Some of My Dearest Friends

I love to read.  I will read almost any thing I can get my hands on, provided it’s a work of fiction.  I’m not too good with the non-fiction stuff, but novels, screenplays, short stories, or fairy tales… oh man, I can’t get enough.

So imagine my delight when reading through Letters of Note today, I came across this entry of letters about libraries.  I haven’t gotten a chance to check out the full collection of letters at the Troy Library site, but even the four letters on the post had me reaching for my phone with intentions of tweeting my favorite lines.  Thankfully, I saw the folly in that course of action, and decided instead to share here.

A couple of my favorite snippets:

From the Isaac Asimov letter: “It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the Universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future…”

I also loved the entirety of the E.B. White letter, but especially “Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people---people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”

Seriously, if you haven’t taken a look at the entry yet, please do so now.  It will change your life.  (Okay, maybe not, but you definitely won’t regret it.)

And what post about books would be complete without mention of the book I’m currently reading?  Well, most recently finished I guess.  That book is A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle.  I may not have mentioned my obsession with Ms. L’Engle, but seriously, if I haven’t read a book by her, it’s not from lack of trying.  Her young adult novels have taught me more about science and faith than 4 years at a private Christian school ever did.

I don’t know if I’m just in a sentimental mood today or what, but a lot of what I read tonight really stood out to me, and I just had to share some of my favorite bits of this book.

“Prayer was never meant to be magic,” Mother said.
“Then why bother with it?” Suzy scowled.
“Because it’s an act of love,” Mother said.

“How do you pray for someone like that?”
Grandfather held out his open hand, palm up. “There are many different ways. I simply take him into my heart, and then put him into God’s hand.”

“Perhaps holding Binnie while she died was a cross prepared for you at the foundation of the world.”

“Vicky, this is my charge to you. You are to be a lightbearer. You are to choose the light.”
“I can’t…” I whispered.
“You already have.” … “I will say it for you. You will bear the light.”

If you’ve never read anything by Madeleine L’Engle, go to the library, or $1 bookstore, or Kindle store, or whatever, find one of her books, and start reading.  Start with A Wrinkle in Time, if you can, that’s kind of where it all started, and just go from there.  She’s brilliant.

An Easter Story

Oh jeez, I'm really bad at this posting consistently thing.  I should like, make an appointment on my calendar for writing in this, and then maybe I'll actually do it.

So, here's a fun Easter memory from when I was a child.  I don't know how old I was, probably 3 or 4.  I also don't remember the exact setting, it was either some family friends or a petting zoo type of situation.

What I do remember is a big box of little baby chicks.  And a bunch of children gathered around to hold the chicks.  I remember getting my chance to hold a chick, but after only a few seconds several adults took it away, and they all seemed very concerned about something.

I was just sad that I couldn't hold the chick for very long at all.  All the other kids had ample time to hold and love and cuddle their adorable little babies.  I, for some reason, couldn't.  It was very upsetting and I never forgot it.

Years later, probably when I was in my teens, I mentioned the incident to my mom, expressing confusion as to why my chick got taken away so quickly.  She laughed and told me that I was holding that chick so tight, they thought I was going to squeeze it to death.  She said it's eyes were bugging out.  They took the chick away because they were concerned for its safety.

So there you have it.  I was a chick squisher when I was a toddler.  Happy Easter everyone!

The Mind Wanders

A few thoughts I had while covering a desk with a non-working computer and nothing else to keep myself busy today:

I could totally zip line from my office building to my apartment. Best. Commute. Ever.

Hey Spiderman IV, I can see your green screen from my office.

Remember when Spidey Alley was Berlin c. 1985 and Cincinnati c. 2011 on the same night? Maybe I'm the only one who noticed.

All the cars are perfect "toy car" size from up here.  I was never really into playing with cars, but I really want to pick them up and play with them now.  Probably because I'm just so bored.

Why does that one soundstage not have a curved roof like the rest of them? Is it even a soundstage? I'm trying to remember the layout of the lot to figure out which stage it is. And failing miserably.

Aaand I just realized my fly has been unzipped all morning.  Awesome.

Thankfully I was able to go to lunch before I had any other thoughts.

So this is the New Year...

And once again months and months have gone by without a word from me.  If I made resolutions, keeping up with this thing better would be one of mine this year.  Along with running more consistently and eating better.  But I don't make New Year's resolutions, and all of these are things I've been trying to do for the past, oh, 5 years at least.  I feel as though I'm off to a good start though!  It's only the 3rd and here I am already, getting you up to date on the past 4 months of my life!

So, here are a couple of anecdotes/reasons why I've been so unforgivably late on posting.

~ I've been getting steady temp work for the past several months.  Most of the jobs have been interesting and enjoyable, with a few frustrating  episodes thrown into the mix.  My current assignment, which I've been at since the beginning of November and will continue through February, keeps me rather busy during the day.  This is actually pretty unusual for me, and though it is nice to have the days go by fairly quickly, I can't say I'm enjoying this particular time of work.  But that's all I'll say on the subject.

~ I have a boyfriend now!  That's right, ladies and gentlemen, after 26 years of mostly singlehood, I have managed to snag myself a man.  We started dating in September, survived a harrowing 3rd date in which one's keys were locked in one's car while the car was still running, and became official boyfriend and girlfriend (as in, facebook official) in early November.  So, yeah, that's another pretty good excuse for my infrequency of posting.

~ I took my shiny new boyfriend to my grandparents' for Thanksgiving.  It actually went pretty well, with only one (half-joking) comment from my grandpa at the end of weekend warning the boyfriend "not to give him any reason to come to LA and find him."  Also during the weekend I made a blanket out of all of my t-shirts from college.  That was quite a task, but it turned out great, and also gigantic.

~ I ran a half-marathon with my mom.  It was somehow harder than the full marathon we ran a couple years ago, probably because of the 3 straight miles of steady uphill grade and my bleeding little toe.  But we finished in better time than the marathon, so that's something.  If I'm successful in my attempts to run more this year I might attempt another one.  We'll see.

~ I spent a delightful 2 weeks of Christmas vacation in Nashville and Michigan with family.  It was my first time home for Christmas in 4 years, and my first time seeing Henry in about a year and a half, so it was pretty amazing all around.  And it snowed on Christmas day!  That was a pretty great Christmas present.

~ Oh yeah, and because of the boyfriend I had someone to kiss at midnight on New Years, for the first time ever.  That was pretty great.

So... that's pretty much it.  The busy job is still going on, and the boyfriend is still around, so I can't really say how good I'll be at keeping up with this, but there are always interesting things going, so hopefully I'll find time to share them with you.