Pieces of Today, Jul. 29, 2016

(Or more accurately, Pieces of the Last Month or So)

#1. I found a ton of thread and stuff under my bed and now I'm braiding bracelets when I get bored.

#2. I've been downloading as much music as possible onto my iPod, and it's glorious. (My iPod's name is James, by the way. Yes, I name my belongings.)

#3. A LOT of Downton Abbey. I ought to know the whole series by heart by now. It's ridiculous and I love it.

#4. Been working on my art journal/quote book.

{They beat me with clubs to see if I was strong enough and when the 

clubs broke they decided I was. -Fezzik, The Princess Bride}

#5. Went to a family reunion and did the usual awkward re-meeting-of-cousins and binge eating and playing of cards.

#6. WE HAVE A SCHLOTZKY'S IN OUR TOWN NOW. THIS IS MONUMENTAL.

#7. Visited my Grandma, introduced her to Panda Express. Lots of orange chicken involved. We also went to Barnes and Noble, where I spent a hundred dollars on books that I definitely, absolutely, no-doubt-about-it needed. Stop looking at me like I have a problem.

#8. ('Cuz he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see, to forget about life for a while.) 

#9. (And you said you'd always have my back/ oh, but how were we to know?)

#10. And lastly, but definitely not leastly:

Our youth pastor's wife posted this on Facebook a while back and I can't tell if she knows or not. 

This is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night. 

Pieces of Today, Apr. 18th 2016

1. Green-apple taste and couch cushions.

2. "It seems my hypocrisy knows no bounds."

3. An old porcelain doll in a lacy pink dress.

4. (I'll be your sword, I'll be your shield.) 

5. A puppy dog chewing on my defenseless ankle.

6. (And she smiles...oh, the way she smiles.) 

7. Delft blue.

8. (And if I seemed dangerous, would you be scared?) 

9. Water-spots on my glasses.

10. The glories of trying to figure out what exactly I messed up when trying to type our Wi-Fi password. Who even comes up with these things? 

Pieces of Today, Jan. 7th 2016

1. A WIP that I don't think I'll ever get done:

 

2. A dead computer and the potential loss of five-years worth of work. (I'm praying that'll turn out not to be the case, but it's looking pretty grim right now. Pray for my sanity.)

3. Cinnamon toast and resulting pounds. (I tried to be stoic. It didn't work.)

4. (I came here for sanctuary, away from the winds and the sounds of the city.)

5. Dating-site ads. (Where did they get the idea that I want to find my "sensual Russian soulmate"? Sorry, but no. Just...no.)

6. A new Bible study and an old Bible.

7. (Sing a song for the bad man...)

8. (World-losers and world-forsakers,/on whom the pale moon gleams./Yet, we are the movers and shakers/of the world, forever, it seems.)

9. Spicy oyster crackers.

10. Annnd running out of the Christmas chocolate already. Whoops. *wink*

Pieces of Today, Dec 19th 2015

1. To have and to hold....a lover of the light. 

2. Six-year-olds and tickles and Christmasing around the lighted tree.

3. Watercolor paints and HB pencils and the smell of fresh wood under my fingertips.

4. This song:

5. Motivation and subsequent stress.

6. Old friends and unintentional insults and unstoppable smiles. 

7. All is a riddle in the world, she said, all is a riddle inside my head. 

8. The beginning of an art journal and uncooperative colors. 

9. What is it about moleskin notebooks that everyone likes? They're okay, but I like leather. Just a thought. 

10. And this plot point that I should've seen sooner:

Pieces of Today, Nov. 13th 2015

1. The ache of worked muscles and the feeling of sweaty skin.

2. Quoting Shakespeare at the sun as it rises. (But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?) 

3. The feeling of victory when I write a perfectly described sentence.

4. Tears as sad music plays in the background (And I'd tell you that I miss you but I'm sure...it doesn't matter at all.) 

5. Getting a bit creeped out with all the stuff DuoLingo makes me learn to say:

6. Hallelujah, hallelujah! Because remember when I moved in you? The Holy Dove was moving too...and every breath we drew was hallelujah. (I did my best, it wasn't much. I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch.) 

7. The pure, unadulterated joy of contrast between sunshine on skin and dampness on earth-soaked feet.

8. I'm sailing away... so set an open course for the virgin sea. 

9. Lamplight on notebooked scribblings and essayed mythologies and rambling, nonsensical emotions.

10. And as a final note:

Pieces of Today, Nov. 2 2015

1. A bit of nostalgia as James Taylor plays on the radio.

2. So, so you think you can tell...heaven from hell...(otherwise known as rockin' out with a bum-bum-da-dum-duhmmm)

3. Culture and history studies and the odd facts they bring about. (Did you know that Norway has the highest gas prices in the world despite being one of the top oil producers? Approx. $9.95 a gallon in USD.)

4. Currently wanting to go on an adventure...preferably back to Robbers Cave to see what it's like in fall as opposed to the spring version I saw:

5. This is a song for you...far away, so far away from me.

6. Anticipation of great things coming up. 

7. A bit of beauty in dark times: 

Poetry by Lewis Carrol (c)

8. I'll be okay, so please don't cry. / But do not leave me here to die. 

9. The feel of carpet imprinting itself into my ankle and rubbing roughly against my jeans. 

10. BLUE BELL IS BACK! Oh, the joy of ice cream running over my tongue! Oh, the delicious coolness of the bowl cradled in my lap! Oh, the strangers in Walmart who saw it in the cart and exclaimed their joy at its return! 

Pieces of Today, Oct. 26 2015

1. Rain and the squishiness of soaked earth.

2. The fact that there are Star Wars fans everywhere...and some of them probably don't even know it.

3. The feeling of freshly clean fabric on my skin.

4. Old notes stuck in my Bible.

5. Brilliance from months past:

6. The odd noises my brother makes when he wants to irritate me.

7. "...holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power..." 2 Timothy 3:5

8. The prospect of making a certain delicacy for a certain gathering.

9. The immense feeling of the inadequacy of my own talents that comes when I see a beautiful work of art.

10. Those moments when you have to stop and examine your life because you realize that you have no idea why: 

Pieces of Today, Sep. 23rd 2015

#1. Bible studies and acapella hymns.

#2. Oreo crumbs scattered over my chin.

#3. The scent of freshly washed hair brushing my cheek.

#4. "Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever."

#5. Elefanten elsker vin, and the splendid images that produces.

#6. This simple truth:

#7. The exaggerated shriek Mom makes when making a sharp turn in the car.

#8. Benjamin Franklin's sarcasm.

#9. The smooth, clean paper in empty notebooks.

#10. And finding meaning in my history lesson: