In my spaghetti

I remember with fondness the Seymour's book worm talking thing-a-ma-jigger. You would press different buttons corresponding to different parts of speech. Then it would make a sentence! My favorite aspect of the toy was the prepositional phrases. In the grass, on the chair, in my soup. But my favorite one was in my spaghetti. Always made me laugh. Still does. To this day when I'm with my siblings, I'll randomly add in my spaghetti.

Childhood toys are so sentimental. The toys you always wanted but never got are even more so. Take, for example, the easy bake oven. Always wanted one, never got one. They're still magical to me. I'm sure the finished product would now taste disgusting to my adult taste buds but that's not the point. It was just...miraculous.  

Rainy Days

Gloom. Rain. Gray. Clouds.

YAY!

People might think I'm crazy (and my sister is probably the only one that will understand this post) but I actually love gloomy days. They make me excited to be inside, make cookies, curl up with a blanket, read a good book, play Christmas songs, drink hot chocolate, think about Christmas food, be creative and the list goes on. I am an Oregonian true blue through and through. I enjoy rainy days.

Bargains make me smile

I went to lunch to Olive Garden with a friend on Saturday. It was 4:10. We quickly found out that the lunch menu ended at 4. Well, shoot. Being the cheap skates we were, we meticulously looked through the dinner menu for the best deal. We settled on ordering soup. One bowl was $5.65. You may be thinking, "What a rip!" but indeed it was not. The soup is bottomless and it also comes with bread sticks (which are of course MY favorite part of Olive Garden). So endless soup and endless bread sticks. Pretty good deal. Then to make a good thing spectacular, the waiter got our order wrong. She brought us a huge bowl of salad. And once a waiter sets something on your table, there's no going back. So we got to eat it at no charge. The cherry on the cake was that the waiter gave us, not two but six mints Andes mints to 'cleanse our palet.' *contented sigh* A good meal, especially a good meal for a bargain always makes me happy.

 

Calling down through the years

I found out that my dad has a folder on the computer of stories about our ancestors. I opened it up and started looking through. It was very inspiring to read about their dedication and endurance. One file in particular stands out in my memory. It was the autobiography of my 5th (6th?) great grandfather: Zerah Pulsifer. He speaks of his grandfather fighting in the Battle of Bunker Hill as they were retreating:

"While they were going out, my grandfather saw one of our men wounded and crawling away on his hands and knees. In the meantime a British soldier ran him through with a bayonet. Being filled with indignation at such rank breach of the laws of all civilized nations he immediately stopped, and amid scenes of death and carnage, loaded his gun and shot that man down before he left the ground and then obtained a safe retreat. I speak of this to let my posterity know that our ancestors were clothed with that steady unshaken determination in time of the most imminent dangers that are incident to human life."

He's talking to me. I am his posterity. Zerah wrote those exact words with the hope that the generations to follow would read them and I have. The language is so moving that reading this passage really cuts to my heart. I thank my predecessors for being so courageous. For standing in honor. For keeping a written record that I can read and draw strength from. I come from a heritage of being clothed in steady, unshaken determination. I'm going to remember that as I'm walking through the villages of Honduras.  

Music?

I am seriously worried about the musical taste-buds of this country. When a song has retarded lyrics, it's like being at Disneyland and sitting in a bathroom stall all day. When a quote unquote "famous" singer is horribly mediocre or has no idea how to really sing, it's like going to Coldstone and licking the garbage can. It seems that few popular or famous singers these days could give a live concert because all of their songs have undergone extensive surgery using technology. "Oh, you don't know how to sing? That's OK. That's why we've got reverb honey!" "What? You have no concept of vibrato? Don't worry sweetie, no one does these days!"

What inspired this post? Justin Bieber. If you don't know who he is, I applaud you. I heard about him through the grapevine and wanted to hear him for myself. I typed his name into YouTube and the first video that came up was called 'Baby'.  I could NOT believe my eyes. Before I even started watching the video I saw that it had 359,686,628 hits. WHAT?!?!?! I had never known one clip to be watched so many times. My expectations were rising quickly. If this video had been watched over 350 million times it had to be pretty good right? Well, let's just say that if it had been good I wouldn't be posting right now.

Fail #1 came as soon as he opened his mouth to sing. I do not...I can't...there are not even words to convey my horrified amazement. He sounds like a 10 year old imitating a bad pop singer.

Fail #2 was his appearance. He looks like a 10 year old dressed up as a wannabe jock. The driving beat does not fit his baby face.

Fail #3 was blazingly apparent as he began singing words. (At first he's only singing "oh".)  The lyrics were absolutely a joke.

You know you love me, I know you care. 

Just shout whenevuh and I'll be there. 

You want my love, you want my heart 

and we will never ever ever be apart. 

Are we an item? Girl quit playing. 

We're just friends, what are you saying. 

Said there's another, look right in my eyes. 

My first love broke my heart for the first time. 

And I was like baby baby baby, 

ohhh, like baby baby baby 

no like baby baby baby 

ohh I thought you'd always be mine mine.

I predict that if those lyrics were turned in as a seventh grade poetry project it would get an F. 

Fail #4 hearkens back to #2. I couldn't take a song seriously that was talking about love when the singer himself probably still thinks girls have cooties. He should've been singing about pokemon cards and dinosaurs and playing tag. 

Disclaimer: I am not attacking Justin Bieber as a person. I'm sure he's a nice kid. I just think it's ridiculous that millions of people are spending money buying his music.

In conclusion: I adore listening to talented musicians that produce beautiful music and when the media picks a poster child who captivates millions and that child doesn't produce good music, it irritates me. I wish people could experience what I experience when I hear a truly exquisite piece of music. It's inspiring; my soul feels fed. Good music enhances my life. I wish the music industry would produce more of it.

Justin Bieber

Note: To fully appreciate this post, I suggest you watch the first little bit of his music video "Baby." I promise it will make you laugh. Especially if you watch it long enough to hear the chorus.

Real English

Maybe I'm a fanatic but I love old English. And by old English I mean I love varied vocabulary that conveys a depth of feeling that definitely lacking in our day. This is exemplified in the following quote. It is taken from the book The Character of Jesus, a compilation of sermons given by the Christian scholar Charles Edward Jefferson in 1908. It is writing like the following that makes me breathe more deeply and smile more contentedly.

"The amplitude of Jesus' ideas is evidenced by their perennial freshness and applicability to all kinds of men and conditions. How wonderful it is that Jesus' ideas are broad enough to cover all the nations and all the centuries. Many ideas shrivel and dry up with the lapse of time...But the ideas of Jesus have such breadth that they can cover the world and the ages, and although nineteen centuries have swept away almost everything which was believed and taught in Jesus' day, his ideas are still alive and the very words in which they are expressed seem destined to outlive the stars." (p125)

My Special Love Note

I embraced the sunshine and the early release from work by trekking up to the Portland Rose Gardens. I didn't anticipate any roses being in bloom but, serendipitously, there were quite a few. I chose a weathered, wooden bench to sit on. Directly behind the bench was a tall, stone wall covered in moss. Looking out from my bench I saw rows and rows of varied roses all set in front of the backdrop of Portland. It was an inspiring, soul-breathing view. I sat Indian style on the bench and pulled out my book.

I had not read 2 pages when the sun suddenly sparkled brightly and warmed me through. I gazed up at the sun to see how it bravely peeked through the clouds. To my surprise no where around me was illuminated save for my little wooden bench. I instantly felt like it was a love note from God. "Dear Emily, Thanks for taking the time to love my creations. I agree that they are very beautiful. I knew you'd appreciate a burst of sunshine to warm you up. Sending my love, Your Father in Heaven." I was humbled and honored to enjoy my 2 minutes of personal sunshine afforded to me directly from the Creator. My Creator. I told Him thank you and that I love Him too.