Insanity Comes Naturally

A Pleasant Inheritance: Favourite Things

2012-02-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

Jenny and Abigail, having formulated very beautiful lists of their own, inspire and compel. And I... resist? Never! Besides, I promised Jenny. "The man's cub is mine, Lungri - mine to me!" It ought never fail to blow my mind, especially looking at this little pile of treasure that I have composed of my life's storehouses, that all we need is Christ and still God gives us so much more:

Beautiful People: February Edition!

2012-02-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I pulled one of these out of my hat, and it's February. (Reason to blog #346: It allows one to state the obvious and feel like one has Said Something. And there aren't nearly that many reasons to blog.) darjeeling falcon (see: pretentious rhubarb) photo courtesy of imdb.com 1. If your character could be played by any actor, who would it be? Stephen Campbell Moore, of

G stands for Gnu

2012-02-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

whose weapons of Defence are long, sharp, curling Horns, and Common-sense. To these he adds a Nameso short and strong, that even Hardy Boers pronounce it wrong. The Pious people of Pretoria say, "Come, let us hunt the - " Then no more is heard but sounds of Strong Men struggling with a word. Meanwhile, the distant Gnu with grateful eyes observes his opportunity, and flies. courtesy of ~

And the World Comes Clear (O My Soul)

2012-02-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Written because I did write that blessed blog entry, because I do habitually talk to myself (though not quite so much of the chess game in A Bug's Life), and because Audrey Assad is fabulous, and so is Jenny. "Do you find much has changed in a year?" An unspoken question, plainly put by the pair of frank green eyes that met mine, hung in the sleepily talkative air of a back-town diner

The Wandering Heart of Things That Are

2012-01-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

I will be a year older, and wiser, though I daresay not prettier, tomorrow. All in a day. How do birthdays manage it? Annually, too! At any rate, in keeping with predictable things, here is Chesterton. 'Tisn't the whole poem - which I highly recommend - -and which isn't that long - - but these are my favourite lines. (And furthermore, because tomorrow is my birthday, I am going to stay up and

Earthly Stories with Heavenly Meanings

2012-01-22T21:23:00.000-08:00

[from Heaven on Earth, Thomas Brooks; ch. 2 (5)] Ah, Christians, tell me, do not those holy influences, those spiritual breathings, those divine in-comes, that you meet with in ordinances, make your souls cry out with David, As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, even for the living God: when shall I come and appear before

"The aim of a mystery story, as of every other story and every other mystery, is not darkness but light."

2012-01-13T16:08:00.000-08:00

Another excerpt, because I haven't much brains for anything else and I feel badly for leaving the dust to collect so long as I have already. This is further along in the story than even I have gotten, so you may ask your 'why?' and your 'wherefore?' but I may not be able to answer, whether I have a will to or no. I hate giving things away this early, but Chesterton stabbed me with a

Christmas Poem

2011-12-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

by G.K. Chesterton (whom did you expect?) There fared a mother driven forth Out of an inn to roam; In the place where she was homeless All men are at home. The crazy stable close at hand, With shaking timber and shifting sand, Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand Than the square stones of Rome. For men are homesick in their homes, And strangers under the sun, And they lay their heads in a

The Perilous Prosperity of Writing Ahead

2011-12-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

[lighthearted nonsense] Yorkshire’s loom lost a little of its pleasantry. “I am not a horse.” His words fell as stiffly as the lines of his neck and back prickled. “I am a stallion – meaning a great deal more pride, skill, patriotic spirit, and mostly (and mind you pay very close attention to this one) the complete and total lack of any ability on anybody else’s part to refer to me as a

Writers and taggers and blogs, oh my!

2011-12-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

[lawfully plundered at www.deviantart.com] Jenny tagged me. I have beaten this dead horse long enough, I am sure, but here it goes again: another glimpse of The Brew. I mean to do a post very like this on my latest blight of a story, but I have not had enough time to spend on it and so this will have to suffice. If you are very tired of Falcon and company, I am sorry. 1. Who are the main

New Endeavors: A Dark and Hatless Night

2011-12-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

A thick, wet wind beat against the pane of the front window of The Crown & Scepter, its fury matching the scowl on the face of the tavern’s only other patron. Mr. Nathaniel Haywood sat at the table in the window brooding over his mug of cocoa. He said nothing to me as I entered; he did not appear to notice me at all. “Never had a gentleman ask for a cup of chocolate before.” The

run and run as the rains come

2011-12-02T23:18:00.000-08:00

I'm just home from work. It's late - or early, depending on how you look at it - and the last vestiges of my mind are very much awake. Driving at night in a spattering rain has a way of waking one up to things: the copper hues of streetlights off the wet pavement, odd images of ghost-cars between the settled mists... and a strong desire to put my shoes back on and head out into the fog and the

Lighthearted Scribbles and Metaphysical Whatsits

2011-11-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

“Typewriter idle, Miss Brewster?” I jumped, but it was only Falcon. For half a second, I considered being infuriated. He invariably stepped heavily up those stairs on the day when I needed peace, and then stole in behind me whenever I found myself in the midst of something foolish. Then I noted the worn aspect of his eyes, and I felt a twinge of compassion. I doubted whether he paid much

On Unthankfulness.

2011-11-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to look at people more when I talk to them. Not in a stare-you-down or creep-you-out sort of way (I hope!), but I have noticed a lack of eye contact on my part with the people I'm talking to. It's not a hugely perpetual thing; I don't think it's because I lie to everyone, and I'm pretty sure it's not because I'm bashful. I suspect 'tis more a matter of self-absorption and habit

twenty-three

2011-11-15T13:55:00.000-08:00

The Lord is my shepherd,so why do I feel wanting? Why is life so daunting if he's by my side? The Lord is my shepherd, so why is sin still taunting? Why is guilt still haunting me? God knows I've tried. I've seen the greener pastures;I've drunk from the calmer waters. The problem isn't the color or motion it's that I'm always there, where I'veneeded these legs broken again and again,still I

"The wit of your remark," he said, "wholly escapes me."

2011-11-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of seeing one of my favorite musicians perform live. It was beautiful; the music was sufficiently loud, the artistry sublime, and the companionship (my sisters and some of my dearest friends) warm. Halfway through the concert, however, I was struck by a fierce desire: not for the experience to go on forever and ever, as I have sometimes felt before

Every 20-Years-and-274-Days-Old Woman's Battle (Lesson One)

2011-10-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

Not that that title refers to anyone specifically, of course. It’s only that I’ve been thinking (a dangerous business, Frodo!). Ruth turns nineteen in just a few weeks. I meant to write something of this nature for her then, but our conversation this morning before work prompted a stream of thoughts that I feel sure will be lost if they are not captured now. lesson one: do not hide Quite simply,

Hospital Flowers (Windows in the World)

2011-10-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

I do not remember when I first began searching for the sunset. I was on the road before I realized it had begun. My sister painted it into a picture for me once, and I believe that was when I first began to realize. The painting itself was nothing grand: a simple daub of watercolours depicting the silhouette of a girl on a hill against a flaming sky. It was a spin-off of one of the hills in

"It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key."

2011-10-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

I fear I have never taken a quote so far out of context. And to top it all off, I am almost late for this. But, well, you know what they say... (In case you don't know, by that I mean, Better late than never, and better almost late than late. I can't remember anyone ever saying that, but I'm sure someone said it sometime.) Well! I have had a pebble of a story rattling around in my brain for

Sailing in the Storm

2011-10-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hey, you. I know you're tired. In fact, I know you're exhausted. And I know that life just feels like a battering of assignments and tests and hours put in here for school and hours put in there to pay for the hours you put in for school, and meeting this person and talking to that person and worrying about this other person... yeah, I'd say I know Anna's life pretty well. And I know that sky

That's What the Promise is For.

2011-09-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

The stranger approached me as I stood contemplating the barbed-wire fence. It was an old, sagging affair, flapping in the greying dusklight like the tattered shreds of a war-banner. Its gangly belly brushed the short brown grass in several places. I had been trekking through these hillsides for some hours (or perhaps years; I had long since forgotten) until the fence brought me up short. It

"It all began with the aurochs."

2011-09-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

-The Paradise War, Stephen Lawhead Image courtesy of Wikipedia, because Google Images is just that cool. I would say I hate to always be borrowing Jenny's ideas, but I don't. She has such good ones. Recently, she posted a brief but poignant remark on the importance of the opening lines of a book, quoting several of her favorites' at the end by way of example/an excuse to fill a post

Beautiful People: Beastly Balls and Gilded Pantaloons

2011-09-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Source: ~conceptions of deviantart.com There is writing that struggles to be written, and then there are those things one writes purely to have one's own way. I have one story that is the latter - the story that I never worry about and hardly ever work on, but very probably think about the most simply because... 'tis fun. I call it my Fun&Games story. It is best explained by ridiculousness

♫ now I'm flying with my feet on the ground

2011-08-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

This is just a wee post to point out the return of the "Currently Studying" box in the sidebar. Yes, that's the sum of it; school has started again. I don't want to say I expect to be more or less sparse here or elsewhere. There's a lot more material to cover (most of it brand new), and I do expect to be quite busy learning it. But as far as schedules go, so far mine looks tolerable. It is not,

With One Minor Excerption...

2011-08-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post a segment from my current poetic-in-progress for a while now, and here is one. It is a moment of minor epiphany for its teller, Miss Brewster, who is secretary to an investigative agent named Darjeeling Falcon. I think that is sufficient explanation - if you want more, you will find it in most of my recent posts, wherein I have been yammering on tediously about this

Tremendous Trifles: Hasty Conclusivity

2011-08-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

I have fallen behind, but not without reason. There simply are not enough hours on a week's end for writing blog posts; the last few, I 'cheated' and wrote ahead. I was not so forth-looking this time because I thought, 'Ha! Favourite book? Quote? Easy enough! I shan't have to write a thing!' ...and then promptly neglected to do anything about it on Saturday. 'That's very well,' I told

Tremendous Trifles: Literary Notes

2011-08-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

{source} the twelfth day: a song about books or writing I thought this one was impossible. I know there is a list of five or so popular songs that mention writing books, but I don't listen to those songs and it seemed cheating to just go and link them for the sake of having one. At the same time, looking at the lyrics - well, they didn't seem to be about those things as much as they

Tremendous Trifles: Makeup

2011-08-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

{source} the tenth day - your answer to "what is the most important thing you should know about writing?" The most important thing is, there is no most important thing - nothing like "pay your commas well and don't overwork them." Your books are like people. Somebody may give you a piece of advice for dealing with one, and it may be good and sound advice, but the minute you wield it as The

Tremendous Trifles: Current Project

2011-08-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

{source} A week's time after this challenge ends, school begins. The textbooks are ordered, the uniform needs to be dusted off, and I should probably start putting my immunization record together again. (They jabbed me twice - twice - for that TB test in March for work. No reason to do it again in August, thank you!) the ninth day - your current writing project I currently have two. The

Tremendous Trifles: Basic Instructions

2011-08-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

{source} the eighth day - a video about books or writing Once again, I am not exactly sure what this challenge is asking for. My guess is it means something mildly instructional. And I've always been rather disdainful of instructional videos as far as writing and reading are concerned. I'm sure they have their place, but I feel that rather than listening to someone talk about writing or

Tremendous Trifles: Favourites...Again.

2011-08-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

{source} the seventh day - your favourite genre to write Someone asked me about this not too long ago, and I realized I really didn't know. Any one sample of my writing at any given time would probably fall sloppily in between two or three genres. I wrote one story that would belong mostly in the genre of fantasy, but that was far from my favourite. To remedy this - and to be able to give an

Tremendous Trifles: Bucket List?

2011-08-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

{source} the sixth day - one thing on your bucket list that has to do with writing It is at this time I must confess: I don't have a bucket list. Such lists are made for items like "go skydiving" and "hike through Europe," and while I would not be outright averse to such things (well, perhaps my stomach would raise some serious objections to the former) I have been instilled by a measure of

Tremendous Trifles: Least Favourites

2011-08-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

The pictures make it look so easy... {source} May I just say that there are few things worse for the temporary state of mind than working nights. One of those few things is thinking one is going to work a night and then being put on call. This throws one's tenuously-regular sleep schedule into further depths of Weird and Insane. All this to say, if my brainwaves seem to vacillate in terms of

Liebster Award: Recommended Reading

2011-08-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

"The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. The rules of the award are: 1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you. 2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. 3. Copy and paste the award on your blog. 4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other

Tremendous Trifles: Inspiration

2011-08-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Source for image and contest are contained herein. the fourth day - a novel or writer that has inspired something in your writing styleI consider myself a fairly well-read person. I consider myself a fairly sociable person, too, and I suppose in this matter people and books are very much alike: that is, no matter how far and wide your scope of acquaintances may roam, there will only be a few

Tremendous Trifles: First Times

2011-08-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

Credit for the image and contest belong here. the third day - your first attempt at writing Oh, good. The keyword is 'attempt.' We can take that word rather loosely. I first attempted writing when I was five or six. I have forgotten my plots and characters but not, I think, because of the distance of time. I forgot because the plot and characters did not matter much to me then. But I remember

Tremendous Trifles: Literary Favorites

2011-08-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

I like challenges. ...perhaps that is not true as an overarching, general statement about life - but certain challenges, yes. I like ones that make me write blogposts. I like ones where I missed the boat on the first few steps so there are no expectations left. Oh, look! A challenge that will make me write blogposts - and I've slept through the first day already! How convenient! (Yes, this

The Breaking of a Spell

2011-07-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

"Ruth has already got her wedding dress--how queer that is." The speaker never moved her eyes from the idle scene on the other side of the window as she spoke. Her voice lacked any eagerness to its inflection. Long practice of gossip and news-sharing had robbed these of their sensational novelty. Habit alone dictated their continuing, just as habit kept her disinterested position on the

A Vote of Thanks to Cyrus

2011-07-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

From an essay of the same title by Dorothy Sayers, I have selected the first four or five and the very last paragraphs for quotation; the whole essay is excellent, but the meat of it (and the part that struck me most profoundly) is here. It may be found in full in 'Letters to a Diminished Church,' a republication of several of her essays. pigeonholed with the Greeks and Romans "I owe a

Beautiful People: Pretentious Rhubarb Patches

2011-07-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well, for several months now a fair number of my scribbling friends have been putting these out dutifully. It is (or seems to me) a sort of system of interviewing one's characters, and I have been entertained enough by Jenny, Abigail, and Megan's answers that I thought I'd try my hand at one (or perhaps two, later) of my own. So here's the description-macallsit. Links to the beautiful people

"It is at once the hardest thing, and the only thing possible."

2011-07-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

"Look back at me," pled the literary hero John Thornton of Margaret Hale, an ironic and suiting plea for a damsel whose novel seems to be (among other things) about the progress of her soul away from a captivation with 'looking back,' or an excess of nostalgia for days gone by. Events, though they did not sport a cravat or a surly Northern inflection, sparked something behind me invariably to

sunsets that dazzle in the dusk

2011-06-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Blinking over the email-receipt for the Turnitin submission of my last essay, I suddenly realized I have a life again. That's right. Summester Countdown: 0 days. I'm done! Honestly - I hate to palaver on and on about "how it feels" like an illiterate celebrity with an Oscar - but it feels really surreal. Six weeks on a couple of classes doesn't seem like enough time to be done with them. It

Unlucky Thirteen

2011-06-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Of course, luck doesn't exist, so technically every day is unlucky - but who likes technicalities? (Me!) Nevertheless, today was gnarly and gnotted and not gnearly as productive as it needed to be. Kablah and ptooey. But again, enough of the unluckinesses. Everything went as it was intended to by someone infinitely wiser than myself, which is not to say that I was perfect - but really, that sums

Covenant Love

2011-06-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

This morning we received a family into the membership of our church, hearing the formal pronouncement of the couple's vows of church membership (something, I pray, we will see repeated with their still-young children after time and instruction). The experience propelled me back to when I made these vows for myself at the ripe, young age of twelve. (This is not something to be confused with

"The very nature of Joy makes nonsense of our common distinction between having and wanting."

2011-06-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

Summester Countdown: 5 days. I'm hanging out in Psalm 37 these days, trying to commit as much of it to memory as I may. (Intense weeks of school are always convicting for me, because I realize how much time I have to devote to learning things and how little of it I devote to Scripture on an ordinary basis.) Anyway, I've lingered in this passage more than once in my life for various reasons, so

"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house."

2011-06-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

Summester Countdown: 7 days With one week left to this business of summer school, I am left trying valiantly to motivate myself past the temptation of a senioritis-like dysfunctionality without so much as dabbling my toes in the devil-may-careness of that syndrome. Studying outside has proved surprisingly effective. This is surprising because I'm not terribly fond of hot weather, and these

do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God - and guess what?

2011-06-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

IT'S JUNE! What, you ask, is so grand about June? Well... lots of things, all of them with James' little "God willing" clause, but to list a few... Sunshine! The end of summer semesters! Books! Friendships! (Things that modern economics will say are luxuries. Believe ye not the lie: they are of utmost necessity.) More time at the hospital (working, not recovering from anything!) And...

two church towers and a glass rose in between

2011-05-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

Everything is going on right now. Seriously. I can't think of a single aspect of my life that isn't hopping with events (or, at least, thought-nudges). Things are in a holistic state of continual happenings. Six-week classes have turned me into a dutiful student. No, seriously, I'm actually doing assignments as they come and hiding out in my room during movie nights to study and... being

"Every woman is a human being... and a human being must have occupation, if he or she is not to become a nuisance to the world."

2011-05-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

(This is me, defying humanity and Dorothy Sayers, with quite a lot to occupy me and still a nuisance to the world. Also, short on sleep.) Megan recommended this book a few months back, and 'midst this last week I finally succeeded in getting my hands on a copy of it. Bad idea. Horrible, horrible idea. That book has been sitting on my shelf, taunting me ever since. I am henceforth convinced

Feel good. Eat bananas.

2011-05-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

Looking for something more substantial over the Sunday morning breakfast table than a cinnamon roll, I selected a banana. When someone remarked that bananas were rather sweet and sugary themselves, I planted my tongue firmly in my cheek and retorted: "Yeah, but I can only just stand to eat bananas, which means I can feel really good about myself afterward." Behind each jest there usually lies a

We're coming to the bitter's end.

2011-05-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

We're all waiting for the Last Time. We can't help admitting it. We throw those words around like pinballs in an overzealous machine. This is the last time I'm going to tell you, young man! This better be the last time I have to change these sheets tonight... I hope this is the last time I have to take a math course... He's been hospitalized three times this year; hopefully this is the

The Brew: Character Soundtracks

2011-04-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to make another character-themed post, but Megan made a splendid one a while back and these all fell into place at once by accident, so I thought I might as well. The whole idea is simple enough: find a soundtrack for your character. Of course, I can't make up my mind (or my writing is too driven by music) and found (at least!) two apiece. I think most of these were selected

Love Lustres at Calvary

2011-04-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

My Father, Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips, supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres at Calvary.’ There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son, made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me; There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow; There thy infinite attributes were magnified, and infinite atonement was made; There infinite punishment was due,

"It is all such a sequence of continuous delights..."

2011-04-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

This coming week is the one where all of a sudden pretty much all of the work I had to do this semester disappears, and nothing but finals loom ahead. I find that a vaguely threatening-yet-relieving notion. I shall probably blog little, run much, and pray more. The infernal tendency of these sorts of weeks is to find myself completely wrapped up in getting things done, which is never the sum of

"In this world, full often, our joys are only the tender shadows which our sorrows cast."

2011-04-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

photograph by Danielle Today was brushed with spring and summer both - the best parts of each. The lilacs are beginning to lose their bloom, but not before I captured a sprig. It dried on my desk more by accident than anything else: I couldn't bear to throw it away even when it began to droop, and now it smells too divine for me to contemplate parting with it. I suppose it will crumble away

Beauty of Christ in the Puritans: The Sinner's Sanctuary

2011-04-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

...or should I say, 'Beauty of the Puritans in Christ'? Both would be true; all their beauty is from their citizenship in Christ and His Kingdom, and yet I know of few places better to go to behold Christ's beauty than their writings. It's a two-way street, I suppose. At any rate, tucked away at the end of this gem by Hugh Binning, I found another gem of equal worth: a series of sermons on

"To see the Summer Sky is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie - true Poems flee."

2011-04-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

March flew by Postless. It was a better month than February in terms of General Developments, which is probably why it was so silent. Also, I'm writing a novel and holding down a job and going to nursing school. I think that calls for a little lenience. (Besides, I can't really talk much about work or school, and I feel a little awkward continually coughing up facts about Novelyness. Perhaps

The Brew: Character Sketches

2011-02-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

Jenny and Megan both made spiffy posts along this vein for some of their characters, so I thought I'd pull a copycat stunt and try the same. Remind me never to go into casting; This. Is. Tough. o.O Please note that I've just pulled random pictures of random actors/actresses (most of whom you will find rather 'typical,' if you know me) and touched them up a wee bit. This is purely for my own

Musings from Over the Laundry Basket:

2011-02-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

Christian music scares me. No, really. I'm not talking about being scared by the badness or mediocrity of some of the stuff. I'm talking about good songs - or at least decent ones - that are full of sincere ideas, right ideas, good ideas, sound theology... Here's why it scares me. I finished up my clinical journal assignment for the weekend at the breakfast table. Sanctus Real accompanied me

Since love grows within you, so beauty grows, for love is the beauty of the soul. ♥

2011-02-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

this marks the twentieth Valentine's Day I will spend as a single person. I shall not protest the existence of the holiday by putting SINGLE'S AWARENESS DAY in all caps and refusing to acknowledge a love-and-relationships-themed holiday. (To my mind, all that calling the day SAD does is broadcast a belief that being a single is sad and full of fail, and more people should pity us. I disagree.)

take me as you found me

2011-02-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

I got angry on Monday. I can pride myself on not getting angry very much. I'm more prone to fearfulness, apathy, sulking... pride... but not arm-flailing rage. But for about thirty minutes - I was mad. Granted, they were thirty very frustrating minutes - and for a Monday morning with many things going on, it was "understandable." But if such moments were tests of moral fibre or the caliber of my

hands like locks on cages

2011-02-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

I don't really feel like writing a proper blogpost right now. Usually I have some spark of an Idea, a stirring image or compelling climax or... usually it isn't Really All That, but it starts that way in my mind. Tonight, I have nothing. All my edges and in-betweens seem to be worn down and fraying. My physical joints are aching and screwed up; even sitting still hurts them. And that's the state

in which there is a snow day and...

2011-02-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

Anna does almost no school, but that's okay because she has another snow day tomorrow to make up for it, right? Anna writes two letters. Anna feels very proud of this particular accomplishment and would like to Highlight it Especially. Anna straightens up her room. Surely a valid and worthwhile pursuit. Noteworthy also. Anna watches an episode of Foyle. Not so highlightable, but more enjoyable

Twenty Hopefuls:

2011-01-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

twenty things I wish very much to witness or accomplish in my twentieth year, in no particular order 1. A substantially-sized bookshelf in my bedroom. I have yet to find The Perfect One. It seems to me that such a one would be a Bookshelf-Desk-Combo, but I do not know. As I said; I have yet to discover such a thing. I'm keeping an eager eye on thrift stores and such. 2. A position at the

Nineteen Thankfuls:

2011-01-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

a motley assortment of notable highlights from my nineteenth year running shoes my iPod (and the music it carries around) getting my ears pierced. tea scarves my faithful little ESV that travels everywhere with me the love I received from my home-away-from-home Lutheran Church last spring two dear friends (Jenny and Abigail) successfully publishing their books (squee!) time with Mutti and

Advance. Retreat. Retrace. Repeat.

2011-01-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

Didja notice? I added a few things to the sidebar on the right there. One of them traces the progress of school, just to give you all a little hint as to what's going on in that sphere of my life and (hopefully) thereby stall the urge to simply lather this blog with all things nursing school.The other one details the progress of whatever 'major' writing project I happen to be dabbling at

life after death and taxes

2011-01-20T10:20:00.000-08:00

You've heard it before. Someone raises a hand ponderously and intones with as much philosophical solemnity as anyone can manage:Nothing's certain in this life except death and taxes!There's something about that statement that bites like Reality. There will always be something taxing us - mostly governments, which is why the phrase smarts of irony and persecution - and pretty much everybody dies.

lost in a world of angles, in a city of greys and lies

2011-01-12T18:26:00.000-08:00

classes.School has started, and I'm the happier for it - for the most part. There is a certain measure of ... anxiety that the depth of the subject matter entails. Most of the skills this semester are moderate-to-highly invasive procedures - from IVs to catheters. The subject matter is more invasive, too; we've gone from homeostatic baby-food ("see, this is all nice and normal, children!") to the

Apathy & Tweezers

2011-01-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

I thought of this at work today. Not quite true-to-life, but drawn from some actual events and different people, not necessarily them I work with. She was nothing to me. She was not less than nothing; my thoughts toward her were infused with a neutral, bland feeling of not bothering to think anything of her. I did not wish her to die, but I did not particularly care that she lived, or what sort

Thankfuls.

2011-01-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

Even the pessimist when he thinks, if he ever does, must realise that he has something to be thankful for: he owes something to the world, as [Robinson] Crusoe did to the ship. You may regard the universe as a wreck: but at least you have saved something from the wreck.-G.K. ChestertonI'm thankful for dirty dishes and dirty laundry to be washed, for phone conversations with Mutti, for a cell

In Retrospection: The Top 5 of '10 - Music!

2011-01-06T19:51:00.001-08:00

This is my personal list of favourites from the last year (which is already disappearing over the horizon behind me, so I'd better finish this up before it's mid-December and time to write one for 2011). Admittedly, it's horridly scattered and ill-informed and over-lengthy, but as I had an even number of five that I could think of immediately, it was convenient as well as fun.5. An Airplane

♫ turn this careless sky from black to blue

2010-12-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

I arrived home after a rather taxing day of study and work and there it was, sitting on top of my keyboard: a letter. I pounced on it (inwardly crying: "thank you!"). It was a long-expected letter; I had written her a very long letter, so it was also a long, expected letter. As I read it, I wept. Why is not important; it's not my story to tell. But her story made me realize that it's not just the

NaNoWriMo2010: Day 2 Excerpt!

2010-11-03T08:07:00.000-07:00