Pieces of Today, Oct. 7th, 2016

I'm on a Twenty One Pilots kick. Seriously, this band is killing me.

The weather is GORGEOUS and OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE IT.

I'm reading Les Misérables and maaaaann did I underestimate how lengthy it was.

Browsing through my beautifully illustrated copy of Bulfinch's Mythology and feeling the wonderful thrill of it rushing through my body.

I'd die for you/ That's easy to say/ We have a list of people that we would take/ A bullet for them/ A bullet for you/ A bullet for everybody in this room/ But I don't seem to see many bullets coming through

(I told you I was on a ToP kick.)

Now is the climax to the story/ that gives the demons and angels purpose

Why won't you speak where I happen to be?

And I begin to envy the headlights driving south/ I wanna crack the door so I can just fall out/ but then I remember when you packed my car/ you reached in the back and buckled up your heart/ for me to drive away with/ I began to understand why God died

Open the slits/ in your face/ and start your day.

(Someone should probably stop me now.)

Pieces of Today, Aug. 31st 2016

#1. Grandma's house! Food! Movies! Conspiracy shows on the History Channel!

#2. Provolone cheese.

#3. Chipped toenail polish.

#4. Phineas and Ferb.

#5. Reese's-flavored cereal.

#6. Grass-pulling.

#7. A bright blue chair.

#8. Sunlight through the window blinds.

#9. (Your hands can heal, your hands can bruise.) 

#10. An adult coloring book and it's surprising effectiveness.

Lunacy

Is it lunacy to believe

that a single man would give his life for me?

Pieces of Today, June 4th 2016

1. Caesar salad.

2. Civil War. (Gaaaaahhhh, don't fight, guys!) 

3. (Are you going to age with grace? Are you going to leave a path to trace?)

4. Cherry Tea and watercolor painting.

5. An oversized nightshirt.

6. (Hollow heroes separate/ as they run.) 

7. Book-boxes.

8. (You're the Northern Wind/sendin' shivers down my spine,) 

9. (I read them all one day/when loneliness came and you were away/oh, they told me nothing new/but I love to read the words you used.) 

10. A thought: Why is it that sometimes you see what isn't there, and sometimes you can't see the obvious?

Pieces of Today, May 29th 2016

1. The scent of my bible.

2. Mom's amazing salad dressing.

3. (Sing me a song, sing me a melody.) 

4. Z-E-P-H-A-N-I-A-H

5. (We might fall.) 

6. (Come with me / not above me or below me.) 

7.  Spilled coffee and donut holes.

8. (You're so cold - keep your hand in mine.) 

9. A conversation with my cousin yesterday:

Me: You have your shoes on the wrong feet, sweetie.

Nichole: But they're still awesome. They're VANS! You have Vans too! I like your Vans.
Me: *silent stare*

Nichole: *cute grin* 

Me: *silent stare*

Nichole: What?

Me: Somehow I knew this would happen.

10. Sore ankles from playing tag with the younger kids. 

Pieces of Today, Mar. 16th 2016

1. Jed's Hobbit Rock: A reminder from my brother that I have promised to be a hobbit for my birthday, and give gifts to others instead of receiving them.

2. (Pack your things; leave somehow. Blackbird's song is over now.) 

3. Sunlight on irises and green-carpeted ground. 

4. The very first few Indian Paintbrush. 

5. (So if you see me smilin' it's because I got you to love.) 

6. (Tell everyone I'm coming home soon.) 

7. Lamplight on copper-beige fabric. 

8. Raskolniki. 

9. (Can we sail to Spain, just me and you?) 

10. Preparations for my upcoming BAPTISM, a very exciting epoch in my life this far. Praise God for the great mercy, grace, and love He has showered on me in order to get me this far! 

Pieces of Today, Mar. 14th 2016

1. A taste of my art journaling:

2. Cleaning. More cleaning. And sweeping. Sweeping is not cleaning.

3. (Everybody in the ol' cell block, dancin' to the jailhouse rock.) 

4. A new computer and a very confusing keyboard. (Seriously, this thing is so spread-out and hard to type on.)

5. Paperwork.

6. MASHED POTATOES.

7. (And I don't need this life, I just need somebody to die for.) 

8. Still mulling over Harvest America.

9. (Well, I've heard there was a secret chord, that David played, and it pleased the Lord...) 

10. And such an overwhelming sense of grace; grace that saved a wretch like me.

Pieces of Today, Feb. 19th 2016

1. Happy dogs and a grumpy cat.

2. Drowsiness and sleepiness (which are not at all the same thing).

3. New movies and old TV shows and dorky outfits in both.

4.

    "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.    O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;   And by night, but I have no rest." -(Psalm 22:1-2)

5. (Well the good ol' days may not return...the rocks might melt, and the sea may burn.)

6. Staticky radio hosts and tangled cords on the floor.

7. Rock n' Roll and blatant carefree-ness.

8. The lingering affects of a headache mixed with the dizzyness of moving too quickly.

9. Different anthems ringing and ranging and leaping around my head like a ping-pong ball.

And most important:

10. "The thing I'm gonna love about Heaven is there'll be no fences." 

Pieces of Today, Jan. 17th 2016

1. A wedding and a long car ride.

2. A beautiful new quilt made by a wonderful woman. (Love ya, GG.)

3. A mezuzah found in a little junk shop.

4. (Here I am...this is me...and there's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be.)

5. The somewhat tight feeling of unbrushed teeth in a mouth that hasn't been opened in hours.

6. Bare feet on scratchy carpet.

7. The sound of the TV in the other room.

8. (And he shall be Levon...and he shall be a good man.) 

9. Opening up all my old documents and wondering how I managed to spend time writing this stuff and yet be too lazy to name it anything other than Untitled 12. 

10. (And all the things I'm missin': good vittles, love, and kissin', are waiting at the end of my ride.) 

Pieces of Today, Jan. 1st 2016

1. A new year welcomed in with ginger ale and kisses on the cheek and really, really good chocolate.

2. Champagne and extremely crazy dancing viewed from a corner.

3. Out-of-state visits and live music in a Nashville home.

4. Alfred Hitchcock movies and old-fashioned music.

5. A weekful of food and music and Property Brothers.

6. A hard couch to sleep on and freezing nights.

7. Tiny showers and scentless shampoo.

8. Christmas-presented books and movies.

9. Meeting people you didn't know were famous once upon a time.

10. By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes, the sun shines bright on Loch Loman...

Pieces of Today, Dec. 23 2015

1. Burned skin and a nutmeg-scented kitchen.

2. Pie crusts and The Girl is Mine and guitar-picked tunes.

3. The Nativity Story. (The prophecy shall end tonight, father.) 

4. Candles and Christmas lights.

5. (How often is it that you have a Christmas at home? With no travels or relatives or friend-centered parties, just you and your family singing round the tree?)

6. The Force Awakens and the thrills it has given me. (Han! Chewie! Rey and Finn! POE!) 

7. Baseball caps and notebooks and paper towels(?) scattered across my floor.

8. Happy tears and song-filled days of preparation.

9. (Joyful, joyful, we adore thee.) 

10. Sunset-colored roses and purple grass and fireant beds and field-scented air. Because these days are filled with flora and fauna of infinite proportions and the feeling of sunshine on skin and grass underneath you is one of the best that can be felt. Oh joy for sunnied Decembers!

(Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout alond, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.)  -(Zechariah 9:9)

Merry Christmas, and a happy and blessed New Year to all of you.

Galu,

Erin

In Which There Are Glad Tidings

For unto us a child is born, and for us a sacrifice was arranged! What joy must be found in this celebration of birth and death and rebirth again!

It's almost Christmas and I'm getting giddy just thinking about it. Jesus! Gifts! Food! The three most important things ever! Who wouldn't be excited? (Okay, on that note, gifts and food are actually a bit lower on my List of Important Things. But, still. Principles, here.)

Seriously, though, I am really pumped for Christmas this year. The past year hasn't really been the greatest for me, but for one little moment I'm enjoying the huge changes and shifts in my life. Christmas makes it feel unimportant.

Because, if we're being honest here, what is important when shoved up next to blood and birth and eternal things beyond comprehension?

What immense joy it is to watch it fold out in an epic, endless tale of trust, love, and rescuement! What precious privilege to see such wondrous salvation be begun! What joy to see a King who owns and works you in the confines of a beating heart!

"Word of the Father, now in Flesh appearing..." 

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, Dec. 12th 2015

1. Awkwardness and too-big costumes and cheese and crackers.

2. Deep conversations (about Narnia) with near-perfect strangers.

3. Gloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooria, hosanna in excelsis...

4. Rain, rain. Cold glorious rain.

5. Sunset-colored rosebuds and purple-rotting petals in the soil.

6. Hot shower-water and the scent of scentless shampoo.

7. Chests swelling with the cold and the carols and the marvelous sadness of the season.

8. Making every kind of silence, it takes a lot to realize...

9. Children giggling at the ridiculous antics of adults who never grew up.

10. And this sweet baby, who is very good at showing me the meaning of unconditional love:

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. 4th 2015

#1. Glazed doughnuts and clean clothes. 

#2. Till We Have Faces and its haunting accuracy. 

#3. A bit of a polyvore addiction: erinblake18.polyvore.com.

#4. "...and...if you do not want to see me again...I would understand." 

#5. Ahem. A-hem: 

#6. Sleeping in ashes and a pile of blankets by a campfire. 

#7. The complete faith of my friends: 

#8. "Paint yourself a picture of what you wished you looked like." 

#9. Forgetting what I was going to say. 

#10. Writing poetry and then realizing it doesn't flow right. 

Pieces of Today, Sep 19th 2015

#1. A Pound of Flesh and a hoarse voice to accompany it.

#2. That moment when my headphones are in and I think someone's calling my name but they're not.

#3. The Fairie Queen followed by loud rants at Sir Clueless and his inability to do anything.

#4. Somebody else's perfect application of lyrics:

#5. The scent of ink and feel of watercolor paper beneath my fingers. 

#6. "Courage, child." 

#7. Attempting to sing as high as Michael Jackson can while not damaging my throat. 

#8. Proving to all those people who think I'm intelligent...that I'm not:

#9. Trying to pronounce kvinnene and kjoler and vegetarianer, and making it sound stupid. 

#10. Attempting the bottle dance from Fiddler on the Roof and dropping the bottle of Mountain Dew, then forgetting about it and opening it in the middle of a friend's living room. Yes. I did that today. Splooooooosh.