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I almost missed my first Positive Post Tuesday! And since it's late and I need to do stuff before going to bed, I'm going to cheat and write a list of things that have made me positive and optimistic about life:
1. Roommates who come home after being away for five-ish days: I seriously have the best roommate ever. She's hilarious and puts up with my obsessive compulsive need to clean things. I'm pretty sure that if I woke up at 3 a.m. and needed a Diet Dr. Pepper or I'd die, she would find a 24-hour store and buy me 76 bottles of that sweet, sweet nectar of the heavens. And then she'd hook up an IV straight into my mouth for fast relief. She also likes dogs as much as I do and frequently quotes Madea.
2. Friends who come back from vacation: I understand that people need to go on vacation, but it's especially sweet when they come home so they can continue sending me facebook messages about life and love and Dave Ramsey. I have the greatest friends in the world and if I wrote a full entry about the friend in question, you would all send me emails, trying to find out who she is so you could steal her and make her your best friend. Well too bad, Internet stalkers. She's mine and she's fabulous.
3. Earth friendly dishwasher detergent: I feel less guilty about never washing dishes by hand because they now offer earth-friendly cleaners. See? My laziness and hatred of dishwashing hands is saving the environment.
4. New offices: We just moved offices at work and the arrangement of the new office makes it possible for me to see who comes in and out of our office. I can also see everyone who walks by the office. So not only will this be great for distractions, but now people won't be able to ignore me when they come in to talk to my office mate. More chances to use my dry wit and gift of sarcasm? Check.
5. Finally finishing a project that was started months ago, but should have take a month to do: We've been working on designing and coding an e-blast for one of the ministries at work. Let's just say our schedule and the web designer's schedule (who is an outside designer) did not mesh well. But I received the correct coding and design yesterday. And I'm not lying when I say that I thought about going out for a margarita and using my own salty tears of joy as the garnish (is margarita salt a garnish?).
Welcome to Positive Post Tuesday, where I will be optimistic and say nice things. It will be like the feng shui of my blog and help balance out my rants and raves. Fun for you!
I got this from the Burnside Writer's Collective blog and decided to put it on my own. Feel free to leave your own list in the comments or on your own blog.
One book that changed my life: The Christian answer would be the Bible...but we're excluding Christianese answers from this. So I'd say Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Why, you ask? Because it inspires me to do what I want to do more than anything--write great children's literature.
One book that I've read more than once: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier It's haunting and wonderful and intriguing and has the greatest first sentence and the perfect last sentence.
One book that I'd want a desert island: Les Miserables. It's like four books in one! I'd need a highlighter, though, so I could highlight all the great lines.
One book that made me laugh: Dogs Don't Tell Jokes by Louis Sachar (He's my second favorite children's author, second only to Roald Dahl).
One book that made me cry: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I won't say why in case you haven't read the books (go read them NOW). But I cried like a baby for the last three chapters. But I must also mention that I cried when I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's an amazing book and I only wish I were half the writer that Foer is.
One book that scared the he** out of me: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Word of caution--don't read this late at night, especially if you live alone or in the middle of nowhere. And especially since you can't tell yourself 'it's just a book.' But it's a great character study.
One book I wish had been written: Jane Austen's memoirs
One book I wish had never been written: Any Jane Austen 'sequels.' Can't people come up with their own characters?
Two books I'm currently reading: The Shack by William P Young for book club and Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell.
One book you've been meaning to read: There's a lot of them...but just one would be anything other than the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. I'm not so good at reading non-fiction.
Your turn. Any good books you'd recommend? Make your own list!
I don't have the money or time to listen to all the music I want, read all the books I desire or see all the movies that come out...so I couldn't pick a top ten list of any of those things. Or they at least wouldn't all be from 2007. So I'll just make a list of all my favorite things from this, the year of our Lord two thousand seven. Many of these things aren't actually from 2007, but this is just when I happen to get around to them.
In no particular order:
1. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible: So flipping good. Go to www.beonlineb.com to see an interactive video their song Neon Bible. It's kind of freaky, in a classic horror movie sort of way, but I couldn't take my eyes off it and watched it at least four times this weekend.
2. Rosie Thomas, These Friends of Mine: I love her voice and how innocent it sounds. She's friends with Sufjan Stevens, so that automatically makes her worth listening to. I could listen to Paper Doll on repeat for hours.
3. Over the Rhine, The Trumpet Child: How the heck have I gone this long and never heard of or listened to these people? Her voice! His songs! So good. Whenever I listen to The Trumpet Child, I feel like I'm sitting in a smoky bar with low lights and a good drink.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The perfect end to an amazing series. I laughed, I cried like a baby, and I didn't want it to end.
5. Radiohead, In Rainbows: Even if the music sucked (which it didn't), the fact that you could pay what you want was brilliant. Not only did they pull the greatest marketing ploy ever (gotta love it when a musician sticks it to the out-of-touch recording industry and actually succeeds), but the album was worth every pound you paid (or didn't pay). Most people seem to be choosing Weird Fishes/Arpeggio as their favorite, but Nude has to be my favorite. That base line gives me goosebumps.
6. Etsy.com: This site is for anyone who loves one-of-a-kind and handmade artwork, crafts, clothes, and accessories. It's kind of like eBay for artists, except you don't bid on things. Anyone can open up their own Etsy shop and sell their wares. Most of the items are more expensive than what you'd buy at Target or even Urban Outfitters (depending on what you're buying), but you get items you aren't likely to see at your friend's house. And you're supporting artists because the money goes straight to them. Bonus!
7. Sex God by Rob Bell: I've only read it through once and I want to read it again to get the big picture. Bell has a way of taking something complex and profound and making it completely accessible to anyone. This book not only makes an excellent case for abstinence and its beauty, but it uses the traditions found in the Old Testament to show God's love for each of us. There is so much more to this book, but I'm trying to be succinct. Just go read it.
8. Bishop Allen, The Broken String: This group is so much stinking fun, I can hardly stand it. They don't make any profound statements with their music or even do anything groundbreaking, but it's mindless fun. I've heard they're great live because they seem to just be excited to be playing their music.
9. Waitress: I feel like the majority of good movies this year were depressing, but Waitress left a smile on my face. I'm a big Keri Russell fan and she's great in this film. It will also inspire you to go home and bake a pie or two or fourteen.
10. Anne of Green Gables: This movie was actually made in 1985, but I didn't see it for the first time until this summer. It's absolutely adorable and will make you want to move to a small town, buy an old farmhouse, and adopt a red-headed girl (and then bake pies like Keri Russell in Waitress, heh heh).
11. Casino Royale: This is the only Bond movie I've ever seen and I loved it. Part of me never wants to watch another Bond movie so I can maintain the image of Bond from this film in my mind. The womanizing picture of Bond doesn't appeal to me. Shocking, I know.
12. Friday Night Lights: I was late to the game (no pun intended) with this show (as I was for Lost, Arrested Development and The Office), but every single one of you need to watch this show. Put it on your Netflix cue right now and be prepared to fall in love with this show, its characters and its well-written gloriousness.
13. Jane Eyre: BBC made this marvelous four-hour version of one of my favorite books and then Masterpiece Theater aired it. This is one of the few 'chick' novels that I believe many guys would also enjoy and the BBC did an excellent job on this version. The scene right after Jane saves Rochester's life is reason enough to watch this series over and over again.
14. Waterdeep, Heart Attack Time Machine: I'm a sucker for acoustic music and anything Waterdeep or Enter the Worship Circle puts out. This album did not disappoint. They have a way of telling simple stories in a profound way, all while making you love the music they've put with the story.
15. Lost: I watched the first season on DVD in two days (it was exam week...what else was I going to do?). Season three had its ups and downs, but the season finale blew me away. The one resounding reason I want the writer's strike to end is so I can see the entire fourth season of Lost uninterrupted.
Honorable mentions: Joanna Newsom, Spoon (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), Band Marino (The Sea and the Beast), Till we Have Faces by CS Lewis, Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Feist (The Reminder)
Things I abhored this year: The Squid and the Whale, Man of the Year (has Robin Williams just given up making good movies?), The Break-Up, American Idol (there. I said it. I can't stand that show)
That's all for now. Here's to the new year and what lies ahead.
