No love for the Cocteau Twins

None of you liked them? And even if you didn't like them, none of you hated them enough to even comment and tell me I have horrible taste in music? Hey, wait a minute. None of you even listened. Did you!?! I know you guys. Too impatient to wait for the Quicktime download, huh? Here's an idea. While you wait, you can play a couple rounds of Minesweeper. That's what I do.

In other news, I went to Starbucks by myself last night for a little downtime. When I ordered my drink I actually gave my real name (I know, I know) and the guy asked, "Is that with a K or a C?" I told him K, totally surprised since no one ever bothers to ask at all. I glanced at the cup after he wrote my name on it and as he was passing it to the girl making drinks and in that second I saw that he'd ended my name in a y. Now I was completely amazed. It would be a Starbucks first, them spelling my name right. I happily took my cup when my correctly-spelled name was called and wandered over to a table. When I set my cup down the name was facing me and I finally saw what the guy had actually written. Krysty. Are you serious? Do they train them to do stuff like that? Because that? That took some effort.

The autumn music lineup

It's finally autumn! After a torturously hot summer. The weather is finally changing a little bit: I wore a long sleeved shirt today, and I've actually had to sleep under the comforter the past few nights. So, with the slightly cooler weather and hazy sunshine comes a new listening lineup. Fall, for me, is the time for groups like Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Sundays, Duncan Sheik, Kate Bush, Ivy, and Dido. But by far my favorite fall group is the Cocteau Twins. Elizabeth Fraser has the most incredible voice I've ever heard, so clear and ethereal and totally unbelievable. I fell in love with this group in high school, and have loved them ever since, but really only at this time of year. I think what I love most about them is that it's all about the sound, and about different moods that can be created with the sound alone, because Elizabeth Fraser, though technically the lead singer, has absolutely no regard for actual words most of the time. For a long time I couldn't tell if she was singing in English or French, and then I discovered that she's usually not singing words at all, it's all just tones. I love that. It frees me up to listen to the music without getting wrapped up in the lyrics. My favorite song of theirs is Carolyn's Fingers from Blue Bell Knoll. Listen to it here by clicking on the link for the video. Happy listening!

Avast, ye Scurvy Dogs!

It be Talk Like a Pirate Day again! To be honoring this day, I do be postin' these here jokes. Laugh or walk the plank, land lubbers! And do be rememberin': dead men tell no tales.

Who's a pirate's favorite golfer?
TiGARRR! Why? Because he is always under pARRR!!

What is a pirate's favorite type of fish?
The Carrrrrrp!

What was the Scottish pirate's favorite folk song?
Whiskey in the Jarrr!!!

What do they teach pirates in school?
The 3 arrrrrgggggghhhhhsss!

What is the best school for pirates to go to?
Harrrrrrrvard! (That's on the east coast, Barrrbarrrra!)

Who will pirates in California vote for in the race for governor?
Arrrrrrnold!

If some pirates are ARRrtists and the second choice is ARRrchitecture.Where do drop-out pirates work?
ARRrbys's !!!

Who is a pirate's favorite Beatle?
Ringo StAARRRRRR!

Censoring my life

This morning began the MOPS program at my church. One of the things they had us do was to fill out a "get to know you" sheet about ourselves. It asked questions like what are your hobbies and what is your favorite snack, and then it asked the questions I hate. I have a love/hate relationship with "favorites" questions. I like doing them, but inevitably they ask what your favorite book is, and what your favorite movie is. I just can't answer those questions. There are too many variables. What genre? Is it rainy outside? Have I had a bad day or a good day? Do I feel like laughing or crying? Is it summer or winter? Some days my favorite movie is Gone With the Wind, other days it's Romy and Michele's Highschool Reunion. In general it's Singin' in the Rain or Bend it Like Beckham. And the question about the book? Don't even get me started. Who are these people who can list one book that is their favorite of all time, ever? I don't understand.

And then there's the part where I have to think about who's going to be looking at my answers. And I have to throw out some of my favorites. Today I wanted to put Love, Actually as one of my favorite movies. But it's got some really bad scenes that the people running MOPS would probably be horrified by. Same with Almost Famous. And for the books....I actually risked it and put The Time Traveler's Wife as one of mine, because probably none of them has ever read it, and they wouldn't bother to wade through it. Same story with Love in the Time of Cholera.

All of this brings me to another issue altogether. I've always struggled with what it's okay to read and what it's not. Barbara and I have dissected this topic before, and the only thing we've come up with is that it depends on the person and what they can handle and what makes them stumble. Christians, in my opinion, are notorious for throwing the baby out with the bath water, disregarding a whole book and its lessons because of a few bad things. Catcher in the Rye? Grapes of Wrath? Awesome books with important things to be learned, and yet at times they've been thrown out (they're both back in now, from what I hear). I also have huge problems with the Christian community's rejection of the Harry Potter series, because they don't reject the Narnia or Rings stories. Why? Because Lewis and Tolkien were Christians, and Rowling is not. And that's about the only difference. I tend to be open to reading just about anything, and haven't found much that's personally offensive to me (aside from the obvious trashy romances and so on). I've only ever refused to deal with two books: The Bluest Eye (too much gratuitous vulgarity) and The DaVinci Code (the whole idea just makes me uncomfortable). Other than that.... But does that make it okay? Admittedly, I read a lot that most Christians wouldn't approve of. But are they right? Or am I? Or is it really just a personal thing? Conversely, I think there are things that are wrong even though parts of the Christian community approve. The above Morrison book was assigned by a prof at Biola that I very much love and respect. I still think it's a useless book. But who's right? Was it just okay for him and not me? I try to base my judgment on whether the book has anything of value to teach. And that book definitely did, but, to my way of thinking, there was just too much trash to wade through to get to it.

What do you guys think? Is everything permissible? Or are there works of literature that are really wrong to read?

Judah kickin' it with Tiny E in Phoenix

Here is a picture of Judah and Eszter doing the only thing you can even think of doing in Phoenix when it's 110 outside: relax and grab something cool to drink. Preferably from the QT. Thanks for the picture, Bri and Ash!

I knew it!

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere.And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?

Strangely prescient

Tonight I wrote a very long and very important email. I struggled with it for well over an hour. I proofed it. Nathan proofed it. I hit send. And then bubbs ate it for a late night snack. Fourthmeal, I suppose. It's gone. Irretrievable.

Just like the dryer sheet!

I told you the dryer sheet would predict my day. Once I realized that losing the email was the perfect close to a day that started with losing a dryer sheet I didn't feel so bad. Everything feels so nice and circular, like there's a predictable pattern in the universe. A roundness. I might even be able to sleep tonight.

Who is Daniel Cook and why is he being groomed to take over the world?

This morning I schlepped all our laundry down to the laundry room along with the detergent, the quarters, and the dryer sheets. I promptly dropped one of the dryer sheets behind the dryer. It's irretrievable. I suppose it's indicative of the kind of day I'm going to have.

At five o'clock this morning I gave up on trying to sleep. So I laid there in bed, watching the ceiling fan, listening to the trains, taking note that the sprinklers come on at 5:30. For those of you that know me, you know that if I'm awake there's a song stuck in my head. At 5:00 it was a really irritating worship song that, more often than not, when sung in church sounds like it's being sung by the mice from Babe. So I tried to drive it out. Generally when I'm trying to get rid of a song the one that comes to mind to replace it is "The Ghost in You" by the Psychedelic Furs. But I'm tired of that one, so I tried for another. Unfortunately, what came up was the theme song of the Disney short program about Daniel Cook. His theme song is so annoying, and his program makes me uncomfortable in that swimming in a dark pool kind of a way. I know it's harmless, but it feels like there's some hidden evil there anyway. Daniel Cook is a 7-year-old who gets to learn all these cool professions. Innocent, right? But he never smiles, and when he laughs it sounds like Mr. Hyde, and he uses words that sound freakishly large coming from one so young. And then there's his theme song. I find myself humming it at odd times, and I can only assume that Daniel Cook is using it to mind-control us, and that eventually he'll take off the costume, reveal that he's really an ancient man who probably looks a lot like John Kerry (i.e. the grim reaper), and force us all into menial labor to build his evil empire.

My brain finally settled on "Skin and Bones" by Owen. When I fell asleep around 6:15 I dreamt of square lemons.

The cookie mystery revealed

So I tried my half batch of cookies this morning, when my spirits had recovered from last night. I was really down. You have to understand: I was somewhat famous at my old job for these very cookies with this very recipe, and I thought I had lost my touch, which is very sad. So I very carefully measured all my ingredients, kept the cookie sheets cool, and used my graduated measuring cups instead of my glass measures (even though I've checked and the difference is minimal). The half recipe called for 2 1/4 cups flour, and I added until the consistency was right, which ended up being 2 7/8 cups. Crazy. I baked two batches in my oven. And the same thing happened! Completely frustrated, I packed up the rest of it and went to my parents'. And guess what? It's TOTALLY my oven that's the problem! The ones I baked in my mom's oven are perfect and delicious, though they exhibit signs of having too much flour. Not surprising. So, I'm somewhat relieved, because I know now that it's not me and I haven't gone mad (not for that reason, anyway). But now I have to figure out exactly what's wrong with my oven and how far off the temperature is from what it's supposed to be. Grrr.