Teela

Two years ago today my husband surprised me with a dog.  He rescued her from the Denver Dumb Friends League. It’s been amazing watching her transform from that timid puppy into the endless ball of enegry she is today.

Here’s a cute music video portraying her perspective:

In Memorandum

The Catcher in the Rye is a great read, but that’s not what I”m going to talk about.  That wheel was invented, and I’m sick of hearing about it.  I have different reasons for its greatness.

My uncle always bought me bookstore gift cards.  He knew I didn’t like to read.  I think that was his point.  I suck at reading.  I find myself pausing while turning a page, realizing I do not remember what I had read moments ago.  I come across a word, which triggers a tangent thought, and I go off thinking about that while the other half of my mind continues advances through the words.  Actually, I guess it’s not that I suck at reading; I suck at comprehension and retention. You cannot multitask why reading.  That’s why I like movies.  I can listen to the dialogue, but I can also simultaneously analyze the on-screen action or cinematic technique without losing too much context.

My 12th birthday came and so did another bookstore gift card.  My mother dragged me to the store, reminding me, “You must only shop in the book section.  If I catch you in the music department, you’re grounded.  You have 10 minutes.”  I hated that.  She knew very well that in order to shop I needed to at least casually survey the music department.  You see, I can’t dive straight into shopping like most people.  All good athletes warm up first.  And to me, shopping is a sport – not one I particularly enjoy, but a sport nonetheless.  That process cannot be limited to a mere 10 minutes.

My shopping excursion began in teen, wandered through history, skimmed through sci-fi, and sprinted through self-help.  Nothing jumped out at me, and my 10 minutes were up.  I did the dreaded.  I walked back empty-handed towards my mother in the checkout line.  And much to my surprise, she didn’t yell at me.

My mother seemingly grabbed a book at random and said, “Here.  Why don’t you try this one?”  My jaw hit the floor.  This book had a white cover.  A white cover.  I was never allowed to have white things.  They didn’t stay that way for long.  Did this mean my mother finally trusted me with nice things?  I bought it before she could come to her senses – before she would wake up from her psychosis and realize what she had done.

I cherished this book.  It sat on my bookshelf for months out of fear.  Fear of smudging the cover.  Fear of dog-earing a page.  Fear of destroying the binding.  It’s funny because now I like it for the very reasons I feared.  I love the distressed, gray cover; it shows character.  I love the dog-eared pages; they mark my favorite passages.  I love the way I wrote my name on the inside cover; it shows my 6th grade personality.  But most of all, I love fanning the pages.  I can hold it a good 6 inches from my nose and still smell its old aroma.

Sure, I love this book because it’s a great story, but a story isn’t everything.  Sometimes it’s okay to judge a book by its cover.

Favorite Lines: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

I had a hard enough time limiting myself to 10 let alone ranking them, which explains the chronological order.  I think this is the first show I’m sad to see close.

1. It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and grey and purple and white and pink and orange and blue. – Ensemble
2. The dreams of our dear brother are the decade’s biggest yawn. His talk of stars and golden sheaves are just a load of corn. – Brothers
3. Could you use a slave, ya hairy bunch of ishmaelites? Young, strong, well-behaved. Going cheap, and he reads and writes. – Brothers
4. And I don’t speak Egyptian very well. – Joseph
5. Please stop. I don’t believe in free love. – Joseph
6. Don’t give up Joseph until you drop. We’ve read the book, and you come out on top. Don’t give up Joseph. Wait and you’ll see. We’ve been outside, and you’re on the marquee. – Prisoners
7. You’ll butle as you did before. – Joseph
8. Get down on your knees. – Narrator
9. Well, stone the crows. – Pharoah
10. We were in a jam that would have baffled Abraham. – Pharoah
11. This could be the happy ending, perfect place to stop the show. – Narrator
12. And if we have the time we could see the Sphinx. – Brothers
13. I shall now take them all for a ride.  After all, they have tried fratricide. – Joseph

Taking a Break

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t let blogging turn into idolatry.  Well, it has strengthened my faith but weakened my marriage.  I now post on here before discussing my thoughts and ideas with my husband.  And that’s borderline infedelity, an emotional affair if you will.  At the very least it smudged the line, and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a slippery slope.

In light of this realization, I’m taking a temporary break.  Most people would type something passive-aggressive now like, “Thanks for your patience.”  I think that is total bullshit.

Extending an Olive Branch

I realize this is an important historical move yet I can’t motivate myself to read (and thus write) about it.  Never the less, welcome home.  We truly are brothers and sisters in Christ.