, so I know my passion and excitement may not stay forever (although I very much hope it does).  Some teachers get bogged down with the standardized testing or the students' apathy to learning.  I'm sure I will too.  But for now, I'm enjoying my first teaching experience and finally filling the shoes I've been waiting to wear since those "old schoolhouse" days.

.dystopia & dysfuntion.

After my first half-week of teaching and a wonderful birthday weekend spent with family, I thought I would return to my blog to post these funky pictures of bookcases I found at a blog devoted to the appreciation of book covers. I stumbled onto it trying to find some information about the book cover shown here:

   

Shop Indie Bookstores

Scott gave me Margaret Atwood's Oryk and Crake for my birthday and I as have begun reading it, I am reminded of how much I love dystopian literature - these being a few of my favorites:
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Children of Men by P.D. James
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
**Personally, I think you should read Thomas More's Utopia to appreciate them!

So, without further ado, enjoy these photos of unconventional storage for books, taken from {http://covers.fwis.com/}

.bouquets of newly-sharpened pencils.

So my fellow TA's and I survived our first week of training and Scott made it through his first two classes teaching undergrads (quite successfully even though he won't admit it).  Next week all the TA's will be team-teaching a writing workshop to freshmen who have signed up for the 4-day pre-quarter course.  Then, September 7th we will step into our Composition classrooms and begin teaching freshmen on our own (well, September 8th if you're MWF, which I am).


Our TA training basically walked us through what we will be teaching the freshmen in the workshop this week, so we went through all the writing activities and drafting, and I actually learned a little about my own writing.  I think the workshop will help ease freshmen into the college writing class.


The freshman read this year is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah.  I am currently reading it and am very excited about hearing the author speak at the freshman convocation on Friday.


In anticipation of my busy schedule this quarter, I will say that I may not be able to update and write on my blog as much as I have this summer, but I've really enjoyed what this blog has been for me - a place to write and share what I've been reading, thinking, and doing.  Hopefully, though, I can keep record of some of my teaching experiences, both successes and frustrations.

****

One of my favorite lines in my favorite movie ("You've Got Mail") is:


 "Don't you just love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms..."  


Fall is my favorite time of year, and although I'm going to miss seeing all the leaves change in the beautiful mountains of Virginia, I'm excited to be spending my first fall with Scott in Ohio.  It will be the first fall of our marriage, but it will also be the first fall since we've been together that the thoughts of long distance won't be looming over our heads! We met in the fall too, so that's one reason I hold this season so close to my heart.  Fall brings me comforting thoughts of wearing sweaters again, seeing leaves change, and listening to James Taylor songs. So today I leave you with one that always puts me in an autumn kind of mood!


"October Road" 


Well I'm-a going back down maybe one more time
Deep down home, October Road
And I might like to see that little friend of mine
That I left behind once upon a time

Oh, promised land and me still standing
It's a test of time
It's a real good sign

Let the sun run down right behind the hill
I know how to stand there still till the moon rise up
Right behind the pine, oh lord

October road

It's the big-time life that I can't abide
Raise my rent. Tan my hide.
Sweet call of the countryside
Go down slow. Open wide.

I did my time
And it changed my mind
I'm satisfied Oh.
I got so low down, fed up
My god, I could hardly move
Won't you come on, my brother
Get on up and help me find my groove

Keep me walking, October road.
Keep me walking in the sunshine, yeah
A little friend of mine
October road

.dog days of summer (reading).

In these last sultry days of summer, most college/grad students (like my husband and me) are readying for another year of classes; ordering books and heading to the nearest Target for a ridiculous amount of highlighters and pens (which we did last night).  Scott and I are preparing a little differently this year because we are both going to be TAs; he'll be teaching a freshman theology course and I will be guiding freshmen in Composition 101/102.  This past week, Scott has been heading to school for his week-intensive seminar and mine will be starting this Wednesday.  In the meantime, I have been reading our assigned books, A Teacher Teaches Writing, and The Courage to Write - taking lots of notes, making suggestions, and getting all excited about teaching writing (because I'm a dork like that!!)


NPRBooks this week suggested "back-to-reality" reading during the "dog days of summer" so before I took on these two required readings, I had already taken their suggestion and picked up a non-fiction book I had been dying to read all summer.  The book title: The Zookeeper's Wife.  The Synopsis: Jan and Antonina Zabinski, two zookeepers of the Warsaw Zoo, decide to help the Underground's attempt to move Jews in the ghetto to safe hiding places.  So far, it's been a great read and I've loved knowing everything is factual information (although the book reads more like a novel, which I love!)

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So to all of you starting school, have a great year and enjoy your reading!!

".never judge a book by its cover."

Ok, let's just be honest readers...how many of you really take this quote seriously?

I, for one, have never taken it seriously, and here's why...
For starters, most writers (contemporary, at least) have a pretty good deal of influence on what their book cover will look like.  They are usually present at what is called a "cover concept meeting" where they can discuss with the art department, or whoever may be in charge of designing the book cover, what they envision for the front of the book.


Secondly, the cover of a book more often than not, depicts what kind of theme or feeling the book will have.  We all know what kind of stuff we like, so the cover is the first indicator (in addition to book lists and recommendations) for what would interest us.  For example, in the case of Audrey Niffeneger's second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, although there are no graphics featured on the front of the hardcover edition, you can tell a lot from its design, colors, and typeface...

For those of you who have picked up this wonderful book, you will know that this cover is a perfect depiction of the novel in every way, right down to the veiny branches emerging from the sides to make the title.  Although you can't see it in this picture, the cover itself has a high-gloss finish that gives an "other-worldly" feel which is again, perfect.  Although I picked up this book because the author had written The Time Traveler's Wife, the cover would have been an influential part in taking it down from the library shelf.

Another example is Katherine Howe's The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.  It's made to look like an old...well...physick book, and who doesn't love that?  

When an author and/or publishing company and/or agent goes above and beyond to create a aesthetically-pleasing cover, it shows they put a lot of interest and personal investment in the novel they are promoting.  These people aren't stupid; they know most of us find our next read on the shelves and tables of bookstores and libraries, or inside of magazines or pamphlets from bookshops.  I admit, I'll grab one of the free papers from bookstores and scan the covers to see if anything interests me.  If I find a captivating cover, I will more than likely read on to see if the story sounds interesting.

I'm dying to read these new books if only because of their fascinating covers!

So...does "Never judge a book by its cover" mean anything to you?? be honest...

.uses for books (since we're not reading them).

I'm not sure how I, and many fellow "physical book" enthusiasts and readers, should feel about this article I found on NewYorkTimes.com.  Basically, it suggests some "creative" uses for "physical books" since it is apparent that with the new e-book devices, their hardcover/paperback ancestors are dying out.  Until recently, I have been stubbornly opposed to ever owning one of these devices, and even now, the only argument I have heard in favor of one (that I can actually get behind) is for someone who is pregnant; they can read with one hand, while holding their sleeping baby in the other (thanks Tabitha Taylor Ray).  No, I don't find it convenient that you can carry around thousands of books at one time...I can't even get behind the idea that they are more environmentally friendly. I simply can't imagine life without rows of "physical books" (even the fact that I have to keep referencing their physical/materialistic qualities so that you will know exactly which type of book I am discussing, makes me a little sad).

So, if you have bought in to the e-book trend, here are some ways you can recycle those "useless" books lying around the house:

• books as storage (carry your e-book inside your favorite hardcover??!!) 
• books as small indoor planters (plant your own bonsai tree in a book...did you catch the irony?!)
• books as art (this one was actually kind of interesting...it almost seemed like a tribute to books...again, I'm not sure how I/we should feel) 

{from http://www.jacquelinerushlee.com/images/BookSculpture.html}

• books as bookcases/bookshelves?? (again, pretty interesting...)

{from http://www.thisintothat.com}

• books as wallpaper 

{from highglossblue.blogspot.com}

{from literatilove.wordpress.com}

 

Now this is the kind of book "wallpaper" I can get behind : )

{from homeinteriordesignthemes.com & dianeclark.tyepad.com}

So.....what do you think???

.children's books that never "grow old."

While Scott and I were browsing our local Half Price Books last night, I wandered into the Young Adult section, as I often do in bookstores, to relive old memories of reading as a young girl.  To quote my favorite movie, "You've Got Mail" (which means I'm actually quoting Nora Ephron), "When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life ever does."  I really believe this quote because the stories I read as a child define who I am today, even in small ways.  I still think back with fondness on coming across "Holes" in the library, long before it was made into a movie or chosen for book awards, deciding on my own that it was a fabulous story with a wonderful message for someone like me (someone a little different).  


Since I want to be an English teacher, I want to have a small library (in more literal terms, a bookcase) filled with great reads that my students can borrow anytime they want.  A lot of times, and I remember this happening to me very often, young people get discouraged when they randomly choose a book from the library, and well, it stinks.  They might try again, and they might not.  When I was in third grade, our teacher had this same kind of small library system where we could sign out books and bring them back in for new ones.  It made us feel a little more grown-up knowing that our teacher trusted us to check them out and bring them back on our own.  It was in that class that  I discovered many beloved books like:

The Cricket in Time Square by George Seldon

Beverly Cleary's Romana and Ralph books (we even had a little mouse in the classroom named "Ralph") made recently more popular with the new movie

Roald Dahl's James in the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, and George's Marvelous Medicine (my mom later introduced me to Boy, his autobiographical book of childhood, which {FUN FACT!} - is the book that Meg Ryan is reading during storytime in "You've Got Mail")

Donald Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown series

I'm smiling as I type these titles and see the familiar book covers again.  Nora Ephron is definitely correct in saying that reading as a child defines us in no other way, and it stays with us forever! Just seeing the spine of one of these familiar books takes me back into the world within.

Later, in middle school, I would discover books on my own in the library and read the suggestions for "Battle of the Books."  Although I wouldn't always participate in the "battles," I would love reading the books on the lists. Some of my favorite reads during my middle school years were:

Walk Two Moons by Mary Lou Finney

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

A View from Saturday by E.L. Kognisburg

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Kognisburg

Superfudge by Judy Bloom

Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little by E.B. White

Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor

The Best School Year Ever by Robinson

Holes by Louis Sacher

Even later, as I was getting a bit too "old" for YA books (which, what does that really mean??), I took a YA Lit class in college and discovered even more!

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Maximum Ride series by James Paterson

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Sarah Dessen's books

The Series of Unfortunate Events series by Daniel Handler

Spiderwick series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 

My love for YA Lit will never grow old even when I do.  These books are classics for readers of any age and they have the ability and mission to teach so many great life lessons!


*What are some of your favorite Young Adult books?!

Cameos

I've started reading Object Lessons by Eavan Boland, a book Scott bought me for Christmas and I'm just now getting time to read.  In brilliant prose, she explores the woman poet of our time, sharing her own experiences as an Irish woman writing and finding her poetic voice.  I love Boland's poetry, but it has been enlightening to read her autobiographical essays as well.  One of her quotes really interested me and it became the inspiration for a new poem I thought I would share.  The quote reads:

Her name. Her emblem. There was a complexity for me remembering the cameo, and the more I thought about it, the more complex it became.  To inscribe a profile in the cold rock. To cut a human face into what had once flowed, fiery and devouring, past farms and villages and livestock.  To make a statement of something which was already a statement of random and unsparing destruction.  All these acts were very far from being simple.  They were ironic and self-conscious.  They employed artifice and irony.  They put the stamp of human remembrance on the material of natural destruction.

Cameos


Their cameos were pinned and fastened on dress collars,
clasped chains around their slender necks -
antique gold framing, fingernail-colored background,
a French tip resembling the form of a woman.
From the side, you could barely tell them apart
from their small daguerreotypes -
like a fashionable identification.

Nanny's was rounded and full,
and made in a time when it meant something
to be the real thing. So was Granny's.
Mom's was an oval-shaped reproduction,
a shade darker,
a weathered coral shell,
roughened by the sand and wind.
They were kept on top of dressers,
inside a bed of blue velvet,
cushioned and protected against the world -
hidden like the rare jewels they were.

When mom would loosen it from her neck
on Sundays after church,
I would sneak back to take a peak at the small figure -
her back straight, eyes forward, head gracefully balanced.
Turning sideways, catching a glimpse
of the little figure in the mirror,
I didn't see the same feminine profile -
only wild curls sprouting from a head slightly
cranned to the left.
I laid the cameo back in its small box,
wondering if I would ever have one of my own.

.comfort books.

Ok, so I know I get a lot of my ideas from NPR (much to the chagrin of my brother-in-law who for some reason detests NPR), but they're just so brilliant and they feature a lot about books (which if you can't tell is my most popular subject).  So a few days ago, as a part of their "Three Books" series, NPRBooks featured a piece called "Comfort Books: Three Soothing Summer Reads". So I thought I would post my three comfort books; books that I go to when I'm feeling sad, need a laugh, or just to make me feel comforted after a long day of reading theory or lit. criticism.  [I'd love to hear yours, as well!]

1. The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins - I know I include this book of poetry in every book list I do, but I just can't help it.  His poems (especially in this collection) will make you laugh out loud!

2. Flannery O'Connor: Spiritual Writings edited by Robert Ellsburg - Scott gave me this book and it lies in the bookshelf above my head.  Lately I've been bringing it out at night and reading a few of her passages just to ponder.  It is a collection of her letters, criticism, and passages from her short stories.

3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - I grew up watching the movie first, but I adore the book as well.  For some reason, the Christmas scenes really stick with me and it always seems like a good Christmas read to me.

**If you're in the mood for a good laugh (and this is mainly for the girls) I highly recommend the Shopoholic series by Sophia Kinsella.  So many girls will line their beach bags with Nicholas Sparks books (so did I when I was in my early years of high school), but if you want a light, fun read that won't have you needing a Kleenex, and if you're into fashion and shopping (and even if you're not), these are indulging reads that will have you rolling in the sand (with laughter, that is)!

photo from examiner.com

.a [literal] room of my own.

Right now Scott and I live in a one-bedroom apartment, which is a perfect space for us (and our two cats), but later the plan is to end up (preferably) in a farm house where we can grow a garden, have office spaces of our own, as well as lots of room for our children.  So today I'm posting pictures of what I hope to have later for my own office space (I don't have to have a literal room of my own, but I hope to have a small office space somewhere in the house); a place where I can work on crafts/scrapbooking, grade papers, and write.  For now, Scott and I are happy sharing the space we have, working alongside each other on our couch, spread out in the floor, or on our new kitchen table (pics to come soon!).

{I love this fun idea of making a closet into a small office, utilizing every inch of the wall and doors.  Even the desk is made of two filing cabinets giving more storage.  The small chandelier is too cute!}

from CounrtyLiving

{Even though I'm not crazy about the desk, I love the chair, tall bookcase, and the inspiring artwork collage above the desk}

{I really hope to have roll-top desk one day because I think they're so neat!}

from HomeSweetHome.com

{Scott and I just bought an organizer like this from IKEA...I like how they are great for storage, but still look good!}

from moccandme.blogspot.com

{Not a new idea, but I love the paper they used for these cans}

from DIY.com

{I also like this option for a desk...anytime I see these kinds of bookshelves I just have to stop and stare...I think they are so neat!}

from FurnitureFashionMagazine

.to unplug or not to unplug.

A few posts ago, I discussed the digitalization of texts and my opinion of them in relation to the printed word.  While browsing the pages of NPR, I came across a very interesting article about William Powers' book, Hamlet's Blackberry: To Surf of Not to Surf: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age.  The idea to write about this particular subject came to him as he was standing on a street corner in Manhattan.  Looking around he found more than five people staring down into some kind of electronic device, trying desperately to stay connected to the world, while ironically becoming quite disconnected from the city around them.  This is a familiar scene for many of us, especially to those of us who are in the presence of teenagers. 


Like many teenagers who have adopted an obsession for texting, others of us have acquired an obsession for all things cyber.  We are constantly checking our Facebook, Tweeting, texting, blogging, reading blogs, getting updates on news, following hyperlinks, etc.  Our Lit. Theory class actually touched on the problem with hyperlinks and how it is slowly deteriorating our attention span.  Oftentimes our minds wander and are prompted to move from one subject, one page, to the next until we can't even remember where we started.  It's quite overwhelming!!

In his book, Powers writes that we must strive to balance our time "connecting" on the Internet, and even shares a technique his household practices on the weekends of disconnecting from all things cyberspace; they call it their "Internet Sabbath."


What I found to be extremely interesting about this article, was that in his book, he discusses how our obsession with technology is not necessarily a new trend and that many people before us have experienced this same type of obsession after the invention of new technologies.  One example he gives is found in Shakespeare's Hamlet.  When Hamlet is trying desperately to decide what to do about his problematic situation, he takes out his "tables."  Powers says, "It was basically an erasable, plaster-like surface inside of a little booklet...You could write notes during the day and then wipe them away clean at night."  Powers describes the "tables" device as a kind of "proto-electronic planner."  


Just as I wrote in my last post, it would be hard for me to become disconnected from the Internet.  Even when our Net was down for a week, I had to find ways to access it either by using WiFi in coffeeshops or from public computers in the library.  Although I have not yet broken over to a Blackberry (my phone can't even take pictures), I do see their many benefits.  I do agree with Powers that we must strive to balance our obsession with technology, especially when teaching the new generations of users - the teenagers and children now who have never lived in a time without Internet or cell phones (it still blows my mind to think sometimes that we were just learning about Google in middle school and now kids grow up using computers and search sites when they're in preschool!!).  Perhaps we could all start practicing an Internet Sabbath each weekend.  One thing I do know, Powers' book will be going on my reading list!

.reflections.

This weekend was a true blessing and spiritual growing experience and I thought I would share some reflections.  Scott and I were able to venture north to Pittsburgh to stay with a friend who invited us to partake in some church services and fellowship with several of his friends.  Looking back on it now, I feel that Scott and I participated in our own little adult “youth retreat;” getting away from our work at home and letting ourselves partake in some hospitality  from fellow Christians.

  

After arriving and being shown where we would be staying, we headed out for some coffee and a cookout at a small church in inner-city Pittsburgh.  We watched as adults and children lined up for some “free range” hot dogs and other vegan dishes.  Children were playing with hoola-hoops and beating on drums in the grass, while parents mingled eating their food; it portrayed a true sense of community as church members provide this service every other Friday. 

After eating and meeting some new people (which is always a little hard for me because of my quieter disposition), we were shown the urban garden where some of the food had come from (gardens and fresh vegetables were a constant presence during our visit).  We walked through rows of broccoli, lettuce, peppers, and beans as our new friend pointed out the different crops and how they were sent to people throughout the community.  After marveling over the Garfield Community Garden and Farm, we headed back to the house where we were staying for some downtime and decided on The Book of Eli for our Friday night film.  If you haven’t already seen this film, I highly suggest it.  Despite the violence, it’s a very moving film about the power of books (one Book in particular).

The next morning, we headed to the Strip in Pittsburgh, which is basically a shopping and dining district where we accompanied our new friends to shop and eat together.  After a morning of browsing open markets and a book store, we drove downtown to experience Pittsburgh’s wonderful architecture and a sight of the city from the top of an incline.  Being a small-town girl, it was truly breathtaking to see the skyline and beautiful bridges.

That night, we accompanied our friend to a small Bible study/worship service in The Upper Room church.  There were around 15 of us and the service began in the lower level of the church where the purpose/constitution of the group was read.  Then we slowly and silently moved upstairs to “the upper room” where soft light met us and where Revelations was read, chapter by chapter, followed by singing.  We moved again downstairs and gathered around a small coffee table to partake in a “simple” meal (I say simple because these are the premises for the meal shared; each couple or single person brings a simple dish to share).  We had blueberries, honey-dew melon, fresh bread & butter, and cheese.   We then began a discussion of the reading, which was from the Philokalia, which is a collection of writings from the third and fourth century, written by the church fathers. 

Our reading for the night was from Evagrios’s reflections on prayer.  The reading and the discussion was my favorite part of the worship time because it opened my eyes to how I pray and how I can improve my prayer life.  For me, prayer can oftentimes seem more like a routine, something done before a meal or bedtime, since this was what was taught to me, and what is often taught to us, as a child.  This practice of a routine prayer time is very helpful for children, but oftentimes we forget to move beyond this routinely practice and mature into our own need for communion with God, which is what prayer really is. 

Furthermore, it was also helpful to read about Evagrios’s own struggle with trying to remain focused while the mind continually tries to wander and even becomes tempted to passion or anger, which can be harmful to our prayer experience.  Because I have been feeling the pull to become involved in a Bible study, this experience was very refreshing and it has made me realize that I am going to have to try much harder to find some kind of way to fill this need, either by Scott and me having a study of our own or beginning one with friends (which we were already contemplating).  As Christians, I think it is important to seek out relationships and ways to fellowship with others, learning and growing in the faith together.

The Upper Room Church is located in a store front so much of the time we were sitting in a circle easily visable to passers-by who would often stop and look in on our small group.  As we left, one man outside asked what we were doing to which one man in our group replied that we were having a study and that the building he was looking at was in fact a church.  The passerby said he thought we were perhaps having group therapy and that he (jokingly) was about to join us if that had been the case.  The man from our service replied that there was group therapy involved too, and I just thought that was a very interesting, and true, way of thinking about Bible study.  It does, in fact, include and provide some group therapy when you think about it.

The next day, we accompanied our friend to the morning worship service at a Mennonite church, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Upon entering the simple sanctuary, a girl was playing a hymn on her violin, which I really enjoyed since music is a very important part of my own worship experience.   The service was traditional, save for the skit about Namaan and Elisha performed by members of the congregation.  The hymns that we sang were my favorite part of the service (again, because musical worship is very important to me).  Instead of singing with the accompaniment of a piano or organ, we were lead by a singer and the congregation lifted up its voice in parts; it was beautiful!

A young couple was also dedicating their baby during the service and I just loved the way the father described his relationship with his new son and our relationship with God as children. {He said that when he sees his son crying and the tears rolling down his small cheeks, it saddens him and he wants to do everything in his power to try to comfort him.  He warms his bottle or goes to get food for his son, but still, the tears fall and his son is not aware that his father is taking care of him. If he would only be patient.} Oftentimes, we as Christians are like this because God sees our pain, and He is working to comfort us, but we are often so impatient with His timing that we forget to trust.  His simple words during the dedication of his son really touched me!

After the service, we headed back to where we were staying and lunch was made for us by our friend.  As we all three gathered in the kitchen, (Scott outlining his fellowship paper and Matt cooking), I started watching a documentary called “Very Young Girls,” (which I again suggest watching if you have the chance.  You can watch the trailer here.) about young girls from 13-20 who have been forced/coerced into prostitution.  It was a truly moving documentary and it really opened my eyes to this “grey area” issue, where there is no true black or white answer to whether these girls choose this lifestyle (this documentary was suggested to me because of a discussion about women the night before with Matt and Scott).  I told Scott later that I would love to incorporate documentaries like this one into my classroom later, just to provoke some different thoughts on such issues that seem easily answered when only a high schooler (my own thoughts on this particular issue was that these women fully choose this lifestyle and they are sinful people full of lust; it is much more complicated than that, and I see this now after being questioned and pushed to ponder this issue in my Women’s Studies course).

The last service we attended was a night service at a local church, which was much different from the other two services (which, as you can see, differed from each other as well).  Scott and I would describe the sanctuary as a "hollowed-out church sanctuary" with tables and chairs arranged throughout.  There was contemporary praise & worship style singing to begin and then we were urged to make our way to one of the prayer stations located around the room.  You could meet a member of the church in one corner and have them pray with you, light a candle and send up a prayer for those suffering around the world, or write down a prayer request to be shared at the weekly elder prayer meeting; there were also stations for people with children to do more interactive activities with them centered around prayer.  One thing that really struck me throughout this particular worship service, was the inclusion of the children.  Instead of the children being taken into the back, they were in a corner of the room with everyone else, quietly playing and fellowshipping with other children.  I really enjoyed that aspect even though Scott and I do not yet have a child of our own.  After the sermon on encouragement and the importance of encouraging each other as Christians, there was more singing and a simple communion.  At the close of the service, it was time for Scott and I to get on the road and head back home.

Throughout our “retreat,” Scott and I were both pushed into different kinds of worship and fellowship that neither had experienced before.  It really hit home the idea that it is very important for us to be pushed (even out of our comfort zones) so that we can grow and learn and reflect.  Looking back on the two more contemporary services, I was reminded of my time in youth group when our leaders and my peers and I were all trying to think and imagine more contemporary ways of worshipping (praise songs, small group discussions, etc.) and it seemed like the 20-30 year-old generation, the future leaders of the Church, are trying to incorporate some of those "youth group elements" into the more traditional worship service.  Since Scott and I have been attending mainly traditional Baptist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches for the past few years, it was very interesting to see the more contemporary incorporations that are occurring in these churches -  a weaving together of liturgy and contemporary worship. 

All in all, this weekend was a great blessing and growing time for me and I am very thankful we were able to accept the hospitality given to us and spend a weekend away growing in our faith.

.electronic or print?.

Kindle, eBook, iPad, Nook. vs. the "hold-in-your-hand, honest page-turning" book.

This was a highly debated subject for my Lit. Theory class this past quarter.  Personally, I am in favor of print.  Believe me, I love my technology and hardly ever go a day without getting on my computer (I just about couldn't stand not having internet for a week when it went down at our apartment), but I just can't give up the rows and shelves (and piles in Scott's case) of books in our apartment.  I can't give up browsing the titles, touching the spines, and picking up the book to thumb through the crisp new pages at a book store (or used pages in the library).  I know many respectable people, even some literary people, argue that the new electronic books allow one to carry around thousands of books with them, but who is honestly going to need to carry them around all the time? Another argument is that printed texts cost so much more to produce; but is that what it's all really about, or should be about?? Perhaps this argument will never be resolved, and hopefully it will never need to, but I just hope that the end of printed books will never come in my time.

{here's a poem I wrote on the subject}
"Ode to a Book"

I lie reading a book before bed,
comforted by the soft light of my lamp,
and the slow rhythm of  turning the page.
The powdery feel of paper on my fingertips
as I lift the page up and over
to reveal more of Lily's concern with the bees
and a black madonna in a living room.


This is what reading is about, I sigh
thinking of someone else
more than likely tucked in bed just as I am
staring into a small bulbish screen.
Where is the lamp beside their bed?
Where is the comforting powdery turning of the page?
Where is the rollar coaster thrill of lifting it up and over?

Nothing.

Just a rectangular portal that can hold
thousands upon thousands, or so I've heard.
I imagine all of the books standing on their computerized shelf:
soldiers ready to serve their duty on the screen.
I lovingly take down the titles with their colorful spines;
thumbing over the pages with a faint smile
then raising it to my nose
taking in the smell of paper,
of years,
of wisdom.
My fellow reader views words backlit like flies hanging on a light.
Buzzing. Wurring.


These discomforting thoughts finally leave my mind
as I sink lower in my strawberry sheets,
and follow the small black ants skipping across my page
lifting them
up and over.
up and over.

{Another poem I've written recently after reading Walter Benjamin's "Unpacking My Library"}
"Ode to a Library Card"

"...one thing should be noted: the phenomenon of collecting [books] loses its meaning as it loses its personal owner. Even though public collections may be less objectionable socially and more useful academically than private collections, the objects get their due only in the latter." - Walter Benjamin - "Unpacking My Library"


A golden plastic ticket
giving me admission to
rows upon rows of voices whispering
under the pointed nose of the
middle-aged cardigan up front,
telling their stories,
sharing their histories,
bearing their flaws.


As a child we carried it with both hands
and reached it up to large eyes that looked through
magnifying glasses, we were granted two weeks with a dog riding in a taxi,
or an absurd breakfast of green eggs & ham.
Later it was carried in back pockets or wallets -
often cracked or broken,
caught in the wash or stolen.
We didn't care so much because it wasn't so cool to know much
so we'd stand around the magazines just to be safe.
Some of us decided the laminated treasure could save our lives
and we'd stash the bounty they rewarded us in book bags -
bring them out to hide behind,
comforted by the coffee stain on pg. 103
(evidence there was another reader out there,
an anonymous companion who shared our interest for
words and voices.)


No, we don't have rooms devoted to leather-bound first editions
and hand-painted children's books,
we can't take our guests into our studies
to wind through mahogoney bookcases
to sit in finely-cushioned chairs
and bask in the floating dust of bookcases.
Instead we borrow and share, and leave our own legacies on
crinkled pages worn from a day of beach-reading.
So Benjamin, you can keep unpacking your library, but as for me,
I'll take a public collection any day.

{photo from: http://jpsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ebook-vs-book.jpg}

.book fun.

In the Biola University online magazine, different professors share their favorite books using the following categories, followed by a small blurb about the book.  I thought it would be fun to do this as well so I've included mine....please share yours : )

Favorite Classic: (tie) "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen and "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott - When asked which Jane Austen book they most enjoy, most people (that I have talked to at least) will reply "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility," but I prefer this less-popular work by dear Jane.  And who doesn't love spunky Jo March and her sisters?

Best Book for the Beach: "Shopoholic" series by Sophia Kinsella - These are my guilty pleasure books and please don't judge them by the recently-released movie.  Don't get me wrong, I love Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy, but the books are 10 times more hilarious (and ridiculous) than the movie!

Book Everyone Tells Me I Should Read and Haven't: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte - I'm pretty embarrassed to admit this being in an English Master's program and all, but I just haven't gotten around to it.  Believe me, I've got a copy, it's just a matter of sitting down and reading it.  I've heard the synopsis about a zillion times, though.  I have read the lesser-known of her novels, "Villette," and absolutely loved it! I think she might be my favorite of the Bronte sisters.

Best Book That Only Takes an Afternoon to Read: "The Trouble with Poetry" by Billy Collins - Okay, so I had to include my favorite poet and this book of poetry is a great introduction to his work.  He has a conversational, lay style while shedding new light on the small, day-to-day things.

Best Book From a Distant Land: (tie) "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine Howe - It was hard for me to choose my favorite among all the historical fiction novels I've read, but I couldn't put down either one of these books.  "Guernsey Literary..." tells the story of a book club that is created in resistance to Nazi occupation on Guernsey Island. Books. Strong Women. 1940s WWII...can't get much better for me.  "Deliverance Dane," also fabulous. Set between the two worlds of the 1600s and 1990s Massachusetts, it tells the story of a graduate student working on her dissertation and learns about her own identity along the way.