partsofspeaking

I heard writer Delia Ephron say today on NPR, We write to get to another place."  I like that. I have a plaque that says, "Why do writers write?  Because it isn't there."  That's trying to be too clever, but I like it, also.  We believe that what we write, no matter how much it uses one of the basic plot lines, "wasn't there before." I have heard friends say that they write because there are characters trying to get out of their head, characters who drive around with them in the back seat of the car, holding conversations, and the writers eavesdrop. I can relate to all of these.  I like to take bits and pieces of life I see or hear or experience and weave them into something new, so to me it's like knitting or weaving, whereas others might use a building or a cooking metaphor. I also write because stories are important and stories matter.  It is interesting to me that the Bible is so full of stories but the Qu'ran is not.  What does ...

I have a chapter in this book.  I am excited for my friend Amber as her dream is coming to fruition. In Project Keepsake, Amber Lanier Nagle shares fifty-five stories behind the objects people gather and display proudly on shelves or stow away in dark closets—a bluebird paperweight, a pocket watch, a quilt, a locket, a piece of furniture, a cake pan, a scrap of paper, and other sacred items. Each story breathes life into the inanimate objects. A few years ago, Nagle began writing stories about her own keepsakes to preserve the histories surrounding special items in her home. She encouraged friends and family members to write stories about their keepsakes, too, and they did. And so, the project was born. Her book, Project Keepsake, has three simple goals: to prompt aspiring writers to put their pens to paper and try their hands at writing, to cultivate a renewed interest in storytelling, and to record the many stories associated with keepsakes and mementoes. She hopes t...

After a flurry of posting in December, I will probably be taking a hiatus for a while.  My doctoral work is overwhelming, and I am teaching two (sort of) new classes this semester, running a conference, taking care of a sick family member, trying to do dissertation research, etc.  I want to blog, but they would be incoherent and I would prefer something worthwhile be put up here.  Best wishes.

Happy new year to my readers! At 2:00 I am settling down to start working on school things (as a college professor I am constantly under the gun of class preparation, and as a doctoral student doing research for my dissertation as well as taking two classes per semester, I have little time to waste) after having cleaned my home this morning.  The decorations and tree are down, my husband has the football on, he cooked the black-eyed peas yesterday (but I bought turnip instead of collard greens), the weather is nice enough for me to walk my dog a bit laer, and now I am going to transcribe my fourteenth interview. Some observations on this day. In a world of hunger, hasn't the Rose Bowl parade, with its tons of organic products made into floats, outlived its usefulness? Why don't the networks get some decent stuff to show on New Year's Eve?  I mean, seriously, Miley Cyrus in Times Square (ABC).  And Ryan Seacrest?  Dick Clark recovering from a stroke was better...

Interesting blog about cliches. http://jasonjohnsonblog.com/blog/5-things-christians-should-stop-saying#.UsH90fs_jYQ I often post things here I find of interest.  I hope others do, too.  

I have always enjoyed the TCM Remembers Tributes at the end of the year.  This website lets you look back at some of them.  The music is always so interesting.  Kudos to this blogger.  The song being sung this year is "In the Embers" by Sleeping At Last.  (I am amazed by all the indie bands and their creative music, and then we are bombarded by the Lady Gagas and Katy Perrys and Kanye Wests, who seem more about celebrity hood and outrage than interesitng music.)  Here they are.  I found them touching. We live and we die Like fireworks Our legacies hide In the embers May our stories catch fire And burn bright enough To catch God's eye We live and we die Like fireworks We pull apart the dark Compete against the stars With all of our hearts Till our temporary brilliance turns to ash We pull apart the darkness while we can May we live and we die A valorous life May we write it all down In cursive light So we pray we were made ...

 The church I attend (not MY church) holds, like many, a contemporary and a traditional service.  I always attend the traditional (because I'm already in that building, for one reason), but today I attended the contemporary because I had heard some interesting things about it and was, honestly, curious.  There were no dancing girls or outbursts of religious ecstasy; we sat in the dark, I didn't know the songs, the girl who sang with the band was wearing jeans with unnecessary rips in them, there were colored lights, and the pastor was on a screen.  Nothing that surprised me that much though.  We did sing the song below, which touched me so I include it here. We are not what we should be We haven’t sought what we should seek We’ve seen Your glory, Lord, but looked away Our hearts are bent, our eyes are dim Our finest works are stained with sin And emptiness has shadowed all our ways Chorus Jesus Christ, shine into our night Drive our dark away ...