4.30.2006

2006 Collection

http://www.librarything.com/profile/KKY06

I felt like I had been successful in my reading so far this year. When looking at the graphic library of the books, I suddenly don't. I need to read more.

4.28.2006

Orphaned African Cheetah Cub [+Indian music?]

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"An orphaned eight-week-old African cheetah cub licks its lips inside its enclosure at the Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya April 23, 2006. The male cub was rescued by the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) wardens in Mandera district, 1500 km (932 miles) northeast of Nairobi, and is currently being held at the Nairobi animal orphanage. [Reuters]"

chinadaily.com.cn

Hmmm, so I was scanning through China Daily when I saw this, and it freaked me out originally. Look at how disproportionate his head is in comparison to the rest of his body. Yeah, not a normal sight. But then, look at how it's a baby Cheetah and how it is kind of cute.



On Wednesday after the blood drive I returned home to see Aditya Verma and Shyam Kane at Otterbein, two world renowned Indian musicians.

Verma plays the sarod, a string instrument. Here he is:
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Kane played the tabla. I couldn't find a photo of him, but here is a tabla:
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You can see there is a hammer. He began the evening hitting his tabla with the hammer, and I believe it is a method of tuning, though that is just speculation. He would hit it until he looked satisfied and then proceeded to play, several times he picked it up and did the same right after his big parts where he tabla-ed (I don't think I'm allowed to make that into a verb) at an unfathomable speed, so fast I thought his fingers would surely fall off.

Anyway, they are both trained under a few of the best classical Indian musicians, and they played three evening pieces, lasting about an hour and a half total. Though the Sarod is definitely a more interesting looking instrument, it sounded much like a guitar but with an obvious Indian sound. The tabla is what shocked me. Kane did not play until the second piece and his right hand fingers worked completely independent of eachother, something I didn't expect. He was just going to town with his fingers, so fast I was unable to tell them apart. It wasn't even like a fan spinning at maximum speed.

Okay, I guess I should explain that. I'm sure you've watched a fast fan, caught a glimpse of one fan blade and followed it around really fast until you get too dizzy and stop. At least I hope that isn't just me. Well, I tried that with his fingers and it didn't work. I don't understand how one could possibly train their fingers to work in that manner. I guess that's why they went to India to learn from the greats.

So maybe this is boring unless you can see it.
If you ever get a chance to watch these instruments being played, definitely do it. At least the tabla, anyway.

4.27.2006

...

"Holiness has most often been revealed to me in the exquisite pun of the first syllable, in holes--in not enough help, in brokenness, mess. High holy places, with ethereal sounds and stained glass, can massage my illusion of holiness, but in holes and lostness I can pick up the light of small ordinary progress, newly made moments flecked like pepper into the slog and the disruptions."

4.25.2006

Tall buildings shake

I just picked out an interesting pineapple.

Half of it is so sweet and the other half is not.

This isn't entirely unusual, but it's just never been this drastic.


Practically nobody bought pineapples today, that's a little sad, where's your pineapple?


[Sometimes I think I read Anne Lamott because her writing makes me feel like I'm her friend, her book then is no longer just a New York Times bestseller, but a collection of letters (in a rather hefty bundle...) she has written me to catch me up on her life, faith, and discoveries.]

[I think that someone should invent perfectly fitting pants. They automatically fit you well regardless of your size on any particular day. This way, you will not feel guilty and shameful when they are too tight, or as though you deserve an extra brownie when they are a little loose. The perfect fit would allow you to think, "I could have that brownie, but maybe I'll save it for Friday when I have to catch up on all my work," which I think is a very wise choice.]

"God must see me as so many people at once: beloved, nuts, luminous, full of shadow."

4.24.2006

All things go, all things go

I've not done well today, and I think it's okay to see that, good to see that. I need to see that.

A re-configuring of sorts is necessary for my daily routine.

I feel like the fallen spring petals that are mushed into the sidewalk outside my window, or maybe I feel like the embroidery shop across the way.

Sometimes I just couldn't be more thankful that God makes all things new.

4.23.2006

"Thy is a word and feet need lamps"

We walk on slippery ground.

We walk on slippery ground.


I like when Kim and Stevie come visit me at my apt. and make weird & pixelated sea monsters my desktop background, and how we exchange the puns of the week [they're never really any good] and all the confusion that takes place, and how Kim writes on my printer paper [let's face the realities of my printer not working ("Hi Kelly :) Don't print on me please")] and how Stevie is oblivious to most things in the universe, and how Wikipedia confirmed the existence of "Extreme Ironing" as a sport, thus proving my story about when I encountered Extreme Ironers.

And how they made me feel really loved by stopping by and making no sense for the whole hour they were here.

And how it is okay that we walk on slippery ground.

Because maybe the traction we need to risist the banana peels of the world lies in things like sea monsters, puns, broken printers, oblivion, extreme ironing,

and Jesus.

4.20.2006

I like Fridays, and one is soon.

Try to forget how I post too much lately, and focus on how a girl needs a break(s) from Japanese History.

Here is my point:


"While I find a salamander boring, syntax stops my heart. And I wonder how many people think they are dumb when they are not, think academia is for others when it is for everyone. I wonder, when I meet a person who spends their life in front of a television, about the Tinker Creek they never discovered, and where the creek might have taken them, to what heights, to what worship." Miller

Motivation

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From despair.com, I just couldn't help myself, they're beautiful.
[Thanks to Kim for showing me the page]

4.19.2006

"Stop the violence, take back the night!"

There's nothing I love more than a feisty candlelit rally & march that clogs up Main St. all the while chanting, "Stop the violence, take back the night!" In theory it was fantastic, but the frat boys behind me screaming, "Stop the violence, get drunk tonight!" turned the event more comedic than serious, because really, how much more can you justify the frat boy stereotype than that? [Don't get me wrong, my brother is in a fraternity and I love him terribly]

Sometimes I forget about the nice grassy area in the middle of Towers, Battelle, and the Science Building, and what a shame that really is. It's so beautiful and all kinds of perfect for blankets, reading, frisbee, writing, etc.

Today I got Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea for $4.99. It's highlighted so I got excited, but as I was investigating after the purchase, it turns out whoever read the book while simultaneously highlighting has different methods and reasons for highlighting [or in my case, underlining] than I do. I can't say which is irregular, or if there even is such a thing as irregular book highlighting, but if there were, I would be unable to tell you who is doing it improperly. My point is: I've never conversed with someone about the matter. As I was reading parts highlighted, I was just thinking, "Man, what on earth is this highlighted for?" Perhaps I'll just need to read it in context to understand, and that surely won't take me long. It's a very short book.

I had baked potato soup, how lucky am I? What are the odds that the one day I go to Panera baked potato soup is on the list? Someone's looking out for me, and maybe you think God doesn't have time to put baked potato soup on the board and arrange it so I'm there on that day, but it was encouraging in its own way, and I think He certainly does have time for that, along with other small yet potentially huge things such as insuring your safety during a candlelit march so that you do not trip and consequently shove the candle in your own face or on the person in front of you. It's all gold, do you get that.

Also, I found this infinitely charming and endearing book of poetry today. Why do I not remember the poet's name? This is the sort of frustrating that makes you want a rewind button. Sometimes a rewind button would help very little, but I feel at this instant that it would help greatly. Anyway, I should have purchased it, but I tried to practice self-control and resist. It was signed by the poet, and there was the cutest card inside that said some lines about nature, all very Wordsworth, then you could mail it to the address on the card. It confided in you that if you did indeed agree with these lines concerning the quality of nature, then you were able to recognize "everything lovely." Aw, thank you small blue card from long ago, I feel like you're just sweet talking me. Anyway, the book was full of surprises like random pages of nice paper with nothing on them. Bits and pieces of words all amongst cute simple art. I need to go back and get it, speaking of it makes me cringe with regret.

The religion/philosophy club at Otterbein seriously celebrated Descartes' birthday on the 6th! How cute & nerdy is that? I love it. To do: Celebrate a dead author/philosopher's birthday.

Oh, I saw Andrea Opplinger at Panera. Let's talk about how her and Luke are my favorite couple. Really, they win everything. You should talk to them if you ever have the opportunity, you'll thank yourself.

I can't get enough Half-Handed Cloud sometimes, times like right now.

Okay great, now a little on Western Imperialism...

4.18.2006

Fixed him up and gave him a sound

After a facing turbulance and feeling broken up about it, I headed to Starbucks to read God's comfort and direction. Upon entering I bumped into a friend from high school, who was also absorbing the goodness of God's Word, a guy I came to know when he was an Atheist.

I can't begin to explain to you the details of transformation and continuation of God's intricate design in this friend, but I can tell you what a joy it was to talk about God, people, church(es), and the Bible with this friend that God is stirring so continually, a friend that has such a passion for learning and equipping himself for a life full of chasing after God and pulling as many people as he can along with him. He is such a smart guy, and it is art that his intellectual capabilities are being used to advance God's kingdom. I can't wait for more conversations like it, more instances where an exchange of ideas can lead to a portrait of new colors, brighter and more saturated than ever before.

"Cause I'm as free as a bird now,"

So I just surfaced from 1850-1953 in Chinese history, going through the Century of Humiliation and all the sucky wars and interesting literary movements through that time period up until the Korean War, and here I am now, listening to FreeBird. I'm not entirely sure why, but after I finished my review drafts it's the only thing I could think of to do. [Haha, Grant]

[Edited out boring next steps within my Chinese history hysteria]

Or something like riding bicycles.

Any Mat Kearney fans reading this? I can't decide if I like Nothing Left To Lose or not.

Also,

"And this was really the way that my whole road experience began, and the things that were to come are too fantastic not to tell."
Jack Kerouac, On The Road

I'd like to start reading that soon, but I can't even scrape up enough time to finish Fitzgerald. I'm going to have to start staying up late like normal people.

Anyway, I can't pretend like that Chinese isn't in the next room, so why don't I tend to that...

4.17.2006

Some things, they stay the same.

I just went trash-picking (I'm using that term very loosely, they were just sitting on someone's curb) with Kim and got two lovely chairs that we stuffed in her back seat.

I made the point that most believe that a car trunk is magically big, while usually big things fit more easily into my back seat. I think you should take notes on that, it held true tonight.

We drove the chairs back to my apt. where we quickly disinfected, lint-rolled, and windexed them to perfection. They are from '79 and it's noticeable.

Hope is the thing with feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

From Ohio to Tel Aviv,
to Darfur,
hope is available for all...

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
Psalm 62:5

4.14.2006

And no it's not okay...

I took my brother on a tour today of Otterbein's campus. I think it was the only time I have thoroughly enjoyed being a student there. I was able to show him something he found interesting, something he was curious about.

OSU is a step forward, but I continue to struggle with the idea of practically losing a year. I can't help but feel like I'm going to be running the rest of the race just trying to catch up. The world is playing tag and I'm it. [What?]

In other news, playing a CD you haven't in awhile is encouraged. I was browsing through my iTunes when I felt that familiar recognition of a lost band.

WHO KNEW THAT MYLA GOLDBERG'S BEE SEASON WAS A MOVIE? With Richard Gere. A new release. I ought to have a blockbuster night soon, I've got to see how they chose to ruin the book. (Or maybe not? After all, I love Possession. I think I've just got a bad taste in my mouth after The Pact...]

I'm looking forward to the Columbus AIDS Task Force service project tomorrow, and hopefully Fruit of the Vine with Jackie and Grant. I miss Gary's disguised humor, Elmo's charming dorkiness and Fred's soulful crooning.

It is storming. I better turn in. ...Or watch.

[I can't stop thinking of the Taiping Rebellion, Sun Yat-sen, Yuan Shikai, the Guomindang (Kuomintang), etc. A large narrative of modern Chinese history is bouncing around my brain like a pinball, now if I could only channel it into a clear stream of thought and write it on my exam paper...]

4.13.2006

Pennsylvania, 3.15.06

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"It was one of those clear,sharp.mustless days
That summer and man delight in.
Never had Heaven seemed quite so high,
Never had earth seemed quite so green,
Never had the world seemed quite so clean
Or sky so nigh.
And I heard the Deity's voice in
The sun's warm rays,
And the white cloud's intricate maze,
And the blue sky's beautiful sheen."
e.e.c.

[To my dismay, the format of this blog will not allow me to display the authors characteristically creative spacing and punctuation. Forgive.]

4.11.2006

"The Last Word Is Rejoice"

I'm sure you've all gone through a period of time, maybe even just a moment, when you wanted to scrap everything. Scrap certain things.
That's what I'd like right now. It is at the top of my list along with some other things of high importance:

1. Call Mom to tell her what a delectable and perfect pineapple she picked out for me.
2. Stuff my face with the previously mentioned pineapple.
3. Scrap everything.

Everything= not limited to, but including: INST-150, Reading modern Chinese documents, keeping the hardwood floors of my apartment clean, cell phones, eye aches, Otterbein in general, my semi-broken pen, etc.


[When my soul is so afraid to]
Rejoice

Psalm 116:
1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

Brute Beauty

I can't say I've ever genuinely struggled wrapping my head around how God loves everyone despite of their character, etc. Just today, however, I walked out of Western Civ with a migraine and a twitch in my left eye, not understanding at all how God loves Dr. Robinson.

"It helped me realize I probably know as much about God as a baby knows the physics of the mobile dangling above his crib."
Donald Miller, To Own A Dragon

But He does, and He thinks her beauty and worth is beyond comparison to any sunset (I've seen some nice sunsets), and now I just need Him to show me this, so I can make it through this class without committing a felony.

Speaking of God, professors, and sky, here's one of my favorite verses from Eugene Patterson's Message translation:

"God's glory is on tour in the skies
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon
Madame Day holds classes every morning
Professor Night lectures every evening."
Psalm 19:1-2

[The alliteration in the title was for you, Kim. And stolen from my favorite poem of Hopkins' too...]

4.07.2006

"It's Electrifying!"

It is with guilt that I return to Blogger with an actual post and not a couple lines or a photo. I should really consider being more loyal to posting, but I find myself with no time to spare. Funny, though, how I can spare some time here and there to do meaningless things like check facebook/Myspace, but I can't take time to produce any sort of material myself.

I'll catch you up a few things here and there and hopefully soon posting will again be habitual, as long as there are things to write about. (Isn't it weird that I'm basically telling you I feel obligated to post, when I am bound by nothing to do so? This is not an assignment, but it sure can feel like it. Terrible. It's like reading my Chinese history book. The process isn't fun but I love the result.)

I finally and excitedly clicked the button on my screen that sent my OSU application in. I have also arranged for my transcripts to be sent. Ah, yes, it is about time. However, being a step closer to having nothing to do with Otterbein has exacerbated the problem of me not studying. Who knew that I actually could train myself to not care about my grades? It has happened. My Western Civ professor just might have been BFF with Stalin at some point in time. I can't keep up with things and it would be unhealthy to force myself to. (Besides the Modern Asia class, which is a lot of work but who isn't motivated by East Asia?)

The pole outside my front bedroom window across the street was on fire this afternoon. I returned from hanging out with Micah at Starbucks to find the neighbors all rustled up about something. Michelle said there was much talk about the fire department overheard from the street below. I opened my window and yelled to the guy standing outside of the dry cleaners asking him what was up (what was he staring so intently at) and he informed me of the blaze. Sure enough, the smell that had been lingering in the air for quite awhile (or so the dry cleaning empolyees say) was due to the electrical frenzy twenty feet up. (Twenty feet? I really don't know. Not really a measurement girl, the eyes don't work that way. How many parentheses can I include in this paragraph? More, likely.) I hurried down the back steps to join the informative and entranced man in the alley with Michelle and Austin, and we watched as the firemen/parks&rec guys/policemen/who were they really? closed down Main St., donned Rubber sleeves, and jumped into a large box to join the fire in all its height.

"You might want to step back, we're spraying powder and the wind will carry it," one of the men nearby told us. By powder I believe he meant the sort that a fire extinguisher contained? I don't know, I guess I figured a man in the business would call it something more technical. Oh, you know, his statement sounding more like, "You might want to step back, we're spraying Alfinium Carbosic and the wind will carry it."

What Alfinium Carbosic is, or if it even exists, is far beyond me. We stepped back a little, and eventually ended up where we stood originally. I'm not sure if interest in the hype brought us back to our places or if the powder stopped flying around, but we hung out for a good while there in that alley. By the time the powder had been let loose, and water poured down the pole, the top of the structure had already been burnt up, blackened and shedding its dead chips. The rubber clothed men in the large box in the air were soon joined by others like themselves on the other side of the pole, and a chainsaw that meant business. They cut off the dead part of the pole and after a long process of adding new wood and probably some drilling, the commotion was over. I sped up this process for you though. I can assure you it was at least two hours. (Note: I didn't stick around for that long)

I got a photo or two from the alley. Here they are:
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(Fellow onlooker)

Have you ever read The Pact by Jodi Piccoult? It's really emotional but really great. Well Sarah Peet recorded it when she saw it in the form of a movie on tv, and Kim is bringing it over right now. I just miss Emily a lot. Christopher is so innocent too, and Emily, she just couldn't take it anymore. Okay, enough reminiscing about the characters that Piccoult makes me believe are so real, and certainly my friends.

[We have to do a book review for my Social Inequalities class, and since Barbara Enrenreich is funny, and Nickel and Dimed was (mostly) great, I think I'm going to read Bait and Switch! Oh Barbara.

(Remember how earlier I said the process of reading my Chinese book isn't fun but I like the result? Well, writing this entry was fun, so maybe I take it all back.)

[edit: The Pact by Lifetime was the worst movie ever.]

4.05.2006

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Washington Sq. Park, March 16th 2006