I’m posting these for no other reason than they feel good to me. Sort of like they fit in with my day. And sort of like they’re what I wish my day was.
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(Each of these comes from Shutter Sister’s “the daily click”.)
Yes, I did just say I was going to sit out on the patio in the sun, but it seems the clouds don’t want to cooperate at the moment, so I figured I’d post about one more thing on my mind today…
I know only a few people even read my blog, but I also happen to know that some of you live in the Salt Lake area, so I’ve decided to shamelessly solicit your help. :)
Next week, my church is having a big youth conference for the youth in my area. The theme of this year’s conference is “No More Strangers” (from Ephesians 2:19). It’s going to be pretty amazing: a big multi-day service project where we work to fill some of the needs of refugee families in Salt Lake. Frankly, it’s a massive undertaking. I’m one of the leaders helping out at this event, and I’m a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project… I could use your help.
We’re looking for people in the area who are willing to donate some of their goods or services to help aid these families. The needs of the refugee families may include (but are definitely not limited to) any of the following categories: clothing, transportation (automobiles/bikes), education, health, child care, repairs, and general household supplies (like kitchen, school, hygiene, baby supplies, etc).
We’ll have a better idea of what exactly we need to help these families over the next week, once we meet and get to know the families we’ll be serving. But until then, if you have some extra clothes or shoes or whatnots laying around your house that you’d like to part with, and think it might be a help to a newly immigrated refugee, please let us know. You can talk to me or leave a comment on the blog that has been created for this Youth Conference: NoMoreStrangers09.blogspot.com. I know it’s a kind of random solicitation to put on my blog, but why not. Thanks guys!
I can’t for the life of me remember who first introduced me to The Postal Service, which is weird because I usually vividly remember stuff like that. I do know that it was in college. It must’ve been at least by my third year because I’ve got this strong memory of driving north up University Avenue, roommate Star in the passenger seat, windows down, stopped at the light by our sophomore-year apartment, and The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” playing on my stereo. It’s a nice relaxing memory. I think it might’ve been spring time, but it may simply be that the feeling of the memory is so refreshing that I associate it with spring. I don’t know.
But in any event, I love this band’s music. I particularly love the song over there in my sidebar at the moment, “Brand New Colony.” (Check out the lyrics here.) The instant the song starts, I can’t help but smile. The intro reminds me of playing classic old video games as a kid, sitting Indian style in front of the living room TV. And the rest of the song manages to capture all the ultra-shmoopy feelings of love (which I’m a total sucker for) without ever getting sickly syrupy. Or maybe you think it is sickly syrupy, but you have to at least admit that they definitely don’t resort to any overused cliches. I love that.
I’ll be the fire escape that’s bolted to the ancient brick where you will sit and contemplate your day.
Maybe this resonates so much with me because I’ve always wanted to be able to climb out my window onto a fire escape and just sit, like Holly Golightly. Who knows.
I can also understand the desire to escape the “tethers of this scene” and the responsibilities of life, armed with nothing and no one except for the one you love most… setting out on an adventure to start fresh and new, full of hope and away from life’s cynics (which, unfortunately, sometimes includes me). I suppose we all probably could go for an escape every now and then, and let “the sun… heat the grounds under our bare feet.”
Sounds like a plan. I may not have a fire escape, but I do have a patio perfect for bare feet and sunshine. Out I go!
How is it that so many people can feel so alone all at once and all in the same place? Weird, huh? Has it always been like this?
I think loneliness is really more like fear disguised as melancholy… fear of reaching out, fear of rejection, fear of who knows what… I think sometimes there doesn’t really have to be something to be afraid of for fear to exist. Sometimes it’s just fear. And so, sometimes it’s just loneliness.
It’s June first, and guess what that means?
Goooodbye Mustache May. Bryant shaved off his mustache this morning. Woot woot!
My mom and I started a project together. Inspired by “habit” (read: we’re shamelessly ripping them off), we’ve started a family habit of our own.
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time but always lacked the motivation to try; I was always too afraid that I wouldn’t follow through with it. My mom’s enthusiasm for the idea was the final push I needed to really give it a shot.
We’ve been at it now for just under three weeks. It’s sometimes challenging to be consistent, but I’m happy with the results so far. I’d like to tweak some formatting issues on the site, but this will do for now. Go have a look.
GOOD NEWS: I just spent about three hours gardening. Outside. In the sun. It was wonderful.
BAD NEWS: I ripped a big hole in my gardening gloves and now my middle finger pops out of the top. …Which actually is kind of funny, so I guess it’s not that bad of news.
BAD NEWS: I almost just chucked my dirty clothes into the garbage instead of into the hamper.
GOOD NEWS: I’m at least trying to use the hamper.
GOOD NEWS: I haven’t eaten any junk food today.
BAD NEWS: I really haven’t eaten much of anything today. (Which is about to change right now, thankfully… and the “haven’t eaten any junk food” thing might change, too.)
BAD NEWS: My right eye has been twitching constantly all day long. Talk about annoying.
GOOD NEWS: Um, nothing. That’s just bad news. But also kind of funny.
GOOD NEWS: I’ve made a goal to blog every day this month (though I missed yesterday and this past weekend… I’m pretending that didn’t happen.)
BAD NEWS: That goal makes for some less-than-stellar posts, kind of like this one. Thanks for sticking with me anyway!
Why is it that when I try really hard to remember something, it’s as if my mind clamps shut like a vice, but when I decide to stop worrying about it and give up hope of ever retrieving the lost information, the answer immediately pours into my mind with no effort at all?
Have you ever had something you feel very strongly about and really want to talk about, but for some reason you feel like you’re not allowed to talk about it because you don’t know who you might offend? …Even though your opinion is not meant to be offensive at all… it’s just your opinion, not something meant to hurt anyone.
Yeah, I hate that.
