A Single Layer

Last Saturday I hosted an open mic night at the Seka Coffeehouse at my church. It was a perfect gathering of talent and appreciation, the ultimate expression of creative generosity, and I was honored to be a part of it. I read two poems myself, both of which have been on this blog before. I edited them for the event, and I'm proud of the changes. You can read earlier versions of " I Rode the Devil's Back " and " Glitz " through the links, and the edited version of the latter is below. It's a good example of how the revision of a single stanza can improve the whole. Watch me bust at the seams to offer you praise— and if my dance seems epileptic, know my heart is full of grace. My garb is gangly and gauche, cheap cheesy kitsch and unholy, but holy's your business— it's you drawing breath from my lungs. In this space particular, all I can give is a song that will break all your crystal— will rise to the rafters,  and ruffle the w...

I'm guest posting today over at the remarkable blog of Kathryn Bronn . If you want to see my thoughts on Pinterest, well, that's where you should go.

A couple months ago when Instagram released their new terms of service and everyone got in a great huff over infringements to their privacy, a friend asked if I was going to close my account and quit using them to share pictures. I thought about it for a minute and realized that no, I wouldn't. By the time the new terms of service came into effect, either someone would discover that the hullaboo was over a misreading of the new terms, or Instagram would have fixed the problem to keep their good name. Within days, the latter happened. We're all still taking our pictures with Instagram, and nothing is amiss* - as far as we know. I'd like to say this is a sign of some divine presentiment within me, but it's not so complicated. We all find some lessons easier to learn than others, and this has been easy for me: to avoid panic based on supposition. It's one of the reasons I've never been particularly moved by end of the world theories, of either the evang...

It was just after I finished my master's degree at the University of Edinburgh that I was introduced to  North and South , having raided the Rancho Mirage Public Library's impressive collection of BBC adaptations as thoroughly as possible. My flatmate Jess had burned me a copy of the DVD before I left Scotland, but there was something wrong with it, and it wouldn't play. Which was just as well, pirating being illegal and all. Elizabeth Gaskell's masterpiece, North and South , should never be read before Pride and Prejudice . I would like to get the comparison between these two novels out of the way as quickly as possible, because it's probably the first conversation anyone has about North and South . The premise of both is more or less the same - a man and a woman from two different walks of life meet; he finds himself unwillingly attracted to her and addresses a hasty proposal to her immediate and fiery rebuff; circumstances follow which make her regret her decisio...

I had reason to walk down First Street this evening. The sun was just below the trees, the air cool enough for my ubiquitous purple coat, and everything quiet enough for reflection. Walks are good for the soul, but I don't take them very often because I'm lazy or careless or both. I've written plenty of poems out of good walks ("Crossing Main Street" and "Let Me Be Like a Leaf" come to mind), most of which rank among my personal favorites. I didn't write a poem this evening, but if I did, it would have something to do with the wilting camelias scattered in the driveway, or the lost four-square ball by the curb, or the burnt-out building abandoned these past four and a half years which someone has recently deigned to decorate with two potted plants. I'm not sure what the point of the poem would be, though if I'd let the walk be longer, or if I'd faithfully refused to pull out my phone during the last leg, I might have thought of somethi...

If you intend to be fastidious about the records you keep for your literary children, there are a few things worth writing down as you read: 1. The Title : This is a bit obvious, but if you're keeping records in a journal or on a blog, it's considerably more necessary than if you're leaving your notes on the inside cover of the book itself. Recording the title can be useful in other ways, particularly if the book comes in multiple editions, or if you're reading a translation of some kind. Something is communicated to me, for example, when a reader claims to have read Demons  rather than The Possessed . 2. The Date : To know that my mother read a particular book while she was pregnant with me, or when we were on a summer vacation, or while she was between jobs, is interesting to me personally. Books then provide a kind of literary timeline to a life. For the rest of the world, this may have no significance at all, but your children will consider nothing more fascinating ...

I remember hearing a story once about a man who left his library to his children after he died. When they went through the books, they found he had inscribed a note to them about each book, explaining why it was important to him and why it might be important to them. Ever since I heard about this man and his library, I have wanted to keep a record of books for my own children. Since so many of us read books digitally, and so many of my own important reading experiences have been through the public library, recording my impressions on a blog seems more relevant and more helpful. This is different than reviewing books, of course. It's more a matter of recollection, since many of the books recorded here are very old, and their contents already approved by myriads of readers across history. Some are not so blessed. Some, in fact, might have been either forgotten or ignored by history. Some might be very new. Some might be epic novels, some picture books, and still others might be non-...

One of the things I wanted to do more of this past year, and which I am even more resolved to do this year, is to write more letters. I used to write letters all the time. It was something I enjoyed, something others enjoyed receiving, and it gradually became both a part of who I was and a part of knowing me. I have gathered a good deal of stationery recently, as well as some postcards. I'm going to be writing many letters in the next few weeks, to people I know, and even to a few strangers. I don't know what the letters will say yet, or even who will receive them. But I have a few names in mind, and I'm willing to add to the list. If you'd like a letter from me, let me know. Not here on the blog, where information is unprotected and widely available (unless you feel very safe behind a PO Box or something). But contact me privately on Twitter or Facebook , if you have the means, and let me know where to send something. I can't guarantee anything, because r...

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake. Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week. Overall Life Mission 1 1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad’s of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever. 2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things. 3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come t...

2013 is fast approaching, and with it the recollection that resolutions are in order. Who doesn't hope that each new year might bring with it some kind of change, however insignificant? I have a few ideas for new year's resolutions, one of which would go something like "read the books you already own." Most years I make some resolution regarding books. This past year was 1) to read more and frivolously, and 2) to blog about it . I have a very bad habit of buying more books than I can read, and then going out and getting even more at the library. 2012 has been a year of reading as much as possible, however ridiculous the material - and in the first part of the year I took that very seriously, reading through about thirty young adult novels, among other things, at a remarkable pace, on top of my usual editing load. I flagged off a good deal this fall, and I'm now about ten books behind my goal for the year. But this is not a resolution to get anxious about. Now...

And on a completely unrelated note, there's an interview with Madeleine L'Engle biographer Leonard S. Marcus on Omnivoracious . Whatever you think or feel of Amazon, you gotta love their book bloggers.

" The good news of Christmas is that the atmosphere of fear and hostility isn’t the natural climate for human beings, and it can be changed." - Rowan Williams ,  courtesy of Ayjay

If blog posts were articles, I'd wait to write this till I'd done some research. But I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately, and that will have to do for now. The topic being, as the title suggests, the relationship between freedom and safety. I was thinking about this a lot during the election, as I tried to mentally sift the different parties into their fundamental ideals. There being so little harmony between parties, it seemed like a helpful exercise. Why is it that we are so divided? What values are so conflicting that they can create such dissension? Recent events have brought the two to mind again. I'm not going to give any space here to the massacre at Sandy Hook, because enough has been said and enough can never be said, and that's the way it is with tragedy. I am not ready to attempt to do justice to it. So, moving slightly through that, I was struck by how quickly people responded to the horror with a call to metaphorical arms against...w...

Featured this morning in our church bulletin, a recent Advent poem of mine. Though the version for the service had one line adjustment for the sake of its context; this is the original. More often than not they arrived on foot,  like travelers come a long distance. Think of the three at which Sarah laughed. Think of the one standing in Balaam’s path. The shepherds, aghast at the one, then suddenly surrounded face to face with a host,  looked angels in the eyes. Scattered among the sheep— not suspended—stalking toward them purposefully  with peace to those on whom . The shepherds were not the first. All of Israel followed the angel to Canaan, and it was the angels who brought fire to Sodom. An angel alone led the ram to Abraham. And we haven’t yet mentioned the cherubim, divine dragons, guardians of the throne, strange beasts. This is the company the angels keep. The messengers say do not be afraid , and often lift men from ...

"What if—the basis of all story. The small child asks all the what ifs. All of life is a story, story unravelling and revealing meaning. Despite our inability to control circumstances, we are given the gift of being free to respond to them in our own way, creatively or destructively."

Grace Bonney over at DesignSponge posted Sugru's "Fixer's Manifesto" on the blog today. Which got me thinking about manifestos in general, and resolutions, especially as we're nearing a new year. The blurry weeks of late December and early January are when so many people make resolutions they fail to keep and (usually) fail to try to keep. But there's value in developing a set of guideposts for each season of your life, standards if you will, to help you develop yourself, your work, or your relationships in ways that are important to you. Bonney also linked to 99U's 5 Manifestos for Art, Life & Business , which include such notable resolvers as Steve Jobs, Leo Tolstoy, and Frank Lloyd Wright. All this is leading to the obvious questions: What is your manifesto? What are your resolutions? What is your set of standards for the season?

I've come across a few new musical experiences lately I thought I'd share. What with holidays and all, it's a good time to be introduced to new songs - and singers. Maggie Ritchie and I went to college together, but I'd buy her album Something Wonderful whether I knew her or not. I don't know the first thing about reviewing music, though, so I won't tell you much about it. Just sample the songs yourself and tell me what you think. Several musical people from my church put together an album of songs we sing a lot. Which is a lame introduction to a beautiful collection, Songs of Grace . If you like what you hear, the doors are open at 9:30 every Sunday.

Both—one at the oven in the square, one at the sawhorse— build from the warm earth, shaping with calloused hands. Joseph in the woodshop,  always a quiet man, now grave in upturned admiration, guides the hands of the boy  (the one who caused such a stir and set the town fathers talking and the unwise wives clucking) bearing the sharp blade over the wood. The boy says, ‘teach me,’ and the quiet father steps back in fear. The man has lost a finger in his day— and almost lost a hand. There was a Sabbath when the boy returned from the Rabbi (the unleavened bread sat cold in the corner). The father thought to ask the son for healing— it had been a helpful finger. But by the time the sun had set, the father had forgot the need— and though his faith  (hidden as it was on the edge of Nazareth) was firm and sure, he was a man of simple plans and could better bear the weight of a cedar branch than aspire to miracle. ...

I will definitely be visiting this every day.

God With Us:  Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas , edited by Gregory Wolfe God is in the Manger , by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J.M. Nouwen Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?  by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder Preparing for Jesus , by Walter Wangerin Jr. Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent , by Enuma Okoro