Transitions

Ben Howard

2011-06-25T08:44:00.001+01:00

Words

2011-05-15T08:44:00.002+01:00

Rudy Francisco:

My Music

2011-02-15T22:12:00.001Z

Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers, and Bob Dylan at the Grammys.

211213212512
Uploaded by yardie4lifever2. - See video of the biggest web video personalities.

Alex Winston

2011-01-27T21:44:00.004Z

Everywhere I Go

2011-01-04T23:05:00.001Z

I found Lissie through Watch Listen Tell and then found this and I love it.

Blues Run The Game

2010-12-06T18:50:00.001Z

I just can't get enough of Laura Marling and this is my song of the week.

Watchlistentell

2010-09-14T00:25:00.002+01:00

I subscribed to this YouTube channel because it has some unbelievably beautiful bands in extremely beautiful videos. These two are Lucy Rose and Dry The River.

The Waking

2010-07-20T02:07:00.002+01:00

by Theodore Roethke

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls aways is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

Doctor Who

2010-07-12T18:16:00.002+01:00

This is mostly for Lucy because I know she'll enjoy this just as much as I did.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

2010-07-08T21:49:00.004+01:00

But that night she was like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with overconfidence. She could have shouted for joy. She did shout for joy, as with a sweeping stroke or two she lifted her body to the surface of the water.

A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.

Mumford and Sons

2010-05-31T23:55:00.000+01:00

Judging Books By Their Covers

2010-05-12T06:31:00.007+01:00

I like to buy books based on covers. My favorites lately:

Wuthering Heights

The Scarlet Letter

Pride and Prejudice

Frankenstein

Crista

2010-05-06T06:19:00.001+01:00

I love Crista and you should follow her new blog :)

http://cristaaustin.blogspot.com/

Noah and the Whale

2010-04-27T21:59:00.003+01:00

I'm still figuring out which songs I love by this band, but this one just really stood out to me.

It's the first day of spring
And my life is starting over again
The trees grow, the river flows
And its water will wash away my sins
For I do believe that everyone has one chance
To fuck up their lives
But like a cut down tree, I will rise again
And I'll be bigger and stronger than ever before

For I'm still here hoping that one day you may come back
For I'm still here hoping that one day you may come back

There's a hope in every new seed
And every flower that grows upon the earth
And though I love you, and you know that
Well I no longer know what that's worth
But I'll come back to you in a year or so
And I'll rebuild, be ready to become
Oh the person, you believed in
Oh the person, that you used to love

For I'm still here hoping that one day you may come back
For I'm still here hoping that one day you may come back

Oxford

2010-04-16T18:50:00.005+01:00

I really love Oxford and all the people who shared it with me in the Spring of 2008.

Children's Books

2010-04-02T05:18:00.005+01:00

The story of a little girl who lives across the street from Emily Dickinson

Picking blueberries with bears around
Opal Whiteley... her cow's name is Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

These are just a few of my favorites. Barbara Cooney seems to be a recurring theme in my favorites though :)

Laura Marling

2010-03-30T18:28:00.002+01:00

I really can't get enough of her.

Rambling Man

Oh naïve little me
Asking what things you have seen
And you're vulnerable in your head
You'll scream and you'll wail till you're dead

Creatures veiled by night
Following things that aren't right
And they're tired and they need to be lead
You'll scream and you'll wail till they're dead

But give me to a rambling man
Let it always be known that I was who I am

Beaten, battered, and cold
My children will live just to grow old
But if i sit here and weep
I'll be blown over by the slightest of breeze

And the weak need to be lead
And the tender I'll carry to their bed
And its a pale and cold affair
I'll be damned if I'll be found there

Oh give me to a rambling man
Let it always be known that I was who I am

It’s funny how the first chords that you come to
Are the minor notes that come to serenade you
It’s hard to accept yourself as someone... you don’t desire
As someone you don't want to be

But give me to a rambling man
Let it always be known that I was who I am

Oh give me to a rambling man
Let it always be known that I was who I am

Jane Austen Adaptations

2010-03-26T15:20:00.003Z

These are my favorites so far.

Emma (2009) BBC

Sense and Sensibility (2008) BBC

Pride and Prejudice (2005) Focus Features

Persuasion (2007) ITV--although her hair is sooo tight!! it makes me hurt :)

Mansfield Park (1999) Miramax--not an exact adaptation, but this is my least favorite book so it's an exciting version

I need a good Northanger Abbey now... any suggestions?

New Start

2010-03-24T19:34:00.002Z

I think I'm just going to use this now to share things I like or love. Why would I share something I hate?

Here's something I stumbled across when searching for a different poem.

Up by Margaret Atwood

You wake up filled with dread.
There seems no reason for it.
Morning light sifts through the window,
there is birdsong,
you can't get out of bed.

It's something about the crumpled sheets
hanging over the edge like jungle
foliage, the terry slippers gaping
their dark pink mouths for your feet,
the unseen breakfast---some of it
in the refrigerator you do not dare
to open---you will not dare to eat.

What prevents you? The future. The future tense,
immense as outer space.
You could get lost there.
No. Nothing so simple. The past, its density
and drowned events pressing you down,
like sea water, like gelatin
filling your lungs instead of air.

Forget all that and let's get up.
Try moving your arm.
Try moving your head.
Pretend the house is on fire
and you must run or burn.
No, that one's useless.
It's never worked before.

Where is it coming from, this echo,
this huge No that surrounds you,
silent as the folds of the yellow
curtains, mute as the cheerful

Mexican bowl with its cargo
of mummified flowers?
(You chose the colours of the sun,
not the dried neutrals of shadow.
God knows you've tried.)

Now here's a good one:
you're lying on your deathbed.
You have one hour to live.
Who is it, exactly, you have needed
all these years to forgive?

Free Time

2010-03-09T16:35:00.000Z

Let's pretend that this is what I've been doing that has kept me away.

The Decade According to 9 year olds

2009-12-08T19:05:00.002Z

The decade according to 9-year-olds from allie garcia on Vimeo.

Wonderland

2009-12-01T19:48:00.004Z

My friend Eryn rented the movie "Phoebe in Wonderland" over the summer and we watched it together. Neither of us had any idea what it was about so we didn't know what was coming. In January I realized that my level of shyness wasn't normal. It's always been more than just being shy for me. So 6 months and two failed attempts at counseling later I sit down to watch this movie.

I don't want to give it away, but something is obviously wrong with Phoebe. She says things without being able to stop herself. She spits at people when she's angry and she can't help it. She bangs up her legs because she feels forced to play a stair jumping game. When life is difficult Phoebe escapes to Wonderland. She sees Alice and the caterpillar and the Red Queen. I don't have what Phoebe has, but I understand her. She escapes to a different world because she feels trapped in the real one. Sometimes I wish I had dealt with this when I was her age, but mostly I just wish I didn't have to deal with it at all. I can't say how many times I've asked all the questions Phoebe asks in this movie. I also wish my questions could be as easily answered.

Highland Family Camp

2009-11-09T00:51:00.012Z

Just some pictures from the Highland Family Retreat or "Family Camp" as some people call it.

We found a large field of wildflowers on our hike.
It was nice to see Fall colors again!

The Reading Woman

2009-10-29T18:16:00.010Z

At the beginning of the year, I had planned on sharing my calendar with you because I love the pictures and the quotes. I think I made it to March and then stopped blogging regularly so this is me catching up:

April:

I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.
-Toni Morrison

May:

Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere.
-Hazel Rochman

June:

Wear the old coat and buy the new book.
-Austin Phelps

July:

Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, butstill attached to life at all four corners.
-Virginia Woolf

August:

A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.
-Franz Kafka

September:

When I only begin to read, I forget I'm on this world. It lifts me on wings with high thoughts. -Anzia Yezierska

October:

There are books in which the footnotes or comments scrawled by some reader's hand in the margin are more interesting than the text. The world is one of these books.
-George Santayana

November (because it's so close):

The poem had a social effect of some kind whether or not the poet willl that it have. It has kinetic force, it sets in motion... elements in the reader that would otherwise be stagnant.
-Denise Levertov

Time

2009-10-26T21:59:00.002Z

I've been wandering through a selection of poems by Emily Dickinson that I bought for $6 at Books a Million. Here's one for today:

Victory comes late,
And is held low to freezing lips --
Too rapt with frost
To take it --
How sweet it would have tasted --
Just a Drop --
Was God so economical?
His Table's spread too high for Us --
Unless We dine on tip-toe --
Crumbs -- fit such little mouths --
Cherries -- suit Robbins --
The Eagle's Golden Breakfast strangles -- Them --
God keep his Oath to Sparrows --
Who of little Love -- know how to starve --

On Repeat

2009-10-07T16:20:00.003+01:00

That Year by Brandi Carlile

I must have been sleeping, I must have been drinking,
I haven't been dreaming about you for years. There was a
sharp turn and a sunburn. I was too cool for high school that year.

Must have have been New Year's. No one invited you.
Took things too far but I missed you and your antics.
You were lonesome and blue-eyed and so special to us.

You could have taken a long break instead of a
long drop from a high place. Ten years I never spoke your name.
Now it feels good to say it. You're my friend again.

Said he forgave you, I said I hated you.
He was the bigger man, I was sixteen. All of the innocence it took
For you to finally make the year book that year. That year.

You could have taken some time away instead of a long drop,
instead of a leap of faith. Ten years I never spoke your name.
Now it feels good to say that you're my friend again.
You're my friend again.

I was angry. I was a Baptist. I was a daughter. I was wrong.

Nas: Open Letter to Young Warriors in Chicago

2009-09-30T22:14:00.002+01:00

I found this on CNN.com today...

Editor’s Note: Four teenagers have been charged with the murder of Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old whose videotaped beating death has sparked renewed outrage over the violence among youth in Chicago. Thirty-four public school students were killed during the school year last year. Rapper and songwriter Nas wrote this open letter to youth in Chicago.

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong wars! Killing each other is definitely played out. Being hurt from the lost of a love one was never cool.

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong war! I know that feeling, that frustration with life and needing to take it out on someone, any one. But….

We chose the dumbest things to go the hardest for. I remember seeing deaths over 8 ball jackets, Fila sneakers, and name plate chains. Deaths over “he say, she say”!!!!! “I’m from this block or I’m from that block”, or “my moms n pops is f*cked up now the whole world gotta pay”!!!

I remember feeling like I was the hardest “n*gga” breathing. And I couldn’t wait to prove it. But let’s think. What are we really proving?? And proving what to who?? Everybody knows Chicago breeds the strongest of the strong but I just feel, me, being ya brother from another state feels your pain as if I grew up with you in ya very own household.

You have the ability and mindpower to change they way we are looked at. Look who’s watching us young warriors, look who’s throwing us in jail constantly, look at the ignorance in the world. Look at the racist dogs who love to see us down. Loving to bury us in the ground or in jail where we continue this worthless war on one another.

Young warriors…. We are WASTING more and more time. We gotta get on our jobs and take over the world. Cuz this movie left the theaters years ago, Juice, Menace, Boys n the Hood , Blood n Blood Out, Belly!

When we see each other why do we see hatred? Why were we born in a storm, born soldiers, WARRIORS….and instead of building each other up we are at war with each other.. May the soul of this young person find peace with the almighty. I’m with you young warriors. You’re me and I’m you. But trust me! you are fighting the wrong war.

-Nas

Moses

2009-08-22T05:20:00.003+01:00

I don't know when these feelings became my biggest problem. They always seem to creep up on me. I don't see them coming until I'm on the floor in a friend's bathroom unable to breathe because I'm sobbing so hard.

I don't know when I started hating school. I used to love it. I used to feel comfortable in the classroom. Well, not comfortable. But it used to be easier to blend into the background.

I don't know when I started questioning my every decision. I'm not comfortable with my own thought until someone else can confirm it. Then I can shift the blame in case I'm wrong.

I don't know how I keep going. to class. to work-out. to babysit. to church.

I don't know why I even care anymore.

But I do.

Moses by Patty Griffin:

Diamonds, Roses, I need Moses
To cross this sea of loneliness,
Part this red river of pain.

I don't necessarily buy
Any key to the future or happiness
But I need a little place in the sun
Sometimes or I think I will die.

Everywhere is somewhere and Nowhere is near
Every body got some body with their wine and their beer.
So I'm just this tragic figure in the corner over here
With an empty apartment and a best friend who is a queer.

Every time I see him he smiles
And he tells me how well he's walking these miles.
But he never ever asks a single thing about me
If I die, he'd hear about it eventually

Diamonds, Roses, I need Moses
To cross this sea of loneliness,
Part this red river of pain.

Everywhere is somewhere and Nowhere is near.
Every body got some body with their wine and their beer.
So I'm just this tragic figure in the corner over here
Go home to an empty apartment and call a best friend who is a queer.

Diamonds, Roses, I need Moses
To cross this sea of loneliness,
Part this red river of pain.

Slowly Coming Back

2009-08-16T19:17:00.005+01:00

I will actually write something soon. It will just take a little bit for me to get it all down. For now, I'll just let you know what I'm hearing.

Glee

2009-08-06T20:45:00.000+01:00

Meet my summer obsession...

2009-05-06T21:43:00.000+01:00

Playing For Change | Song Around the World "Don't Worry" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

It's Been Awhile

2009-05-03T01:35:00.002+01:00

Hope has been a recurring theme during my semester. I started out pretty full of it. But somewhere around mid-semester it just disappeared. I couldn't find it for a long time. Only recently have I found what's left of it. I realized that I had never completely lost it. It had been with me the whole time. I had just been beating it so severely that it had become unrecognizable. I think it's healing now. Slowly. But I'm starting to remember what it looks like. Just in time for my twenty-first.

Eleven

2009-03-17T19:52:00.003Z

I've been reading Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros for my Multicultural Literature class. Sometimes I just have to share:

What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don't. You open your eyes and everything's just like yesterday, only it's today. And you don't feel eleven at all. You feel like you're still ten. And you are--underneath the year that makes you eleven.

Like some days you might say something stupid, and that's that part of you that's still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama's lap because you're scared, and that's the part of you that's five. And maybe one day when you're all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you're three, and that's okay. That's what I tell Mama when she's sad and needs to cry. Maybe she's feeling three.

Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That's how being eleven years old is.

You don't feel eleven. Not right away. It takes a few days, weeks even, sometimes even months before you say Eleven when they ask you. And you don't feel smart eleven, not until you're almost twelve. That's the way it is.

March

2009-03-11T23:05:00.005Z

Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep, for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter. ~Paxton Hood

New Romantic-Laura Marling

2009-03-09T03:02:00.000Z

Prone to Sinus Infections

2009-03-02T15:17:00.003Z

That is what the top of my medical file should read. Since the last time I blogged, I got a cold and thought I had gotten over it. But it lingered and has become a lot more trouble than I really wanted around Mid-Term time. Only two things are getting me through: 1-next week is Spring Break, and 2-at least it's not mono like everyone else has.

Bad Day

2009-02-03T21:59:00.002Z

I've had a bad day. I had a test at eight o'clock which I didn't wake up for. Well, I woke up at seven and decided I would sleep in just a little bit longer, but I wound up sleeping until 8:05. Normal people would have just jumped from bed and ran to take the test, but not me. I hate the feeling of everyone watching you as you walk in late. So I e-mailed my teacher and he arranged for me to take the test any time after 3:00 p.m. I skipped my 9:30 exercise science because I was so exhausted from my stressful morning. And I skipped chapel. I didn't end up reading anything I was supposed to for my 1:30 class, but that was probably the highlight of my day. I then went to go take my test, but it wasn't waiting for me in the office like it was supposed to (it probably slept through its alarm too). So I went to the medical clinic to get my blood drawn for some tests--that was fun. Now, I probably won't get to go to boot camp today because I have so much homework for tomorrow that I haven't started yet.

Is it Wednesday yet?

February

2009-02-02T14:01:00.005Z

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures. ~Jessamyn West

Reading and Reading and Reading

2009-01-26T01:20:00.002Z

These are my two book lists. They do not include what I have already read this semester: The House On Mango Street, The Catcher In The Rye, and The Power Of Myth. Nor do they include the textbooks I've been reading.

Reading For School
-The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien
-Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
-Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
-Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead
-The Once and Future King by T.H. White
-Native Son by Richard Wright
-Quicksand by Nella Larsen
-Passing by Nella Larsen
-Claiming Breath by Diane Glancy
-Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim
-The City In Which I Loved You by Li-Young Lee
-The Way To Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
-... And The Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomás Rivera
-Good Will Hunting Screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck

Reading Not For School (on my bookshelf waiting to be read):
-Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
-Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
-Middlemarch by George Eliot
-Home by Julie Andrews
-The Children of Men by PD James
-The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
-Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
-This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
-My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
-The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
-The Moviegoer by Walker Pearcy
-M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang

I let you know how far I get with my second list since I HAVE to read the first one.
A little extra challenge for the new semester.

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers

2009-01-23T01:41:00.004Z

Nothing else really to say.

Oxford

2009-01-15T22:14:00.003Z

This is to show you a little bit of Oxford in motion... this is the sandwich shop we all went to almost everyday.

The Reading Woman

2009-01-01T23:44:00.003Z

My quote for January from my new calendar:

A book is a garden you can carry in your pocket. -Arabian proverb

Lately...

2008-12-23T23:53:00.002Z

I don't have anything to say. Luna, the cat, just ate a piece of pepperoni. Mysitc, the cat, is still peeing on the carpet (we think). I'm trying to finish all of Jane Austen's novels. And today is my parent's twenty-fifth anniversary. That's all.

Listen

2008-12-01T21:09:00.000Z

Remember the girl from Elf?
I love her even more now.

From The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

2008-11-24T22:21:00.005Z

The adventure is over. Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you. It's the same as going on a vacation. Some people spend all their time on a vacation taking pictures so that when they get home they can show their friends evidence that they had a good time. They don't pause to let the vacation enter inside of them and take that home.

Returning with a secret is what she really wants. Angel had a secret and that made her exciting, important. Claudia doesn't want adventure. She likes baths and feeling comfortable too much for that kind of thing. Secrets are the kind of adventure she needs. Secrets are safe, and they do much to make you different. On the inside where it counts.

Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.

I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside of you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It's hollow.

New Song on Repeat Right Now

2008-11-20T19:45:00.003Z

The Modern Leper
by Frightened Rabbit

A cripple walks amongst you all you tired human beings
He's got all the things a cripple has not working arms and legs
And vital parts fall from his system and dissolve in Scottish rain
Vitally he doesn't miss them, he's too fucked up to care.

Well is that you in front of me?
Coming back for even more of exactly the same
You must be a masochist to love a modern leper on his last leg
On his last leg

Well I crippled your heart a hundred times
And still can't work out why
You see I've got this disease I can't shake
And I'm just rattling through life
Well this is how we do things now
Yeah this is how the modern stay scared
So I cut out all the good stuff
Yeah I cut off my foot to spite my leg

Well is that you in front of me?
Coming back for even more of exactly the same
You must be a masochist to love a modern leper on his last leg

Well I am ill
But I'm not dead
And I don't know which of those I prefer
Because that limb that I have lost
Well it was the only thing holding me up
Holding me up

Well I'm lying on the ground now
Walking through the only door
Well I have lost my eyesight
Like I said I would but I still know

And that is you in front of me
And you are back for even more of exactly the same
Well are you a masochist to love a modern leper on his last leg
And you are not ill and I'm not dead
Doesn't that make us a perfect pair
Just you and me
We'll start again
And you can tell me about what you did today
What you did today

Done

2008-11-19T15:28:00.002Z

Here are the classes I've ended up with (and I'm pretty happy with this conclusion):

French 112
The Pentateuch
Multicultural Literature
World Geography
Tchouckball
Mythology

We'll see how it goes!

Annoyed

2008-11-13T17:51:00.002Z

I hate putting together my schedule for the next semester. It makes me frustrated and angry. I just wish someone would put me in random things and it would work out. I'm not good at this. I'm annoyed.

Muzzy

2008-11-06T03:18:00.000Z

I wish I still had these tapes for my french class now...

My First "I Voted" Sticker

2008-11-05T02:43:00.003Z

There was one person in line in front of me when I went to vote around noon today. It was an elderly, handicapped black man. It seemed appropriate that I wait behind him as he struggled to get his wallet out of his pocket. He would have to sit and would need the man with him to help him vote. But he voted. And so did I. I walked out with a little skip.

Now I'm not sure what to do with my sticker. I don't want it to take it off its backing until I have something permanent to stick it on. I may live in a red state, but I like knowing I was part of the twenty-six percent.

Lovely, Darling!

2008-10-25T16:05:00.001+01:00

Check out wedding photos...

www.stacietatum.com/blog

well it's the first batch anyways

Busy

2008-10-20T22:52:00.003+01:00

I'm so busy right now. I'm behind in some classes, but I'm slowly catching up. I'm going to two concerts this week and the Homecoming Musical on Friday. I have too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it....

My solution?

Listen to Whitney Houston songs from the 80's.
It makes me smile...

Some of the Things I'm Missing Right Now

2008-10-06T03:15:00.018+01:00

cheap hostels

rainy destinations

playing cards all over Europe

the mediterranean sea

extremely large sheep

jaclyn

trafalgar's square

little english towns

and all of oxford:

Abilene

2008-09-27T15:44:00.002+01:00

Something's going around and of course I caught it. So now I have antibiotics running through me and tissues scattered around my little trash can. It's eight o'clock on a Saturday morning and there's no way I'm going back to sleep. My cough feels rough in my throat. My stomach is telling me to feed it but I don't have much of an appetite.
So I'm just lying in my bed with the soft morning sun coming through my many windows. It's nice. Quiet. The only sound is the morning train coming through town. Even though I'm nowhere near it, I can still hear it's whistle clearly and it makes me smile. This is the beauty of Abilene.

How To Brighten Up My Day

2008-09-11T23:33:00.002+01:00

This is the original....

This is what I found today...

... they both make me smile...

... and this as well...

Amazed

2008-08-28T20:21:00.002+01:00

Can I just say how amazed I am that tonight Barack Obama will be accepting the Democratic nomination for President of the United States? I'm not amazed because I wasn't expecting it. I'm not amazed because I don't like him. I'm amazed because 45 years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream..." speech. History amazes me.

It's About Time

2008-08-22T04:42:00.005+01:00

So maybe it's about time for an update. I'm moving into my new house that I'll live in with my two friends... it's a slow move in process. Multiple trips. Each trip on a different day. We Danleys like to do things slowly in case you haven't already figured that out! My Oxford pals are starting to come back into town and so far it's been quite the squeal-fest. It's been fun seeing everyone but school starts Monday and I'm feeling the beginnings of dread coming at me quickly. But I'll deal-like always.

So Excited...

2008-08-02T19:08:00.000+01:00

I'm All Over The Place

2008-07-28T05:45:00.006+01:00

I didn't think I would have this strong of a reaction to Crista's wedding. She's talked about marrying Zach even when they were broken up. This isn't a sudden marraige. This isn't a surprise. But when she came down that aisle, I started to cry and tears have been close to the surface ever since. And they don't feel like just "happy tears." I am completely overjoyed for her, don't get me wrong, but there's something else in these tears that feels a little painful. I feel like I've lost her a little bit. I've lost Crista Cope and gained Crista Austin. This is the first time I've ever had to deal with this transition so close to me. It's scary.

My scattered emotions this past week have left me exhausted and anxious. Being a bridesmaid for Crista has meant so much to me. I've only known her for two years, but I feel like I have more claim to her than some who have known her her entire life. We've shared so much in this short time. She's married now and I know some things will change, but there are some things I know I can always count on from her (i.e. almost daily text messages).

I love you dearly Crista and I definitely want to see you and Zach around Abilene sometime.

Four Weddings And A Funeral

2008-07-23T03:07:00.004+01:00

So my life isn't exactly like this movie, but the title sums up my summer.

Wedding #1: May 24... Audrey. Works with Mom. San Antonio.

Wedding #2: June 14... Rebecca. Abilene High Friend. Abilene.

Wedding #3: June 28... Katie & Jeremiah. Friends from Highland, Oxford, ACU, etc. Abilene

Funeral: July 8... Grandpa Stone. Mom's Dad. Springfield, VA.

Wedding #4: July 26... Crista. ACU Freshman Roommate. Seneca, MO.

It's been a strange journey, but I'm ready for something calmer that feels less like a rollercoaster.

2008-06-21T04:43:00.002+01:00

I've had an extremely hard time thinking of anything to blog about recently. I haven't been doing anything at all. I'm waiting mostly--for weddings, a possible trip, and now a funeral. I don't have anything to say. I've been watching Euro 2008 closely. I have exercise class that's kicking my butt on tuesdays and thursdays. And some nights I go do something with a friend. That's about it. I'm boring now that I don't have England.

My Ringtone

2008-06-12T20:14:00.006+01:00

Rise Up With Fists
by Jenny Lewis

What are you changing?
Who do you think you're changing?
You can't change things.
We're all stuck in our ways.
It's like trying to clean the ocean.
What do you think, you can drain it?
Well, it was poison and dry
long before you came.

But you can wake up younger under the knife;
and you can wake up sounder if you get analyzed.
And I'd better wake up.
There but for the grace of god go I.

It's hard to believe your prophets
when they're asking you to change things.
But with their suspect lives, we look the other way.
Are you really that pure, sir?
Thought I saw you in Vegas
It was not pretty, but she was

But she will wake up wealthy,
and you will wake up forty-five.
And she will wake up with baby.
There but for the grace of god go I.

What am I fighting for?
The cops are at my front door.

I can't escape that way,
the windows are in flames.
And what's that on your ankle?
You say they're not coming for you,
but house arrest is really just the same.

Like when you wake up behind the bar,
trying to remember where you are,
having crushed all the pretty things.
There but for the grace of god go I.

But I still believe.
And I will rise up with fists.
And I will take what's mine.
(Mine, mine, mine)
There but for the grace of god go I.

Potter for President

2008-05-30T05:50:00.003+01:00

I am, once again, rereading the entire Harry Potter series. It feels so good. I've missed this world of magical realism.

Sometimes, I try to think outside my close-minded life as a Muggle. We walk right past wonderful places like Diagon Alley and Platform 9 and 3/4. Maybe if I look just a little closer, I can find the magic in this world.

Maybe I don't even need to look. My life is pretty magical sometimes even though I am a Muggle.

Slightly Back

2008-05-22T16:52:00.002+01:00

I'm still not yet sure what I want to say yet about being back other than that I miss these people.

Bittersweet Good-Byes

2008-05-07T00:39:00.005+01:00

So this is my last night in Oxford. We leave tomorrow morning at 7:00. This semester feels like one of those dreams that you don't want to wake up from. I've been ready to be home many times over the course of these four months, but it didn't hit me until my last day that this has become my life. I walk down familiar streets now. I won't have University Parks and Cornmarket and Port Meadow and the Covered Market and Cowley and Summertown. These things that I still vividly remember discovering are quickly becoming my past. I don't like this feeling on finality. I want to go home and I want to see friends, but I want to walk to North Parade at the same time. Maybe I'm thinking about this in the wrong way. I now have another place that I can always come back to. I will never forget where Canterbury Road is located in Oxford. I will never forget the faces of these people I've spent so much (too much) time with over these months. I have another home. I have another family. I'm ready to move on and just tell myself that I'll be back. I'll be back.

British TV Commercials

2008-04-28T19:11:00.001+01:00

Here's a little lesson I learned a few weeks ago when this commercial came on. British television can be really weird.

The French Rivera

2008-04-24T22:27:00.008+01:00

Nice, France was beautiful and relaxing. We slept, we walked, we laid on the beach, we burned. It was pretty great. In one day, I went from Nice to Monaco to San Remo, Italy. This was a good week.

City Lights and Protests

2008-04-11T15:19:00.010+01:00

I fell in love with Paris. It is now my favorite city-above and beyond my expectations. It's just sad that I now have to write a research paper. While we were there, we watched the Olympic torch come through. There also was a ton of protesters in support of Tibet and the entire scene was so crazy! People were yelling and running and the police were pushing cameras out of their face. It was so cool. I definitely want to see this city again. I have to. This is me in the window of Eryn, Casey, Jaclyn, and Jessica's room at our hostel in Paris.
We took a bike tour of Paris our first night there. It was amazing.
We spent a whole FREE morning in the Louvre. I love this one.
A view of Paris from the Sacre Couer. I really love city lights so a lot of my pictures are some form of this one.
This is Sainte Chappelle. It has the most beautiful stained glass I've ever seen!
The Little Dancer means a lot to me--even more than that.
And I guess since this is Paris, I should probably show you the tower.

Days That Inspire & Make You Smile

2008-04-02T18:04:00.007+01:00

Yesterday we had beautiful weather. I sat in University Parks just writing and listening to music for hours. I walked all over town after that just going nowhere and doing nothing. It was magical. At the park, I thought about my trip to Scotland this past weekend. I like to do words collages and these were the words that came:

-affirming
-castles
-girls
-cold
-spectacular
-age
-lessons
-wide
-trains
-kilts
-music
-rivalry
-friendship
-warmth
-kindness
-tradition
-family
-freedom (of course)
-daffodils
-rainbows
-beauty
-strangers

It's a long list, but it was an eventful weekend. I'll tell more tomorrow.

Quando il gatto manca, i topi ballano

2008-04-01T16:04:00.008+01:00

(When the cat is missing, the mice dance)I figured it was about time to mention Italy! We spent two days in Venice and two days in Rome! It was so much fun and it was absolutely beautiful. I don't really know what to say about it. It's Italy... beautiful, pigeon-infested, history.

Yael Naim-New Soul

2008-03-25T23:06:00.000Z

Just Listen...

The Luck of the Irish

2008-03-16T13:01:00.006Z

I've had trouble starting this post about Ireland. There is so much to say, but I'm not sure I want to say it all. I like knowing that if I don't say a few things about the trip there are only two other people in the world who know. It's kind of fun keeping secrets. I can remember tons of specific details about our experience, but by singling out one story the feeling of the trip as a whole is lost so let me try to give you the feeling.

I love and admire the two girls I went with. The very first moment you meet Casey and Eryn, they make you feel loved and then... they make you laugh. We talked for hours about how we couldn't get one movie out of our heads (No Country For Old Men) while we sat in an old community graveyard in Sixmilebridge, Ireland. The clouds above us were dark, but it didn't diminish the color coming from the country around us. The Cliffs of Moher the next day were beautiful, but it was the cab and bus ride up there that haunts me. The fairy tale of Ireland is true. There are princesses with wild hair and flowing dresses that walk these hills. I can see them clearly even as the dark clouds that bring magnificently giant raindrops are moving quickly toward us. You cannot capture Ireland in one single moment. It's impossible. That's why I'm not going to try.

PS, I Forgot To Say This

2008-03-13T12:11:00.002Z

I wasn't going to write anything else about Bath, but I realized I forgot a funny story. Every time we take a tour of some historic place, we get audio guides. At the Roman Baths the audio guides were HUGE! They were long and black and looked like a skinny 80's cell phone. At the baths, they have a winding exhibit under the building. We got to the statue of the head of Minerva and I pressed the number on the audio guide that went with the statue. As soon as I press the number, it starts to beep like crazy. And it's not just a little beep. It's this ridiculous rhythmic beeping that echoes through these underground hallways. It takes me completely by surprise so I just stand there staring at it for a minute and Kris gets embarrassed so he takes it from me and covers it up as much as possible. You can still hear the annoying beeping though so he just looks at me and hands it back. At this point, everyone is watching our little group so I say I'll see them later and run off with the loudly beeping audio guide. I was just trying to find someone who worked there and I had to run all through the hallways holding this beeping thing and a lot of people just looked at me and laughed. It was very funny, but I just wanted to get rid of it. I finally found a woman who told me it was just a "stray electrical current" and walked off and got me another one. For anyone who has a Facebook, this why the title of my album of Bath is "beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep." Just a little inside information.

Going Against Jane

2008-03-11T18:06:00.003Z

Jane Austen hated Bath, but I loved it. We had a ton of fun pretending to be Jane Austen characters. There were a lot of moments where we made fun of the film version of Persuasion and it was beautiful. It was wonderful!

Thoughts From Palma de Mallorca, Spain

2008-03-10T16:10:00.005Z

I loved our group. Five girls + one guy = a lot more fun than you would have thought.

I love the mountains. They take my breath away like nothing else can.

I love the beach. The sand between my toes makes me feel at home.

I don't love Gypsy women who TRY to steal from me. I was too smart for them though.

To sum it up: love, love, love, keep your eyes open.

I'm Late! I'm Late!

2008-03-03T20:48:00.009Z

I just realized that I should probably update more because I'm about to go to Ireland in a few days and I haven't said anything about Spain or Bath. I'm swamped with work right now so I'm not going to say much. If I have time I will say more. But Saturday, we went to Bath and had a great time as well so I have to talk about that sometime as well. Just keep checking. Above pictures are Spain and below are Bath.

There Are No Bad Words For The Coast Today

2008-02-24T19:49:00.002Z

I have returned from the island of Mallorca, Spain. I will write more later, but I want to leave you envy-ridden.

Spreading Germs

2008-02-11T20:22:00.000Z

I felt it was time for me to blog again, but there's not much for me to say--My camera is on the mend after a fall at Warwick Castle a few days ago. I'm not sure how it will ever recover, but I still have some hope--Jane Austen's Persuasion has been my closest companion these past few days because I caught the bug that everyone else in these houses likes to pass around. At least I've had good company. Jane never seems to disappoint me--I received two letters today. One was from a friend. One was from my favorite friend.

I'm sick. I'm tired. I have tons of homework.

But I have Jane, my mom, and England.

Life is good.

2008-02-01T22:23:00.000Z

I just got back from my first London trip!!!

2008-01-30T18:34:00.001Z

Moving away from Oxford talk for this one...

Every now and then I Google search Erica's name and today I found a new result. The Washington Post did an article on huffing in December 2007. She's only mentioned briefly, but seeing just a part of her on the Washington Post website made me stop for some reason. I'm glad it's there. I want this to be spread and I want people to know. Read it:

Reaching Out Through Her Pain

Bowie Resident Describes Dangers of 'Huffing,' Which Killed Her Son

By Megan King

Gazette Staff Writer
Thursday, December 6, 2007; Page PG05

Janna Zuber's 16-year-old son, Justin, died in 2002 after inhaling the air freshener in his dorm at a Pennsylvania boarding school.

For the past two years, Zuber, a Bowie resident, has been traveling throughout Maryland to educate parents about the potential dangers of such household products, as part of a personal campaign to help save other young lives.

On Nov. 27, Zuber brought her message to the Bowie High School Parent Teacher Student Organization, where she spoke to about 20 members. Describing her son as "my good kid" and a "zany soul," Zuber said she had spoken with Justin about the dangers of drug use but did not know about the practice of "huffing," or inhaling a substance through a soaked rag, until his death.

More than 1,000 products that can be found in the average home can be deadly when inhaled, including glue, refrigerant, spray paint and cooking sprays, according to the Alliance for Consumer Education, an organization that focuses on inhalant abuse, disease and poison prevention.

After Justin died, Zuber said she initially had no inclination to get involved with inhalant abuse prevention efforts. But after her daughter began researching the issue for a school project two years ago, she started to reach out via the Internet to other parents whose children had been affected by inhalant abuse.

"Our common swan song is, 'I didn't know,' " Zuber said. "In the future, if a child chooses [to abuse inhalants], even after he's been talked to by his parents, at least that parent won't suffer from that same guilt."

The death of another Bowie teenager, Erica Knoll, 16, who died Nov. 1, 2005, after inhaling Dust-Off, a cleaning agent, prompted Zuber to speak to the Bowie parents. After Knoll's death, PTSO President Mary Nusser asked Zuber to speak at the school.

"My heart broke for that family," Zuber said.

Zuber said her work has included successfully lobbying the Giant and Stop and Shop grocery stores to place brochures with information on inhalants at their pharmacies. The brochures, produced by the Alliance for Consumer Education, will soon be on the counters. After the holidays, she hopes to get other pharmacies on board, she said.

In April, the state legislature passed "Mackenzie's Law," named after Avin Mackenzie Glamp, 15, of Crofton, who died from using an inhalant. The law requires Maryland public schools to educate students on the dangers of inhalant abuse.

In Prince George's County public schools, students receive mandatory drug education in their health classes, which includes a discussion of inhalants, said county schools spokesman John White. The school system is also working with the county Department of Health to publish a brochure for parents on the dangers of inhalants.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 29.2 percent of eighth-graders have admitted to using inhalants, and, by 12th grade, 51.2 percent of teens had huffed at least once.

Zuber told the group she is willing to speak to any community or school groups that are interested in learning about the issue. She can be contacted atjannazuber@verizon.net.

2008-01-28T18:31:00.000Z

Greetings from Oxford! We've started to settle in here and things have begun to feel more normal. It's strange because I don't feel like I'm in a foreign country most of the time. Even though we're constantly walking everywhere and we just went to Stonehenge and Salisbury, I don't feel like I'm in England. I love the city and I'm still in shock that any place can be this beautiful in January without snow. We've gotten lucky with the weather because it's been relatively dry.
As I mentioned before, we saw Stonehenge on Saturday and visited the cathedral in Salisbury. Both were amazing. We had perfect weather with just a few clouds. We got lucky. Our group was pretty big so we had a few mishaps during our day of traveling.First, we had to catch the train in Oxford at 8:00 and it takes about 25 minutes to walk there. We plan on meeting on the ground floor of House 9 at 7:15. It gets to 7:15 and the boys says, "Oh, by the way, Andy's still asleep." So Ben goes to wake Andy and the rest of us take off to the train station hoping that Andy will run when he's ready. We get there on time and there are a few questions about which bus to take, but we ultimately get there-ALL of us get there. That's the important part. The bus ride from Salisbury to Stonehenge is beautiful. Green hills and cute little towns in the valleys are the greatest view when driving through the England country-side. Stonehenge was so cool! Yes, they are just rocks, but it's the questions that can't be answered that leave you awestruck. It's eery to stand in the middle of pastures with huge stones just feet away from you that have been there since pre-historic times. It was amazing. We ate our packed lunches on the bus ride back and walk through town to get to the cathedral. At one point we pass a pub that has a really nice deal for dinners and we plan on eating there later on. Once we get to the cathedral (which is amazing as well) everyone gets lost in it. It's so beautiful that youcan't pay attention to where everyone is. There was a gorgeous wedding going on while we were there so most of stopped to watch the bride come down the aisle and then we went to the Magna Carta Chapter Room where one of the copies of the Magna Carta is (the name of the room was probably pretty self-explanatory). Once we leave the room we sit and wait for KrisAnn and Katie to come out of the Cathedral, but they don't show. We wait for about 20 minutes and decide to go out and see if they've already left because Jaclyn and I could have sworn they were in front of us the whole time. So Eryn and Ben go inside to walk through the cathedral one more time, but they were no where to be found! We decided they had already left so we went to walk around the city and hope that they would show up sometime for dinner at the place we talked about. Here's the problem: we didn't set a time for dinner and most of us were wanting to leave a little earlier than planned. We walked around for a long time and headed towards the pub and then all of sudden--BEN SPOTS KATIE AND KRISANN!!! I don't think we ever figured out who left who because no one knew specific times, but if you want her side of the story check out KrisAnn's blog at www.krisannchristian.blogspot.com. Who knows what happened. All that matters is that we finally found each other! So we ate at the pub and I got INCREDIBLE lasagna. The only problem was that I was really hungry and the food was REALLY hot. Needless to say, my tongue is still extremely mad at me. We made it home around 8 and power-walked back to the houses. I was so wiped out from just one day of traveling, I wonder what these longer days are going to be like for me! So there's the story of my first travel day! We go to London on Friday and might go to Bath or Wales or something like that on Saturday. I think a whole semester of this is going to seriously wear me out!

2008-01-23T11:36:00.000Z

Lay My Head Down
by Indigo Girls

Oh the party's kicked up a few notches look at us getting loose
She leans back against the wall and she watches
tugging her collar like it might be a noose.
And everyones tied to their thing
To their past or their drink or the date that they bring
I just get tired all of sudden taking it in.

And I want to lay my head down on you
Because youre the only solid thing in this room
A room full of changes strangers illusion confusion,
I speak from my heart but im not really sure if its true.
I wanna lay my head down on you.

Oh dont waste too much time planning
Or you'll get rug ripped out
And the only way you'll be satisfied
Is learning to live with out.
But some plan for the kingdom of heaven
And some take their chances and bet lucky seven
I don't know what to believe I just show up and breathe anymore.

And I wanna lay my head down on you
Because youre the only solid thing in this room
A room full of dressers, professors, lookers, hookers
If I don't get out I'll do something I don't wanna do.
And I wanna lay my head down on you.

Was it so long ago
That we sat and talked in your car
Your things were all packed
And the place you were headed not really that far
Years later I think
That I would have been much more alive
To have taken you up on your offer and taken that drive

Well everything that's come before us leads us to where we are now
And thats simple, I know so why cant I let go of the feeling
That im lost somehow
I'm just a ghost looking in
Out of my own life just visiting
In search of a body to have and to hold and to keep and to sleep.

I wanna lay my head down on you
Because youre the only solid thing in this room
A room full of missed chance, slow dance, cold fate heartache
I showed up for a party and saw my life story full view
And I wanna lay my head down on you.

2008-01-20T16:18:00.001Z

OXFORD!

2008-01-17T18:49:00.000Z

I'm here. I haven't slept for about 41 hours now.

For moms: Katie, Eryn, Casey, Jessica Lana, Jaclyn, and I are in the basement of number 9. All the boys are in the second floor, and there are more girls above them and in number 10. We've all made it safely even though we are all exhausted.

For Stacie: which room was yours again?

Katie fell asleep a few hours ago, but they told us it would be better for jet lag if we tried to wait until 8 or so. It's almost 7 now so I'm about ready to get to bed.

I haven't taken pictures yet. That takes more energy than I have had all day.

I promise pictures will follow.

2008-01-15T03:56:00.000Z

How not to pack

2008-01-10T01:25:00.000Z

I have fallen in love with Kate Nash. And this song is one of my favorites right now. I loves stories put into a song. Give it a try.

Birds
by Kate Nash

She was waiting at the station
He was getting off the train
He didnt have a ticket so he had to bum through the barriers again.
Well the ticket inspector saw him rushing through
He said girl you don't know how much I missed you but
We'd better run cos' I haven't got the funds to pay this
Fine, She said, Fine.

So they ran out of the station and jumped onto a bus with two of yesterdays travel cards and two bottles of Bud,
And he said you look well nice.
Well she was wearing a skirt
And he thought she looked nice
And yeah, she didn't really care about anything else
Because she only wanted him to think that she looked nice,
And he did.

But he was looking at her, yeah all funny in the eye
She said come on boy tell me what your thinking now, don't be shy.
He said alright, I'll try.
All the stars up in the sky and the leaves in the trees,
All the broken bits that make you trip up and grassy bits in between.
All the matter in the world that's how much I like you.

She said what?
He said let me try and explain again.

Birds can fly so high, and they can shit on your head,
Yeah they can almost fly into your eye and make you feel so scared.
But when you look at them, and you see that they're beautiful,
That's how i feel about you.
Right birds can fly so high and they can shit on your head,
Yeah they can almost fly into your eye and make you feel well scared.
But when you look at them, and you see that they're beautiful,
That's how i feel about you.
Yeah thats how i feel about you.

She said, what?
He said you.
She said what are you talking about?
He said you.

Right birds can fly so high and they can shit on your head
Yeah they can almost fly into your eye and make you feel so scared.
But when you look at them, and you see that they're beautiful,
That's how i feel about you.
Right birds can fly so high and they can shit on your head,
Yeah they can almost fly into your eye and make you feel well scared.
But when you look at them, and you see that they're beautiful,
That's how i feel about you.
Right, that's how i feel about you.

She said thanks, I like you too.
He said cool.

2008-01-08T04:53:00.001Z

THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN!! ok, so i started counting awhile ago, but now it seems a little more important.

1 Day from now I will be freaking out that I won't be prepared.
2 Days from now I will be preparing myself.
3 Days from now I will start packing (maybe).
4 Days from now I will be getting nervous.
5 Days from now I will be finishing an essay.
6 Days from now I will actually finish the essay.
7 Days from now I will be busy with orientation.
8 Days from now I will be panicked that I still am unprepared.
9 Days from now I will be on a plane to England (and still be panicked).

9 DAYS!!!!!!

2008-01-06T04:20:00.000Z

See The World
by Gomez

Day to day
Where do you want to be?
'Cos now you're trying to pick a fight
With everyone you need

You seem like a soldier
Who's lost his composure
You're wounded and play a waiting game
In no-man's land no-one's to blame

See the world
Find an old fashioned girl
And when all's been said and done
It's the things that are given, not won
Are the things that you earned

Empty handed, surrounded by a senseless scene
With nothing of significance
Besides a shadow of a dream
You sound like an old joke
You're worn out, a bit broke
An' askin me time and time again
But the answer's still the same

See the world
Find an old fashioned girl
And when all's been said and done
It's the things that are given, not won
Are the things that you earned

You've got a chance to put things right
So how's it going to be?
Lay down your arms now
And put us beyond doubt
So reach out it's not too far away
Don't mess around now, don't delay

2008-01-04T03:11:00.000Z

GO SEE JUNO!!!!!

2008-01-01T20:32:00.000Z

New Year, New Philosophy?
-----
Nah, just new hair styles...

2007-12-31T06:33:00.000Z

Okay, so I'm actually starting to plan a little for Oxford. And when I say, "a little" I mean I'm in pre-planning mode. I'm reading travel guidebooks. It's just so much information to take in and I still have to write a lot of stuff for one of my study abroad classes... I'm ready to already be there emotionally, but everything else just needs to be worked out now.

2007-12-25T03:16:00.000Z

My Favorite Christmas Song

Christmas Song
by The Dave Matthews Band

She was his girl, he was her boyfriend
She'd be his wife, and make him her husband
A surprise on the way any day any day
One healthy little giggling, dribbling baby boy
The wisemen came, three made their way
To shower him with love as he lay in the hay

Shower him with love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love was all around.

Not very much of his childhood was known
Kept his mother Mary worried always out on his own
He met another Mary, who for a reasonable fee,
Less than reputable was known to be

His heart was full of love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love was all around.

When Jesus Christ was nailed to his tree
Said oh Daddy-O, I can see how it all soon will be
I came to shed a little light on this darkening scene
Instead I fear I've spilled the blood my children all around
The blood of my children all around
The blood of my childrens all around

So I'm told, so the story goes
The people he knew were less than golden-hearted
Gamblers and robbers,
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers
Like you and me, like you and me
Rumors insisted that he soon would be
For his deviations taken into custody
By the authorities, less informed than he
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers

Searching for love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love was all around.

Preparations were made for a celebration day
He said eat this bread but think of it as me
Drink this wine and dream it will be
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around

Father up above
Why in all this hatred do you fill me up with
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love is all around

Father up above
Why in all this hatred do you fill me up with love
Fill me love, love, yeah
Love. love, love
Love, love, and the blood of our children all around.

I couldn't decide which video I liked better. So i didn't choose.

2007-12-23T00:05:00.000Z

I think Christmas should be postponed this year. Not canceled, just postponed. I'm not ready for it yet. I don't think anyone in my family is ready for it yet.

The 28th seems like a good date to me.

2007-12-18T06:41:00.000Z

Silver Lining
by Rilo Kiley

And I'm not going back
Into rags or in the hole
And our bruises are coming
But we will never fold
And I was your silver lining
As the story goes
I was your silver lining
But now I'm gold

Hooray hooray
I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray
But now I'm gold

And I was your silver lining
High up on my toes
You were running through fields of hitch-hikers
As the story goes

Hooray hooray
I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray
But now I'm gold
Hooray hooray
I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray
But now i'm gold

And the grass it was a ticking
And the sun was on the rise
I never felt so wicked
As when I willed our love to die
And I was your silver lining
As the story goes
I was your silver lining
But now i'm gold

Hooray hooray
I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray
But now I'm gold
Hooray hooray
I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray
But now I'm gold
But now I'm gold
But now I'm gold

2007-12-11T17:09:00.000Z

i thought this was pretty fun and some of the songs work better than others, but it's funny all the same!

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your music library.
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

The Soundtrack to My Life!!~!!

*Opening credits: If I Could-Jack Johnson
*Waking up: Speed of Sound-Coldplay
*First day of school: Positive Vibration-Bob Marley & the Wailers
*Falling in love: The Coming of Spring-The Rapture
*Fight song: Masquerade-Caedmon's Call
*Breaking up: The Passives-The Faint
*Prom: Around the World-Daft Punk
*Life: Yes I Will-Bebo Norman
*Mental Breakdown: Never Leave A Job Half Done-Pedro the Lion
*Driving: Frug-Rilo Kiley
*Flashback: Change-Good Charlotte
*back together: A Moment Like This-Kelly Clarkson
*Wedding: No Doubling Back-Jason Mraz
*Birth of child: The Song Remains the Same-Led Zeppelin
*Final Battle: Island in the Sun-Weezer
*Death Scene: Ending Start-Metric
*Funeral Song: Been There Before-Hanson
*End Credits: What the Snowman Learned About-Stars

2007-12-08T08:48:00.000Z

Happy Birthday Crista!!

Today is Crista's twentieth birthday and I love her.

So does someone else apparently.

She's getting married!

2007-12-04T17:51:00.000Z

I know I should be updating with Oxford plans and news. But I'm so excited I don't even know where to start! I have too much going on in my head right now that I couldn't even begin to tell you all the craziness that is my life. First, I have to get through this semester which still includes: a term paper, two regular tests, a quiz, and 5 finals. We'll see if I make it.

2007-11-25T05:26:00.000Z

Another Pot O' Tea
by Emmylou Harris

Put on another pot o' tea
'Cause I'm in love with the Irish accent to your story
And I need someone to help me

Well they say that now you don't talk straight
And that of late it's been my lot to be afraid
To remember you by anything
But memories I already keep

So put another pot o' tea
'Cause I'm love with the Irish accent to your story
And now I need some sympathy

It's harder when it takes so long to leave
The table where we all learned to laugh and learned to grieve
Over the pain that came so close to you
It comes so close to me today

So put another pot o' tea
'Cause I'm in love with the Irish accent to your story
And I need someone to help me

2007-11-20T02:45:00.000Z

You know that feeling?

Yeah, that's the one.

I'm feeling like that right now.

-------------------------------

I'm going to Oxford.

2007-11-16T22:43:00.000Z

I happen to have favorite words. They're not anything extraordinary (although that is a favorite word of mine). I just like the way they sound. It's bad though because I always want to use my favorite words so I use them in strange places. I don't think I can think of all my favorite words right now, but here are a few:

aggresive. barely. awful. true. end. being. I. think. imagination. appreciation. feeling. lovely. condescending.