What I Like...

...right now. I couldn't think of anything to blog about. So these are the things I'm into right now--a snapshot of my life at this moment in time, and in no particular order...

1. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)






















I blame it on Ariel--she totally got me hooked. I love how smartly-written and painfully-awkward this show is. I've only watched Season 1, but I can watch these episodes over and over and never get sick of them. And since then, I've managed to get Samson, Stephen, and I don't know who else enjoying this awesomely nerdy comedy.

2. Leverage (TNT)




























This show is actually (or at least, I think it is) an American remake of the British show "Hustle," which I loved. It has a lot of the same elements--each character has their own special skills and roles, each episode shows a different con (carried out against other con artists), etc. But TNT's version, rather than being a re-do of Hustle, works well as an American adaptation. My favorite part of Leverage is the characters--they're distinct, unique, and entertaining. It's a very smartly written show. And the comic relief isn't so bad either.


3. Snail Mail

I love snail mail. I love getting it, and I love sending it complete with colorful paper, sticky envelopes, and ugly postage stamps. Maybe it's because I'm an English geek and I LOVE paper (I'm not kidding about this--I can spend ALL DAY in a paper or stationary store). Or maybe it's because I'm suffering from a bad case of wanderlust, so sending letters and postcards to Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and England is my way of sending part of me abroad to all the friends I miss so dearly.*


4. Books

Again, I love paper, in all its lovely forms. Frankly, it was hard to simply enjoy reading during college; the constraints of deadlines, papers, and exams sucked a lot of the joy out of reading. So this summer I was determined to get more pleasure reading in. And I'm always looking for good things to read (give me suggestions people!).

Ariel's list is probably twice the length of mine, but so far this summer:

- From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler (E.L. Konigsburg)
- The View from Saturday (E.L. Konigsburg)
- Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth (E.L. Konigsburg)
- The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri)
- The Bonesetter's Daughter (Amy Tan)
- My Sister, My Love (Joyce Carol Oates)**
- Disciplines of a Godly Woman (Barbara Hughes)
- A Wild Sheep Chase (Haruki Murakami)
- Rant (Chuck Palahniuk)

"On deck" and "in progress":

- The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis)
- Half of a Yellow Son (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
- The Treasure Principle (Randy Alcorn)
- A Godward Life (John Piper)
- The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
- River Town (Peter Hessler)

5. MMA & Martial Arts movies

The other day, I dropped everything I was doing in order to watch a SpikeTV special on my favorite UFC fighter. Daddy and I like to watch Pancrase highlights on TV sometimes. I've recently watched movies like Chocolate (a muay thai movie with JeeJa Yanin, Hiroshi Abe), Ip Man (Donnie Yen), and So Close (Shu Qi, Zhao Wei, Karen Mok).

6. Music

At the moment, I really like "Manos al Aire" by Nelly Furtado and "SheWolf" by Shakira. We introduced my dad to Cobra Starship's "Good Girls Go Bad." That was umm...interesting...I only really like the girl's part of that song. I'm really addicted to Yuna Ito's "Mahaloha" (a collaboration with Micro from Def Tech). And I frequently have the theme song from Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea stuck in my head.

7. Top Gear (BBC America); Warehouse 13 (Syfy); Primeval (both)

I was struggling to think of a seventh to add to my list, but Garrett helped me out. I just recently discovered how much I really enjoy the show Top Gear, which is basically a long-running British show about all things vehicularly-related. They've done crazy things like power-sliding in lorries, racing the big rig trucks (one had a wedding cake, one had a car, and the last had a massive pile f straw at one end with a heater at the other), and backing up the big rigs on an incline, with the drivers' prized treasures directly behind them on the hill. They try to build their own amphibious car-boats and take them across the English Channel. I love "The Stig" and all the jokes they make about him. They even have a segment where they "put a star in a reasonably-priced car." Basically, I never get bored watching Top Gear.

Warehouse 13 and Primeval are sort of my guilty pleasure sci-fi shows. I just realized that it sounds like I watch a lot more TV than I do. Part of it might be because I've moved back home, so now I can actually watch shows, and part of it is because that is how Garrett and I do "sibling bonding." We were both really busy this summer, going out a lot, running around; TV time was the only time we got to sit and enjoy something together. I'm a little sad and lonely now that Garrett's back at Biola.

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I guess in the end, this was a really random (and failed) attempt at a blog entry. Sometimes, there's too much to say and not enough willpower to put fingers to keyboard. I will try my best to be more consistent.

*Blogger's note: SEND ME SNAIL MAIL Y'ALL!
**This one took me forever to finish.

Morning Muse-ings.

Those of you who know me well know that I'm a night owl. Even when I was little, Mom and Dad had a hard time getting me to sleep. They said it was like I was afraid to miss anything fun that might happen during the night. Babies who don't want to sleep tend to cry; on more than one occassion, I brought my mother to tears. And my dad memorized the entire hymnbook trying to sing me to sleep.

Maybe I'm not as much of a night owl as I am a stubborn mule (I didn't want to leave room for bad wordplay here). I've always like the night better than the day--going out late, staying up late, enjoying either the mysterious excitement or the peaceful quiet of the night. But since graduating, I really have no valid reason for staying up late, other than, that I like to.

Several days ago, my writing buddy Edmund suggested I figure out what time my "muse" (read: writing-inspiration-fairy-thing) likes to come out and play. In other words, if I want to be more disciplined about writing every day, I needed to discover when my ideas flow the best, when I have the most motivation to sit down and write. Well, up until now, I've been quite frustrated. It seemed like my muse is something of a loner kid, who only grudingly comes outside to mingle with the neighborhood children. And then halfway through, throws a tantrum and storms back inside.

So I decided I had to make some changes. I've started heading up to my bedroom around 11 or 12 every evening, spending time journalling (which I haven't done in ages) and reading. And I've been getting up around 8:30 or 9 every morning--early for me--to do my devotions and my writing exercises.

I'm amazed 1) that I can actually get up in the morning and 2) that my "muse" is more cooperative in the morning. I'm a lot more motivated to spend my day productively, and I'm a lot more disciplined. Today, for instance, I wrote over 600 words of a short story.* Yesterday I spent a few hours researching and planning work-related materials. And I cleaned the house for home prayer meeting.

Anyways, I don't really have a point to all this. I just wanted to note that maybe I'm beginning to appreciate mornings a little more.


*Blogger's note: Don't ask, you probably won't ever get to read it.

On my mind lately....

Taken from Publishing Executive, "9 Things I've Learned About Magazines by Blogging" by Rex Hammock)

No one will ever collect NationalGeographic.com. OK, here is my suggestion to those in the magazine industry who haven’t figured out how to compare magazines with the Web (see point #2). The magazines we love are not merely things we read and enjoy; they are expressions of who we are. We display them on coffee tables and desks the way people wear designer labels on clothes or purchase one model of car over another. People collect magazines, trade them and display them on decorative racks or in frames hung on the wall. Magazines provide us with mementos of our life’s journey. They allow us to savor our passions and save special moments. The magazines we love are so important to us, they make us feel guilty to consider throwing them away. The Web is a wonderful thing when you want to drink information from a fire hose. But the magazines people love are like bottles of fine wine: Even if you have to wait a little before opening it, there’s something a bit exciting about the anticipation.

I've been thinking a lot about the magazine industry and what potential there may be for new publications. Last night--perhaps because of Garrett's bad mood or his incredibly stark sense of logic--I was feeling rather discouraged about the prospects. But sometimes, you stumble upon bits of wisdom that reinvest your passions with life and hope. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but magazine is what I love and what I want to do. Sometimes, though, I forget why I love it and why I am on the course I am on.

In other news--although not completely unrelated--I've been learning a lot lately about what it means to trust God--what it looks like specifically in my own life. He has taught me that when He does something is just as (if not more) significant as what He does. I cannot presume to know the mind of God, but--as Job learned (thanks Tony)--I must turn to Him as my only answer. I am learning how small my view of God is, and how much greater He wants to be in my eyes.

At the beginning, it was hard; I felt like I was watching Him answer prayers for those around me. I was excited when Elizabeth got the Americorp job, thrilled when Ariel got accepted for grad school, full of joy when Janelle told me how she found her sense of direction up in Redding. But (the jealous, untrusting, impatient, faithless) part of me said, "When is it my turn?" And of course, I had to eat my words, because God has done for me immesaurably beyond what I could ever have asked for or imagined. It's still new and big and scary and overwhelming, but I believe that God will give me the grace, wisdom, and inspiration I need to accomplish what He has given me to do. So for now, I rejoice in His faithfulness and sovereignty.