Things I Love - December 15-22, 2008

My 3 favorite loves this week:

1) Persuasion, by Jane Austen

Anyone who knows me know I adore Jane Austen. Her novels are so proper and old-fashioned, they make me want to step back 200 years and join her heroines in their many (mis)adventures. At the same time, the books are poignant and relevant to me (a 19 year old American male), and manage to charm the socks off me every time I open one. And perhaps make me want to cry, too.

I read Persuasion in 4 days; it's the shortest of Austen's novels and I breezed through it like there was no tomorrow, eating up every word and delighting in every page. Anne Elliot is perhaps the most patient of Austen's heriones... she is both endearing and relentlessly hopeful, two traits I can only dream of obtaining. Anne sustains her hope for years before seeing any kind of payoff, and when she does, it's not what you would think. Persuasion is chock full of chatty ladies and cunning men, including Anne's laughingly pompous father Sir Walter, and the lovely and bedridden Mrs. Smith. The book is perfect for this time of year - it offers up a tale of patience and love, of promise and hope, of sorrow and rejoicing. It's a story worth reading - perhaps even again and again.

2) The New Layout of My Dorm Room

Haha, I know... this isn't something you can check out for youself, but I wish you could see it. While the room is certainly not any larger, it feels bigger. Our beds are bunked and our desks are against one wall, leaving plenty of viewing room for the TV (which results in sprawling movie parties), a dresser top for preparing food (ie coffee in my case), and room for a bookshelf where I can finally, and proudly, display my beloved TV series of Gilmore Girls and The OC. There's even room to dance.

Which, you know, sometimes needs to happen.

3) Next Semester's Classes

Next semester is almost here - it starts a month from today. And while I still have Christmas break to enjoy before taking up residence in, and enjoying the gum under, my new desks, I can't help but feel excited for a new season. Next semester's classes include:

General Psychology
Family Relations
Food Principles (and lab)
Intro to the Hospitality Industry
Physical Geography 2 (and lab)

Which together result in 17 credits, a perfect amount for me. I'm excited to begin the specialized classes designed for my major (Family Relations, Intro to Hospitality Industry, and Food Principles) and better prepare myself for the career path I have ahead of me. January may bring more chills and homework, but I will choose to look at the bright side of things... AKA the sweaters and dreaming of Hermione that I can get out of it. And because at the end of next semester's courses, lies an even greater reward than Christmas - the unyeilding, loving, cheerful, sunshiny wonderfulness also known as summer.

Things I Love - December 8-15, 2008

Three things I simply cannot survive without this week:

1) Coldplay

One of the first bands I loved is still one of my top picks. The rediscovery of this summer's "Viva La Vida" has my toes tapping and my eyes searching for inspiration in everyday things. While some of the songs bring back fond summer memories for me, others are suited well for winter, such as "Violet Hill", which sings of a longlasting war. "Death And All His Friends" tells us that there are better things than death or loneliness, and we will find them if we "dream of making our escape".

While any of the songs are appropriate at pretty much any time, it's refreshing once again to listen to a band with so much talent. The songs are rhythmic and full of wonder. I often find myself thinking profound things or making bold and daring plans while enjoying Coldplay's many fine musical offerings. It's inspiring and a wonderful shake up to what I had been listening to throughout autumn.

2) Finals

I know, I know... final exams are tiresome and dull. But once they are over, they're over! I am ready for a change in classes and pace, and next week cannot come soon enough.

Also, in my nerd-ish sort of way, it's fun to go to the library for hours at a time and study, like the nearly 4 hours I spent there tonight. I keep looking for Hermione, but I haven't spotted her yet. I'll let you know if I do.

3) Sweaters

Maybe I'm being a bit overindulgent in my sweater collection, but who doesn't like sweaters? I have so many (too many?) and every day brings a tough new decision of which one to wear. It simply brings joy to my heart when I walk out into the snow covered landscape and comfortably shiver a tiny bit within my charming cotton garb. My favorite sweater pick (at least this week)? My Aslan sweater, a lovely gray concoction featuring a proud lion front and center who looks suspiciously like Aslan. Was my sweater actually made in Narnia? Did an elderly Lucy Pevensie craft it before she passed on? Will it continue to shrink too fast, as it has been because I wash it so often? These questions may not be answered right away (or ever) but I do know one thing: sweaters make the season bring even more gladness to me than it does otherwise. And that's saying something...

Things I Love - December 1-7, 2008

Here are the 3 things I love most this week:

1) Relient K's Christmas CD

While you can't always count on Christmas music to be as jolly or fulfilling as the ads promise it to be, some of the modern stuff is actually GOOD. And by some, I mean Relient K. My favorite band has never put out a song I did not adore and immediately learn all the words to, and this CD is no different. Cleverly titled and even more cleverly crafted, "Let it Snow, Baby, Let it Reindeer" is Relient K's foray into glorifying God through Christmas music. And boy, do they get it right.

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is original in song form, but the band find themselves asking "What's a partridge? What's a pear tree? I don't know so please don't ask me!". On "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", lead singer Matt Thiessen brings a touch of melancholy to the classic carol. The silly and joyous "I'm Getting Nuttin' For Christmas" tells the story of a selfish child who gets nothing for Christmas because he was bad all year long - but the song seems to make not receiving gifts not such a bad thing after all. And finally, the soft spoken "In Like a Lion (Always Winter)" brings us Narnia-like hope that God will cause winter to end and spring will begin again.

Either buy the CD or a few songs off iTunes... Relient K brings bouncy fun and thoughtful praise to a wonderful, cherished time of year. And they do it with an ease and a joyful mindset that even the most Scroogelike grumbler will not be able to resist.

2) Snow

It's seems so strange to me... so many people complain about snow this time of year - how it gets everything wet, how it turns brown, how the roads are covered with it - but I never get tired of snow. It brings a simple delight to my mind, and I'm always thankful for the moisture it brings to our often parched Earth. I make a point to take a walk each time it's snowing, and just enjoy the beauty of the falling flakes... how they land on the ground, on the trees, on me. Realizing this simple beauty may seem childlike, but it makes me realize how special to our God we are - how he makes each of us as unique and lovely as each individual snowflake. And that makes me smile and draw close to Him. Just as I should.

Plus, snowball fights are pretty awesome.

3) Book Clubs

There is never anything wrong with reading. I don't care what kind it is... you can read a comic book or a Bronte novel, or a magazine or a textbook, or even a cookbook. You can even read the book by Hillary Clinton without hearing me complain.

But the best part about reading is sharing it with someone else. For instance, in a book club. My friend and I have such a club, which is inside-jokingly called The Fasebook Club, even though it has nothing to do with Facebook, however wrongly spelled it may be. We meet once a month to discuss our book picks, which we alternate choosing every month. I cannot explain in words how precious our time together is - sitting, bent towards each other with eager expressions and happy smiles, discussing plot elements and character growth like we ourselves were part of the story. We do this while sipping hot chocolate, breakfast tea, or a cinnamon latte, whichever suits us the best at the moment. It's a special time, one that anyone can take advantage of, even though most don't.

So go, find a special friend or two (or six... or eight) and choose your first book together. The "chore" of reading is far outweighed by the joy that comes from friends getting together to share opinions, discuss favorite characters, and make memories that will far outlast how the book ended.

And hey, if you end up not enjoying a book club, at least you got some hot chocolate out of it, right?

Things I Love - November 24-31, 2008

There are certain wonderful things I notice every week, and I thought I would start a new post each week to let you know about my top three. Here's week #1's highlights:

1) The Twilight Book Series

You may scoff or giggle condescendingly at me, but you probably haven't read them. Originally, I was uncertain about the actual value of these books, because they dealt with vampires, werewolves, and a bitter heroine who doesn't care about anything. However, since beginning the series a month ago, I have become convinced of their worth. And it turns out the heroine may be more relatable/sexy than I thought, even though she's in love with a vampire. Stephanie Meyer's vampire books are in turns dark, romantic, and actually... funny. Plus, if all of your friends read them at the same time as you (like mine are), you can talk about them in hushed and excited voices and pretend like Harry Potter is happening all over again. Which is awesome.

2) Marshmallow Mafia

The dorm I live in, which is unintriguingly called Brown Hall, is currently in the midst of the biggest battle of the year. The agents? The residing students. Our battlefield? Anywhere in Brown Hall. The weapons? Marshmallows! Everyone was given a marshmallow on Monday morning along with someone within the dorm's name. The object is to find that person and throw your marshmallow at them. If you strike gold, congratulations! You take their marshmallow AND the accompanying name, and move on to your next target. The only person left surviving at the end of the week is declared Lord of War. It's funny and fun to see people squealing and flying past you in the hall, their pursuer hot at their heels. And it's bringing our hall together through violence... the good, gooey kind of violence, of course.

3) The Value of Tea

Most people do not realize how valuable tea is. It's good for you and delicious and cheap, all of which simply cannot be said of Starbuck's Carmel Frappuccinos. I have at least eleven kinds of tea placed carefully on my dorm room shelf, and I can often be spotted trying to decide which flavor best fits my mood. Tea is lovely and it makes me feel safe and British and wise. So at least give it a try if you don't usually consider it an option while ordering something hot on a chilly wintry day. You might be imparted with sudden wisdom!