Under the Mercy

Over Christmas Break I read A Severe Mercy and absolutely LOVED IT! I highly recommend it. It is a true story of Sheldon and Jean (Davy) Vanauken who, as unbelievers, fall in-love and attempt to create a love so strong and so powerful, that nothing can shake it. While studying at Oxford, they are placed in a group of Christian friends and slowly, over time, their hearts start to yield to Jesus Christ. It is during this time that Sheldon strikes up a life-long friendship with C.S. Lewis. SPOILER ALERT: Unlike Davy, Sheldon has a hard time wholly submitting his life to the Lord, and it is only through Davy's death, that he is able to do so. My little synopsis really does not do the book justice. It is truly beautifully written. I cried.....a lot, but then again, that is not too unusual. Here are some quotes:

"The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians--when they are sombre and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths" (85).

"It is not possible to be 'incidentally a Christian.' The fact of Christianity must be overwhelmingly first or nothing."

"I am v. glad to hear of the righted wrong and still more to hear that you are re-visiting England. We must have some good, long talks together and perhaps we shall both get high." - C.S. Lewis. (I love how one of their favorite things to do together was to discuss theology over beer!)

There's a fantastic passage that talks about time and eternity and the natural longings of our heart. It's too long to type the entire thing in my post, but here's a part of it:
"C. S. Lewis, in his second letter to me at Oxford, asked how it was that I, as a product of a materialistic universe, was not at home there. 'Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or wd. not always be, purely aquatic creatures?' Then, if we complain of time and take such joy in the seemingly timeless moment, what does that suggest? It suggests that we have not always been or will not always be purely temporal creatures. It suggests that we were created for eternity. Not only are we harried by time, we seem unable, despite a thousand generations, even to get used to it. We are always amazed at--how fast it goes, how slowly it goes, how much of it is gone. Where, we cry, has the time gone? We aren't adapted to it, not at home in it. If that is so, it may appear as a proof, or at least a powerful suggestion, that eternity exists and is our home" (203).

Coffee and Cooking Catastrophes !

I have a terrible time making coffee. One would think it easy, but in the history of my coffee-making, here are all the mishaps that I am guilty of:
- pouring the water straight into the coffee filter (this was the very first time I ever made coffee!)
- leaving the empty coffee pot on for an extended period (days) of time. (sshhh.....my Dad still doesn't know!)
- leaving the coffee grains in the filter and forgetting about them over Christmas break.
- carelessly placing the filter so that a side sagged down allowing grains to flow through the coffee.
- never measuring precisely, ending with either extremely weak or extremely dark coffee!

But...I am improving!

Sherlynn, my roommate, takes great delight in experiments--especially those that involved food and drink. This week, we have suffered through 2 of them.

1) When went over to our friend's apartment to use a "real" kitchen, only to find out his oven didn't work. I was awfully disappointed because I was going to make garlic bread. (Note: Garlic Bread in the microwave only becomes soggy and chewy--yes, both are possible at the same time.) Sherlynn was disappointed because she was going to make brownies. Well, she decided to make brownies anyway.....in the microwave. Unfortunately, she did not stir them well enough for when she ate her piece of brownie (which we called 'brake' because it was in the shape of a cake), she bit into a piece of uncooked chewy egg! GROSSE! My piece was alright. (Note: if making brownies in microwave, mix well and eat immediately, for they will turn rock hard within a few minutes of removal!)

2) Sherlynn was craving some hot chocolate, but was curious to see how it would taste in coffee. But instead of simply mixing it together once the coffee was made, Sherlynn dumped the hot chocolate powder into the coffee filter with the coffee grains. The end result was pitiful. The water piled up in the filter and only a trickle made it through into the pot. It literally smelled like creamed corn.

This Semester's Reading

This is a picture of all of the books I will be reading this semester minus 2 that are in my backpack and 5 that I have to read on my own. As you can see, they range from Shakespeare's histories and romances, to young adult literature such as Hoot and Inkhart, to textbooks. I have currently read two books already and have only been in classes for a week and a half. With so much reading to do, I try to amuse myself by finding interesting quotes. Here are a few:

In my Early British Literature class (the books is monstrous. The picture does not do it justice) I am currently reading Beowulf (which I read in high school). The 'he' in the quote is Grendel, the monster.

"he grabbed and jauled a man on his bench, / bit into his bone-lappings, bolted down his blood / and gorged on him in lumps, leaving the body / utterly lifeless, eaten up / hand and foot."

Disclaimer: This quote is not cited correctly according to the MLA Handbook 7th ed.

There are simply too many good and funny quotes from Shakespeare to be able to incorporate them all on here. Last night I was laughing out loud while reading. His plays are simply hysterical! Here's a fun word that I think the modern English language should re-establish: "boon". It means "favor". Ex: "Will you do me a boon?" "All I ask of you is one boon!" (Richard II)

I have certain tendencies...

Hardly a day goes by without me either discovering something new or re-affirming a prior supposition I had about myself. Here are a few things I have remarked as of late:

- I have a tendency to daydream as I stroll around campus by myself. Often, I am reflecting on some long-past memory that produces a smile upon my lips. Before I know it, I have a huge grin on my face. (If the thought or memory is funny enough, I'll even laugh out loud.) What usually transpires next is me looking up and realizing I am smiling boldly at a complete stranger who is walking by. They, upon noticing my big happy smile, have one of two reactions. Either they smile back and we become friendly strangers, or they look at me with a strange expression on their face. This happened more than usual yesterday.

(The following example needs a bit of background, first. There is this FANTASTIC game called imaginiff.... My parents gave me this game for Christmas. One element of the game requires someone to read a given sentence on a card out loud, and all players must vote on which person the statement most applies to. The last two times I've played this game, here are some that I have been voted for.)

- imaginiff... we were competing in an air guitar contest. Which player would dominate with over-the-top moves and relentless energy? -ME
- imaginiff... we went to the movies together. Which player would talk throughout the movie? -ME
- imagineiff... we had the opportunity to ask a Wise Man one of life's greatest questions. Which player would waste the question by asking something frivolous and irrelevant? -ME
- imagineiff... we were a type of chocolate. Which player would be semi-sweet?
- Sherlynn, my roommate got that one. I made the comment that I would be
dark chocolate and this is what I heard from one of the players. "Either
you love it or you hate it!"

Needless to say, Friday I learned a lot about myself!

sweet dreams

Over the course of my lifetime, I've had a vast array of dreams. Several of these have been about me befriending celebrities.

The first, when I was quite young, was about one of the Olsen twins. I can't remember which one at the moment. She was struggling, I went to her, reached out to her, and she told me she wanted to live a normal life. I told her I thought she was pretty and I thought it would be cool if I was an actress.

The second, while I was in high school, was about Michael Phelps. I was swimming with some friends in his private pool (although I didn't know he owned the pool at the time) when I noticed him swimming laps in the lane next to mine. He liked me best out of all of my friends. We were connected over our love for swimming. The dream lasted quite a while and was full of adventures.

The third, last night, was about the Jonas Brothers. (This could be due to the fact that I have a Jonas Brothers calendar and two posters currently hanging up in my room.) They were giving a performance and were practicing in my living room. My Mom and siblings and I were eating breakfast in the dining room when I noticed them. I asked my siblings if I should go ask for an autograph and they heartily said 'yes'. As I approach the Jonas Brothers in my living room, they see me coming and quickly start to pack up their stuff and leave. I realized I had insulted them with my approach. I pleaded with them to please just sign their names and I would leave. After what seemed like an eternity to me, they gave in, and wrote me a very nice note. I figured they were probably hungry so invited them to eat breakfast with my family. To my surprise they immediately agreed, and soon we were all in line in the kitchen for some home-made pancakes. The Jonas Brothers loved my Mom's food and were especially thankful to me for inviting them. Nick, the youngest, and I really bonded. We were "fast friends." When it was time for them to leave, Nick gave me a token that I might redeem whenever I wanted to hang out with them. (The token was an odd shape--almost a half fish. It was made out of wood and very smooth.) In my head I thought, "Maybe they'll want to go to the movies with me!"

why a blog ?

Many of you are probably wondering why a college student, such as myself, should add one more thing on her list. The answer lies in the following reasons:

- Facebook statuses do not satisfy me anymore. Behind every facebook status I write, there is a story. You have no idea how hard it is for me to sum up my day, thoughts, and emotions all into one sentence. Now, my anxiety is gone. With a blog, I can share my day, thoughts, and emotions with you--to the extent that is appropriate.

- One step closer to being a writer. I have great aspirations of being a famous author. Maybe my blog will end up like Julie's in the film Julie and Julia. All I need is creativity, a lot of followers, and soon my life will be recorded in a book and made into a major motion picture!

- Friendship. Talking and sharing through this blog will develop a sort of kindred spiritship between me and my blog, and between me and my readers.

- Personal Ego. I want the world to know about me! For some reason I think I have a fascinating enough life for people to want to know all about it.

Although I am sure I will think of two more really good reasons once I finish this post, these four will have to suffice.