what i love tonight:

Good sound (like what’s in my car) - see infinity speakers, kicker subs, mtx amp, rockford fosgate amp, 700 watts of power, music to match

Good beer (like what’s in my fridge) - see Bohemia, Rahr and Sons Blonde, Shiner Oktoberfest

Good burgers (like what’s in my hood, and now my stomach) - see Flaming Burger

Good tv shows (like what’s on my tv) - see X-Files

Good books (like what’s on my nightstand) - see The Children of Hurin, Home Economics, Barefoot Running Step by Step

Good baseball (like what’s on my radio) - see Tigers vs Yankees, game 3 of the American League Division Series

read this summer

• Arcadia, by Lauren Groff
• The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach
• Brief Encounters with Che Guevera, by Ben Fountain
• Gilead, by Marilyn Robinson
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Mark Pollan
• Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
• The Night Swimmer, by Matt Bondurant
• When I Was a Child I Read Books, by Marilynn Robinson
• The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain
• Eventide, by Kent Haruf
• The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
• 1984, by George Orwell
• Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather

Circe 2012 - Reading List

Last weekend we went to Louisville Kentucky for the 2012 Circe Conference.

It was extraordinary. A soul expanding experience. And Friday night, I saw Mr. Wendell Berry live, in the flesh, and wept.

What is Circe (and how do you pronounce it)? Why was it extraordinary? Who the heck is Wendell Berry and why does he matter to you?

As a cheap answer to question number one, I give you this convenient link http://circeinstitute.org/conference/

As for the rest - all excellent questions, which I plan to answer soon, but not now, because:
1. The thoughts that were presented to and provoked in me over the weekend are still too rich, too deep, and too many to give them form just yet.
2. Wendell Berry and his profound influence on my mind and my convictions deserves a better introduction than I can give at the moment.
3. I really just got on here to share my book list from the conference.

I fully intend to read these all.

Circe 2012 Reading List

not so long

It's been mighty quiet around here this semester. I just haven't been in a posting mood, plus this semester (while nothing like the Terrible Great Big Devouring Monster that was Spring 2010) has been rather demanding. But. The end, friends, at last heaves into sight.

I graduate on May 13 or 14.

That's 6 1/2 months away.

It sounds like a long time when I say it like that, but it's starting to feel pretty close. Especially given the fact that next semester will be so, so much easier-- I'll be two graduate Lit classes, which are all I need to graduate, plus painting and dance (which have essentially no homework) just for fun. Think of that! Only two classes with homework. I might actually (gasp) have time to read. And keep the house clean. And paint the guest bedroom. And actually have conversations with people. I can't even fathom it, and yet it's only a foreshadowing of the beauties of Life After School, that large, slightly frightening, but ultimately friendly monster.

I'm starting to think of things I'll be able to do again. The life I'll get back. For the first time practically ever, I'll be in charge of what I do with my days. This is terrifying to me-- what if I'm incapable of making good choices?-- but mostly so, so exciting. I'm starting to think through what kind of life I want to make for myself all over again, with this brand-new perspective.

A few things I'm looking forward to about life after graduation:

listening to music (so much of my time goes to homework that I pretty much don't ever listen to music anymore)

being able to clean my house whenever it needs it

enjoying things slowly

checking books out from the library and actually reading them

journaling

serving Dan better

three

A long while back, Claire did this thing on her blog (one of those 'meme' deals, I think) where she shared three songs that were really truly Her. I thought that was so cool, and I'd love to see what songs all of my friends would pick, because it's such an interesting angle to look at someone from. Anyway, don't want to seem narcissistic or anything, but partly because I loved the idea, and partly because I didn't have to spend any time thinking about it because the three choices were so obvious, and mostly because they're just amazing songs and I want you all to hear them anyway, I'm doing the same thing.

So here we go, three songs that are me:

Brand New Shoes, by She & Him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mk9sydXY_k

(sorry about the terrible, cutesy illustrations on this video; just listen and don't watch.)

All This Beauty, by The Weepies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN0A6h9Wc5c&ob=av2e

Quelqu'un Ma Dit, by Carla Bruni: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd4-sIRXRH4

(if you feel like hunting one down, you should read a translation of the lyrics . . . lovely)

aaaah, I love these three so much.

I believe

in

silence

hot showers

picture books

lists

matches

the public library

blue notes

pencil sharpeners

vintage dresses

Elwood

buttered toast

the things i have learned, the things i am learning

to observe rather than decide

to carry my own atmosphere with me

to inhabit a quiet, receptive spirit

to let things be what they are

"unemployed in summertime, only just turned 21"

to-do this summer:

• homify our little yellow house-- I love the way it looks so far, but I still feel like we're not fully inhabiting it yet.
• make myself some headbands
• get ahead on some writing for next semester. if i have stuff ready to turn in before the semester even starts it'll really help keep the stress level at a reasonable place.
• cook some tastiness
• write letters
• live slowly
• finish my project of reading everything flannery and eudora ever wrote. if i ever have two of anything at the same time-- cats, twins, salamanders, bicycles, who cares-- i'm going to name them that.
• have picnics at the lake
• visit two vintage stores in dallas that i've been dying to check out
• buy a piano and actually practice
• watch lots. and lots. and lots. of movies. because i've probably watched three this entire semester. deficit!

compendium; or, a post written a month ago and never posted.

a category on our netflix recommendations page:

"critically-acclaimed suspenseful movies from the 1960's"

a quote I loved:

"All people have their ways of expressing kindness, and it seemed to Mrs. Sedley that a muffin and a quantity of orange marmalade spread out in a little cut-glass saucer would be peculiarly agreeable refreshments to Amelia in her most interesting situation."

-- from Vanity Fair, by William Thackery

our supper tonight:

St. Nectaire cheese

Orange Blossom Honey

Pesto

Baquette

Oil and Pepper

and oh it was tasty tasty.

last three weeks of school!!!

April 21-May 12. My to-do list:

Major Authors: Faulkner:

• read 7 short stories
• final exam

Voice:

• attend a concert and write concert report
• read 100-ish pages and write last written assignment
• 2 rehearsals & lots of practice
• write program notes
• recital

Creating Short Fiction:

• read short story collection and write reading journal
• turn in second short story
• 5 more peer reviews
• revise both stories and resubmit them

Geology/Geography:

• Final Exam

Creating Poetry:

• 2 meetings with Gary
• 8 more peer reviews
• turn in chapbook (30 page manuscript) of poetry

Small Big Things

I've been thinking today about the Small Big things in my life. Not the Big Big things-- hearbreaks, proposals, plot twists-- but the little details or objects or moments that ever-so-quietly created a shift in my life, like a rock thrown into a small stream. I thought I'd share some.

1. A thick, green, hardback book I pulled at random off my parent's bookshelves when I was 11. Anne of Green Gables. Reading that book was one of the great epiphanies of my life-- all of a sudden I knew who I was, and I knew that I had never really known who I was until then.

2. This shirt, bought when I was 15. It was the first piece of clothing I ever bought that I would still wear now, and for years it was my benchmark-- I compared all clothes to it, and only bought them if they had the same 'feel.'

3. Discovering this blog last winter. It's inspired me to think about what kind of life I want and then make it be that way, and it's been a constant reminder to have Happy Fancy Fun, not just Boring Fun.

4. Going to my first poetry reading at school and feeling so at home.

5. A slim little book called "The Hundred Dresses," by Eleanor Estes. I read it at age 7 all in one sitting at a grown-up party my parents went to, and it rocked my world. It was the first book I ever read that made me think and care and ponder. It changed the way I read. (and, ps, every little girl needs to own this book. it's pretty exceptional; the lesson is wise and timely, and presented so gently and artfully that it feels silly to call it a 'lesson.')

6. Stumbling across my parents' old Michael Feinstein-singing-Gershwin CDs. Oh man. Such a happy day. That was when I fell in love with that kind of music.

7. The day Dr. Rodriguez chewed me out for trying to stay too in control of my voice while I sang. Yeah, it helped my voice, but it also set off a whole chain of realizations about myself that caused me to change in pretty profound ways. I've been happier ever since.

8. The day when I was 16 that I wore red lipstick to the Grace Chapel meeting. I must admit to a certain amount of pride over this-- keep in mind, this was 2005, some of us were still wearing denim skirts, and this look wasn't The Thing at all like it is now. Red lipstick didn't show up on runways for another two or three years at least. A couple of people that day said it was too bright and red, and for the first time I was able to not care and just wear the thing that felt right and made me happy. It was so liberating, and from then on I was willing to look different from other people and develop my own sense of style.

So those are some of mine. Tell me yours?

compendium

I sat with Dan last night during the Duke-Baylor game, doing homework (actually read an entire Faulkner novel from 3:00 to 10:00-- I heart my attention span), and noticed that Baylor has got some of Richard Scary's Best Names Ever on their team. I call your attention to the following gems:

Quincy Acy

LaceDarius Dunn

Tweety Carter

I didn't have time to make a bracket this year, but I was planning to base my predictions on which team had more Exemplary Names. Had I done so, this right here might just have taken Baylor to the top.

Sometimes I love being a writer. Today I went to Cafe Brazil after school to have a mocha and get some writing done, and an overheard speech pattern of the woman at the table behind me triggered a whole set of new ideas and three pages of notes for my next short story. Moments like that are what keep me going.

Got 14 packages of pasta for 3.50 last week. Oh yeah.

Currently Listening: to one of Pottery Barn's ever-beloved jazz compilations. It's just right with the weather and my window down. Plus it's Elwood's favorite kind of music, and puts him in a peppy mood.

"Maybe you got a lot to learn

Don't waste another day!

Maybe you got to lose it all

Before you find your way.

Take a chance, play your part,

Make romance, though it may break your heart. . ."

Recently decided that I kind of love the name Nolan. It's so cool, but in an old-man-cool way, not an "aahh!!-hugh-jackman-named-his-kid-that!!!" way.

this weekend

Pondering: courage, tolerance, renewal

Listening: Deb Talan

"Haven't we all got a place where we belong?

It could be a sidewalk crack or a sad song."

Rejoicing: for Morgan and Brett

Reading: my classmates' stories and poetry- so many peer reviews to write. yipe.

Going: to Santa Fe for a badly needed overnight getaway tomorrow (a belated Valentine to ourselves, since we never had time to celebrate it). So looking forward to it! It's our first non-family-friend-or-church-related trip together.

Have a peaceful weekend, everyone. Love you all.

apparently, pilots have the best names

Over the course of my job here at Southwest Airlines I see hundreds of pilot names. Some weeks ago I started keeping a list of the names that shine above the rest. Hopefully there will be more to come, but for now I give you volume 1 of Richard Scarry's BEST SOUTHWEST PILOT NAMES EVER!!!


Lex Brockington
(your local high school all american quarterback)

Bobby Schock
(your local Saturday morning cartoon kid superhero)

"Ghost" Cheatham
(he answers the phone "this is Ghost" and I always feel like I accidentally
called a fictitious undercover special ops assassin.)

JD Kettlestrings
(chicken in the breadpan, pickin' out dough)

Kevin Keninitz
(any name with 3 N's, 3 I's, 2 K's and a Z for good measure has to be fun to say)

Glyn Macpherson "Hux" Huxter
(I can't add anything to that.)

Walt "Gator" Grace
(Gator Grace? there's money in that if I could just figure out how)

Todd Pancake and Terrance Wafful
(yes, they have been known to fly together)


and my two personal favorites -

"Super" Johnny Zitnik and "Turbo" Johnny Zayas


by special request of my wife, we also include the Southwest Employee Shuttle Drivers, Stanley and Lafayette, two of the friendliest black gentlemen you could meet

hi ho hi ho

Alright. I need to focus. (So you ask, why am I blogging? Good question.)

See, my days have a very different rhythm than ever before this semester, because I have no morning classes and probably won't have to go to school at all most Thursdays (which, in case you hadn't noticed, is today, and as per the above I am home all day). So whereas before I've done school in the morning and early afternoon and then had late afternoon to do housework and errands and such, now I have to reverse it and do housework in the morning. It's really dumb how hard a time I'm having of making the switch. I catch myself wandering around the house not getting anything done sometimes because it feels like I should be at school.

So. As I said. Time to focus. Which for me means a List.

Which brings me, at long last, to the point of this epistle. My head, I know, is a silly place, but I wanted to know if anyone else here (and I know that there are many inveterate list-makers on both sides of the family) shares this particular quirk: I have to make my lists in very strong black ink or I don't follow through. It's as if a list in pencil, or in a skritchy pen that's not writing smoothly, or (horrors!) colored ink just doesn't have as much authority. It's more like a suggestion-- "ahem, ah, miss? yes, you. well, I was just. . . yes, just going to suggest that if you, well, if you happen to find the time, you might-- and i'm not saying you absolutely have to, but you might consider cleaning out the refrigerator. . . but don't let me order you around."

For today's list I'm bringing in the Pilot V-5's. There's a pen that means what it says. I think a To-Do List written by a Pilot V-5 ought to be extremely convincing. The difference between being told to do something by Jimmy Stewart and being told to do it by Gary Cooper, if you see what I mean. You probably love Jimmy more, and will probably get around to doing the thing just to please him, but Gary makes you feel it Must Be Done.

So as I was saying-- does anyone else feel this way?

(probably not. I'm probably just being a silly.)

(ok. back to work.)