10 years from now

In April I posted a game called 10 years ago. Today I'm gonna do 10 years from now. So here goes!

10 years from now I hope I will have

1. finally read Mere Christianity (I know...can you believe I call myself a Lewis fan? And a Christian?!)
2. learned how to sew. something. anything.
3. children
4. become an awesome piano player!
5. traveled to Asia
6. a better understanding of scripture
7. no debt
8. an herb garden
9. written songs I am proud of
10. learned to love better than I know how today

What about you? Come on, even you Mark. You don't have to do 10 if you don't want. :)

Weeding

The thing about owning a house is that weekends now come fully stocked with grass that needs mowing, weeds that need pulling, and other responsibilities that if ignored, would probably end up growing out of control in a kind of way that would defeat the purpose of having a house.

The thing about yard work is that sometimes in the moments when your fingernails are complete with a dirt manicure, your neck is sunburned, and you have stopped caring about the bug crawling across your left forearm, somewhere in there you think about that verse in the bible when God told man he would work the ground (with toil)

The thing about working with the ground is that there are all sorts of parables to be derived from insects that live under rocks and vines that grow over the fence.

Yesterday I noticed that what seems to overtake the established shrubs in our front yard are the small, shallow weeds. They curl up over the branches and leaves and grow like a web around the plant. It happens quietly and subtly, almost gently, like a hug they close in. Some of the ones I pulled last weekend were there again this weekend, taking their place, challenging me for the final word.

If my body is a dwelling of spirit and soul, maybe their needs to be a sabbath day of rest and a sabbath day of weeding.

Adventures in Osodom

This morning while Oso was sniffing around the backyard, I snuck out on to the porch without him noticing. I sat down on the steps and watched him for a minute before he looked up and seemed to snap to attention at the sight of me. He started walking toward me slowly, like he wasn't sure if I was real or not. I smiled and said his name and at the sound of his name he started running toward me and wagging his tail as if to say "Oh, it really is you!". He is so funny.

Some recent adventures in Osodom:

1. He chewed a hole in the grill cover and proceeding to twist and turn and almost strangle himself with it. We found him that way, head swollen, starting to foam at the mouth. It was quite tramatic actually (for me, mostly). It took him a few days to recover but he's back to normal now.
2. He came camping with Kirk and I, and did great! He stayed in the tent with us, played in the creek near our site (nonstop), and went on a long hike with us. of course this led to andventure number 3,
3. Ticks. 3 ticks to be exact. Those things are pretty gross.

Here is Oso at 2 months, and Oso a couple weeks ago, at 5 1/2 months. Am I really posting about my dog as if he was a child? What is happening to me?

2 months:

almost 6 months, just hanging out in the backseat. He looks like he should have a seatbelt on.

Sorry those pictures are so bad, they're from my phone. I can never get to a camera soon enough when he does something cute.

Music: A balm for the craziness

Anxiety and Panic disorders seem to be more common every day. Is it that more people are being affected by these issues, or that we're talking about it more? I don't know the answer to that, but I have several friends who struggle with anxiety and I have my share as well. Today I read an interesting article about Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer of Wilco, and his panic disorder. This article from Rolling Stone was written a few years ago after Tweedy had gone to rehab for his addiction to prescription pills.

"For Tweedy, who tries to write and play music every day, one of the most difficult things about rehab, at first, was his loss of guitar privileges. (Because of possible suicide attempts, the hospital didn't want strings around.) Eventually, he was allowed to play during art-therapy classes. "The doctors told me, 'Your panic goes away completely when you play guitar,' " Tweedy says. "I guess my color changes, everything."

I've heard that his doctors actually concluded that music was a better remedy than anything else they gave him. I love that.

I certainly have times when music is the only thing that will calm me down. Like when I'm sitting in between two strangers on a bumpy airplane ride, or when something frustratingly tragic happens and nothing seems to make sense. Music.

Here are some songs I listen to often for calming down purposes. Because they move me and remind me of the bigger picture.

Jill Phillips- Everything
Pierce Pettis- Love Will Always Find its Way, Great Big World
Eva Cassidy- Fields of Gold
David Wilcox- What You Whispered
Sara Groves- Why it Matters
Tom Conlon- Wake Me

Chris Rice also recorded an instrumental record called "The Living Room Sessions" that has been a favorite of mine. It's all hymns on the piano and it feels peaceful to me.

What about you, what music or songs do you listen to as a kind of balm for the craziness?

P.S. Randy Elrod does this deal called Water Cooler Wednesday's and I am participating in it today with this blog. Check it out!

Perspective on a "bad day"

I flew Southwest Airlines a couple weekends ago. We often do because as you may know, they are the best at a lot of things. I'm a fan. However, I am not a fan of the current marketing for their business class.

The image that set me off was on the jetway leading to the plane. It is a picture of a woman's feet in red high heels. It appears she's walking the streets of a city, lets say New York. The heel of one of the shoes is breaking off of the shoe and it looks as if she may trip because of it. Above the image it simply says "Bad Day?".

Another is a living room scene, a bulldog is in the forefront with a cell phone in his mouth, buttons and electronics strewn on the floor around him. "Bad Day?", it asks.

And of course, it then proceeds to convince you that flying Southwest Bussiness Class is just what you need to cheer up your day.

Now... I'm not trying to be all high and mighty, because I certainly have days where the little things add up and make me want to pull my hair out. And yes, in those moments I would tell you about the "bad day" I'd be having.

But seriously? A broken high heel? A chewed up cell phone? I know it's just a marketing campaign, and a good one, if you're trying to encourage a self centered society to keep on feeling sorry for themselves and their shoe misfortunes.

You're probably thinking, "Alli.... if you wanted to rant on marketing campaigns, I can think of some worse ones than this". And it's really not that bad, but something about it hit a chord with me. I just stood there on the jetway thinking, "Bad day! You think that is a bad day?!"

Because I think of some of the Compassion kids whose bad day consists of a parent dying of AIDS, or having little to no food to eat. I think of the families in parkersburg, IA who lost their homes this last Sunday in a tornado. I think of the Chapman's, who just lost their little girl.

Those are bad days.

Just trying to keep perspective in the midst of an often skewed slew of media fireworks.

A "Must Listen" list

Here is a list of other indie artists that have recently released new records that I've been listening to and I think you should too! Here is a brief description of them followed by some of my favorite lyrics.

Jeremy Casella, Recovery
This record is so moving I don't really even know how to describe it. If you asked me which one of these records to buy first, I would say this one.

From the title track, Recovery:
No one told you that faith would come easy
No one promised the way would be clear
Turn the ground in the fields of your story
While you're sowing the seed of your tears
Under skies wide and blue as the ocean
Make your peace with your own history
So much more than the sum of your longings
Are the good and the bad - all this beauty and tragedy

Waterdeep- Heart Attack Time Machine
Don and Lori Chaffer released this delightful collection of songs that I fall in love with more every time I listen. There is something so emotional about the songs that makes me want to weep (in a good way). It's my favorite Waterdeep record, and I think Don's too.

From Good Good End
I'm amazed by life
and it's amazed by me
we're a strange old pair, me and eternity
it don't make good sense, it ain't easy to see
but I'm amazed by life
and it's amazed by me

While you're at the Waterdeep site, you MUST check out the Khrusty Brothers which is some of Don's best work by far.

Andy Gullahorn - Reinventing the Wheel

There are only a handful of writers that have the ability to make you laugh and cry in the same song. Andy is one of them. I absolutly love this record. It's this sort of music I'm consistantly drawn to amidst the changing musical trends. Great acoustic licks, simple production and compelling stories.

Stories are hard to pull lyrics from cause you really need the whole song so I'll just tell you that my favorite sone on the record is "How Precious Life Is". if you have a minute, go watch this commercial he made for the record. :)

Steven Delopoulos- Straightjacket
Steven was the frontman for Burlap to Cashmere. He is now releasing his own material which is brilliantly querky and full of poetic lyrics that give me goosebumps. This is not for the casual listener, but for the music lover who wants something different to sink their teeth into. It's pretty incredible stuff. Even when I have no idea what he's talking about, it moves me.

From the song Wallfly
The ocean, salvation
Reflecting its kindness
By lending us rivers and traffic of stream
And building of mountains
with suit and tie static
and flies of scavengers running the team


Justin McRoberts- Deconstruction
Justin has released his best yet, in my opinion. The first song is amazing, you must check it out.

Chorus of Done Living
you see the question isn't are you gonna suffer anymore
what will it have meant when you are through
the question isn't are you gonna die, you're gonna die
will you be done living when you do?

Check em out!

What are we teaching our children?

You’ll want to read my post on Margaret Mead from last thursday to make the most sense of this one.

“Our task is going to be to re-value human and artist and religious activity so that everyone involved in it will be a valid and worthy member of the community , and we won't feel ourselves impoverished by the fact that we are so rich. which is the position we're in a present."
-Margaret Mead

The obvious meaning of the word impoverished is “reduced to poverty”. But the meaning I think Margaret is talking about is “deprived of strength, vitality, creativeness.” (dictionary.com)

Margaret said those words in 1964. She thought that was the position they were in then and unfortunately, I think it has only gotten worse in these 44 years.

What if our great country full of promise and opportunity and overwhelming wealth, is actually depriving us of some of the very things we thought it would give us?

Did you know that instrument sales are up 200% from two years ago? On one hand, this is fantastic, as I believe music has the power to engage parts of us that nothing else can and everyone can benefit from learning an instrument.

However, I would bet that most of the people buying and learning instruments today are not in it for the expansion of their mind, or to support the arts.

My theory is that our culture worships celebrity and fame. Think of what most teenagers are into these days. Myspace, Facebook, YouTube, American Idol and a hodgepodge of other reality shows. Not only are children growing up in a world where everything is convenient and microwavable, they are watching a world give attention and in some cases, honor, to the people making the loudest waves. We are teaching our children (even if unintentionally) that the most worthy and valuable contribution they can make to society is to achieve stardom. To get the spotlight to point to them, even if just for a minute.

Look, I don’t think there is anything wrong with the 13 year old girl who wants to be the next Carrie Underwood. I would be the first to encourage her to go for it! But when a large percentage of 13 year old girls want to be the next Carrie Underwood, I start to question the message we are giving 13 years old girls. Do they know how special they are without the stage and the lights? And what about the girl who reveals a little too much skin in her myspace profile pic? Or makes a slightly racy youtube video and feels a rush of satisfaction and strength when it gets a 1,000 views. What does that lead to?

I know the desire to be noticed and seen is nothing new. This is written into human nature. But I think we are at a dangerous place today. When I think of what Margaret said almost 45 years ago, I am amazed at her foresight because I think we are in desperate need of some correct re-valuing. I do think we are impoverished by the fact that we are so rich.

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