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.

A Wonderful, Thrilling, Exciting Thing

I have a bookshelf.

While I understand that to some it may be a bit anticlimactic to read the sentence above after being lured here by the title of this post, I assure you that to me it is not. Bibliophilic mess of a person that I am, I have needed this bookshelf for years. I trip way too much without having books on the floor to trip over.

All that to say, one long, happy day at IKEA (and a side trip to the Museum of Biblical Art, worth checking out, by the way) and a few days in between then and now, and I have half-settled (yep, there's still more to do) my loads of books onto the hopefully sturdy shelves. Hallelujah!

Yes, I have a Venus de Milo statuette. My brother hates it.

Yes, I have a large rock with writing on it. It's a special rock, okay?

Yes, I have half-a-shelf of Tolkien. I may have an obsession, but hasn't that already been confirmed?

Pieces of Today, Aug. 5th, 2016

#1. Headache.

#2. James Blunt. (I-I-I, I never meant to hurt you-ooh...)

#3. Binge-watching GMM.

#4. Spaghetti sauce.

#5. Paint on my legs and my hands.

#6. (Out of water/out of hope/can't make fire/only smoke.) 

#7. Short story prompts.

#8. I washed my hair and it's really soft and this is making me super happy.

#9. (The flames, they licked the walls/tenderly they turn to dust/all that I adored.) 

#10. Those amazing costumes from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 

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, June 13th 2016

1. PEANUTS.

2. The smell of sharpie.

3. My best friend's BIRTHDAY (which was yesterday).

4. Panda Express.

5. Humidity.

6. A rather drastic haircut.

7. No, seriously, guys - I cut my hair.

8. It's short.

9. Really, really short.

10.  I've frightened myself.

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, May 26th 2016

1) Ethnicity studies (my fancy name for looking up different cultures on Pinterest).

2) The odd variations in my handwriting.

3) Books on the floor and on the bureau and on the table and...I need a bookshelf.

4) Dried roses.

5) A funny, sad, and brilliant movie.

6) Chocolate chips.

7) A tiny notebook full of names.

8) Two letters stamped and addressed and ready to be sent in the morning.

9) The kitten's plaintive meaows and sharp claws as she perches precariously on my shoulder.

10) The relief of actually writing a blog post again after - how long has it been? A month? Anyway, I'm glad to be back. :D 

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, Apr. 11th 2016

1. Blueberry tea and cold eggs and sausage.

2. Rumbly grey clouds and wide-open roses.

3. (You said it's nothing but the rain.) 

4. (So you see, this world doesn't matter to me.) 

5. Green.

6. Closet-cleaning.

7. Hail-storms and pounding water on our roof.

8. A lime-green notebook.

9. Bright sunlight-clouds.

10. Sunburnt skin and mosquito bites. 

Pieces of Today, Apr. 6th 2016

1. A little girl teaching me to draw a horse, mane and all.

2. Hectic getting-ready for a camping trip.

3. Asparagus, fresh and green and wonderful.

4. Black pen-marks on clean paper.

5. The heaving breaths of sweaty kids playing freeze tag.

6. Artwork on social media.

7. (Never mind, I'll find someone like you.) 

8. The weight of a baby on my hip and a sweet, toothless, heart-melting little smile.

9. My favorite possession in this world...a hoodie. An amazing, warm, wonderful hoodie.

10. (I want you to live forever, underneath the sky so blue.) 

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. 13th 2016

1. A now fixed computer and getting used to typing on my own keyboard again.

2. "The gates of heaven are fearful gates, worse than the gates of hell." 

3. (And I love her.) 

4. Starburst. (Red is my favorite, but I also like pink. Apparently this is an unpopular opinion.)

5. Those bic ballpoint pens that nobody ever buys but everybody has.

6. First time playing pool and knowing the rules. (It turned out to be very fun. New favorite game.)

7. Dirty feet.

8. Playing basketball and totally failing.

9. Singing out the door in a public place and getting caught.

10. Too-long nails and accidental scratchings. 

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, Jan. 4th 2016

1. A Bourne marathon and a lukewarm meal.

2. Long debates on (and I quote) "the philosophical/theoretical rightness of Star Wars!"

3. Russian mumbling and wide eyes.

4. Really, really stupid decisions.

5. Responsibility and chores and school and room-cleaning.

6. Ladybug-vacuuming and a whole lot of disgust on my part. (For future reference, I hate ladybugs with all my heart, soul, and gut. There was a lot of shouts coming from the vacuumed area, some of which sounded suspiciously like 'Die! Die, you infidel creatures!')

7. (Tell your father and your mother, we are going home.)

8. Old nail polish chipping and cold feet under a woolen blanket.

9. {gasping}

10. A headache, a backache, and bitter smile that's trying hard to be sweet. (How often do you snap at someone without reason when everything is fine, but strive to please them when you have a legitimate excuse for your pain?)