Sidebar Updates

I wish to make a note of the following....

My little sister's blog has joined the previously all-male cast of Xanga and LJ sites (I mourn that none of my siblings use blogspot; their good taste is obviously impaired in this area...) on the My Family show.

Dad's Xanga has simultaneously departed the My Family show, due to time constraints and the fact that he has to save the world every day (little things like this can get in the way of blogging).

Mike's Xanga hasn't been updated since he got engaged. Woe to him! Take warning, all happily single persons who are also happily addicted to blogging---if you get engaged, your days as a blogger will be numbered.

Fortunately, the moral doesn't turn out. Mike has, in fact, merely traded his single Xanga space in for a new doublewide, conveniently entitled "mikeandjess." These are deep linguistical waters, but I'll give you a hint. Start at the next letter after "d" and think of wedding bells. Yep. My sibs call them "the happy couple," and now they have their own Xanga, complete with cute "WE ARE SO TOTALLY ENGAGED!!" pictures, posts about the wedding date, and all manner of suchlike paraphenalia. Now I understand why Danya refers to them as "simultaneously adorable and repulsive." I'm with Benedict on this one---"But I'll be sworn that until love has transformed me to an oyster, he shall never make such a fool of me!" Nevertheless, they are adorable. :-)

So, mikeandjess have joined the My Family show. Jess, I salute your bravery, and I'm thrilled to be getting one of my best friends as a sister. Welcome to the clan!

Well, Why Not?

Into ever life a few questionnaires must fall. This one I culled from Danya's LJ. Enjoy. :-)

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES? They're nice white-on-white china of Mom's choosing. I'm not all that big on white/white combinations, but Mom has great taste, and whatever she chooses is beautiful, so... yeah, they're pretty. :-)

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Lessee... Just finished Siddhartha for Worldviews, and Rape of the Lock (Alexander Pope) for Brit Lit. I guess you could say I'm "reading" Macbeth... we're on Day 2 of the show around here, and I feel steeped in Shakespeare. I haven't picked up a pleasure book in some time, but that's okay, because half my schoolwork is fiction. For QT I just started 1 Corinthians (I decided to do a nice slow read-through of the Bible while in college, so I started with Genesis as a freshie. Now a senior, I am almost finished. Wow.) and sundry other books keep cropping up (The Dangerous Duty of Delight, All Things for Good, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, etc.).

3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I do not have a mousepad. Mousepads are not precisely evil, but I find them more of a bother than a comfort.

4. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE MAGAZINE? I've never consistently read magazines. Someday, however, I'm going to find a really good classical studies magazine, and an equally superlative historical studies magazine, and one on writing, and then I will be thoroughly magazined...maybe Touchstone and Image...?

5. FAVORITE SMELL? Mint of all fresh and sharp varieties (strongly excluding air fresheners and other sickly facsimilies of the true Form ofMint).

6. LEAST FAVORITE SMELL? Ever been to Venice? When it's too hot out, and there's too much garbage in the water, it can be pretty nasty. The only remedy is to get to the still maze of the inner city, where canals are fewer (relatively speaking) and you can hear yourself think.On a more homey note, there was an onion that went bad in our pantry a while ago. Nuff said.

7. THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN MORNING? It depends utterly on the morning. Did I wake up from a nightmare? I get those sometimes. Sometimes I think about the quality of the sunlight coming in through my windows. Most of the time I just lie awake and enjoy the sensuous experience of awareness.

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? Brown. It can be done well, and it looks great on some people, but it's not a favorite of mine.

9. FAVORITE COLOR? Blue. Blue, blue, blue. I'm pretty sure it's God's favorite color. I guess it doesn't technically have more shades and hues than other colors, but...

10. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? Let it ring. Seriously, Danya will sprint for the phone, and I'll be asking rhetorical questions of the back of his head, like, "Davy, don't you trust the answering machine?" I even have to struggle with sin when the phone rings during dinner. And since every single person in my family (minus Burgee and the Grandparents) has a cell phone... including me... and our live-in does too... at any given time there are about 10 cell phones in the house. Cells are okay, and even useful. However, I prefer vis-a-vis conversation whenever possible.

11. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Oh, you know how this goes... Anne and Elizabeth, if my two sisters will consent to let me use their middle names. Katherine, because I should have been a Kate. I know... hopelessly Tudor. Boys names are more difficult, because we have so many great ones in my family, and then there's the whole issue of one's husband and what he wants to call his sons (he gets dibs, of course)... I like James Severn, for my grandfather and brother. I like Michael Scott, for my brother and father. William is good too--in fact, it's an old family name. Also Robert, Gray, etc. ::waves hands:: We'll worry about all that later. I will echo Danya, however. He says that the important thing is to give sensible first names and then really cool middle names, so that the kid can choose and is neither bogged down nor hopelessly bored.

12. WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE? Glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. Well, that was easy. Now I just have to do it...

13. FAVORITE SOUND? The voice of a dear friend. Also breezes, water moving, and live music, preferably the piano or violin.

14. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? I refuse to be constrained to two choices. Fresh raspberries strewn over vanilla with double fudge sauce!

15. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? I don't like driving, period. I'm pretty good at it, and I do like having the time to think, and as long as it's just running errands around town I don't mind too much. However, I had a bad car accident that shook me up about cars and, well, God's still working on me.

16. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? Absolutely not! I never have, and I never intend to. I had a two-year-old sister to sleep with instead, when I was little. Have you ever tried hefting a large infant off your stomach without waking her up? In the middle of the night? Agonizing process. Besides, she cuddles in her sleep. I almost fell off the edge. Hence, I am now wary of sharing my bed with anything bigger than a rabbit skin. Yes, I did sleep with rabbit skins. On my pillow. They're soft and pretty.

17. WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? I have never had a car. I love our family minivan, though. Dory (named for Finding Nemo, although we later discovered that "dory" is Japanese for "road") is a wonderful little red wagon, and she's absolutely loaded with cool technology. This pleases me. :)

18. IF YOU COULD SEE ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE, it would be Jesus. I want to meet Jesus when he was about 18-22. I want to know what he was like at my age.

19. YOUR BIRTHDAY? December 1st, also known as my parents' anniversary.

20. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? I have. I don't do it for fun. And I don't serve it for dinner, either. :)

21. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE? I can't pick one. Career-wise, I would want some combination of teaching (history, writing, literature) and writing (curriculum development, stories, articles, blogs), with a little traveling thrown in (conferences). Life-wise, I believe that having a career would be very bad for me. It's so easy to get self-centered as a single. You have to fight that tendency all the time. Marriage and kids forces any woman to learn selflessness.

22.IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I always wanted to look just like my daddy. I got his blue eyes, but I still need the brown-black hair.

23. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE? I thought I was, once.

24. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? Overflowing!

25. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE MOVIES? Joan of Arc, The Scarlet and the Black, Philadelphia Story, Chariots of Fire, Braveheart, Life is Beautiful, The Village... etc. I love older movies for their incredible screenwriting and wit. I love newer movies for their sophisticated ability to play with color, music, and visual effects. I love any movie with soul.

26. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? Um, I hope so.

27. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Nothing that I know of, except carpet.

28. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? Twelve, because it is the number of epic and Biblical literature. Seven, because it is the number of completion. Three, because it is the number of the Trinity.

29. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Figure skating is high on my list. I like watching horse shows, but I prefer to ride in them. I like to watch the team sports (basketball, football, etc.) because of the raw passion, and I like gymnastics.

30. WHAT IS YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST FEAR? That I'll die and find that Christianity was all a lie, or that I'll find a way to live alone. I'm much too fond of being alone.

31. SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU. I love Danya. He's the sweetest, funniest, most talented guy I know. And he loves me. :)

32. PERSON YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Since I'm putting it up on my blog, I don't really expect any response.

33. MOST LIKELY NOT TO RESPOND? Everybody!

34. FAVORITE CD? Rhapsody is one vast CD. I'm enjoying Chris Rice, my country collection, tunes from musicals, various worship songs, etc.

35. FAVORITE TV SHOWS? Selected Star Trek and Lost. Or, more nostalgically, Gilligan's Island and Sesame Street.

36. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD? Ketchup.

37. HAMBURGERS OR HOT DOGS? It depends on the mood.

38. FAVORITE SOFT DRINK? I don't drink soda, with the exception of a rare Root Beer or Sprite blend. Soda does weird things to my tummy.

39. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW? A collage of autumn and water scenes.

40. BURGER KING OR MCDONALDS? Burger King, of course.

41. FIVE WEIRD THINGS ABOUT YOU? Oh golly...

A) Skiing scares me to death, but I will happily bounce around on the back of a 2,000 pound horse. You would think that it might be the other way round, seeing as the mountain doesn't bite or kick.
B) I use away messages like personal writing space, and will change them, sometimes every thirty seconds, until I get one that pleases me. My friends shouldn't have me on their BL's if they also have notification technology. Fair warning.
C) I have been known to hide in closets in order to avoid coming onstage to take a bow. I wish I could say that it was in my childhood, but it was last fall. It's taken me years to learn how to gracefully accept a compliment.
D) I have zero tolerance for male vanity. This leads me to disparage cute guys in general, because generally they know that they are cute.
E) Ever since I was 11 years old, I have been designing and redesigning a Roman villa. It still isn't finished.

42. WHAT WERE YOU DOING 12 YEARS AGO?

12 years ago I was... what.... nine? Wow. Well, since this is a November afternoon, I was probably holed up in front of the woodstove in our 100-year-old white victorian farmhouse (set in the middle of a 200-acre cattle farm in Hillsboro, VA), with my feet more or less on top of my little brother's feet, since he was probably sitting at the other end of the futon couch. We were either playing foot wars, which we did quite frequently, or else we were both reading. At that age I would have been reading Narnia, and he would have been reading LOTR.

43. 7 YEARS AGO?

Okay, fastforward to me at age 14. Um... we were in Maryland, and had lived about 6 months in our present house. I was on the volleyball team, so at this time of the afternoon I was probably walking through the old ruined farm across the street, on my way to practice at the church. It was pretty creepy, because the vines had grown up all over the shed and the well was just an uncovered hole and there were halves of stone walls running willy-nilly. Cool on a summer afternoon with your brothers, not so cool in late November by yourself. Oh, I was also unsaved, and pretty much miserable.

44. 1 YEAR AGO?

Eh. 1 year ago at this time I was in the middle of the most painful situation I've ever been in (short of being unsaved), and my health was in decline as a result. So, physically broken down, mentally strained, emotionally wrecked, and learning tons about trusting God.

45. YESTERDAY?

Yesterday at this hour I was just getting ready to go down for an evening of helping put on Macbeth. Curiousely enough, that's what I'm doing now. As soon as I finish this. :-)

46. TOP 10 BOOKS?

Oh this is so totally not fair! Don't you know I have a play to get to? ::sigh:: Okay, but these aren't in order of importance, except for the first one.

1) The Bible. I'm not just saying it, either. The Bible really is my favorite work of all time, spiritually, literarily, grammatically...
2) The Odyssey
3) Les Miserables
4) Fahrenheit 451
5) The Republic (Plato)
6) Sidney's essay, In Defense of Poesy
7) Dorothy Sayers' essay, The Lost Tools of Learning
8) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
9) Much Ado About Nothing
10) Photogen and Nycteris


47. TOP 10 DREAM DATES?

45 BC
6 BC
1 AD
33 AD
800 AD
1212 AD
1450 AD
1611 AD
1776 AD
1804 AD

Oh, you meant....

Mr. Knightly, to correct my faulty character
Benedict, for his wit and warmth
Tom Sawyer, because we would have had so much fun exploring together
Ged, because he understood fear but was not himself afraid
Photogen, because he was both a boy and a man
Socrates, for his wisdom and love of beauty
Peter Pan, for his wildness, and because I would have liked to play with him
A soldier whose name I do not know, but whose young face I saw once among other soldiers in a Civil War photograph. He looked like a kindred spirit.
A highland boy from the 16th century, because he could teach me to hunt and drum

The Bible on Crowns

First of all, I would like very much to know how long the average Byzantine emperor could expect to wear this object without acquiring a headache. I estimate it at about three minutes. No wonder Justinian always looked oppressed in the mosaics---he was!

On to the important point, however. What follows is something that I wrote upon the ascension of PHC's one and only High Queen. Since I had to do the coronation ceremony, I figured that I should see what Scripture has to say about crowns. The results bowled me over, which is why I present them for your consideration. For the sake of time, I am simply going to append my whole speech from the ceremony.

Upon the Occasion of Sarah's Coronation Ceremony

When Clarice asked me, “What do you think we should do for Sarah?” my immediate response was “we should crown her High Queen.” I knew that Sarah wouldn’t like it. I knew she wouldn’t like it because she is humble, and hates her own pride, and she knows that being crowned High Queen would be for her a temptation to pride.

So, I went to see what Scripture says about crowns and crowning. I was astonished at the overall theme of the verses throughout Scripture on the subject. There’s a reason why it just seemed right to me, and right to Clarice and all of us, to want to crown you, Sarah. As far as I can tell, this is a profoundly Biblical way of honoring, encouraging, and exhorting, someone whom we all desire to bless.

The first time I found “crown” mentioned in the Bible was in Exodus 29. In order to consecrate the priests, God orders that “. . . you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban” (Exodus 29:6). Accordingly, “They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord’” (Exodus 39:30). Sarah, the first thing that I want to point out about crowning is that it first meant, and means for us here tonight, that you are holy to the Lord. We distinguish you as belonging to God by crowning you.

The second thing that I want to point out to you about crowning is that it has a dual significance. Isaiah tells us, “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God” (Isaiah 62:3), and Isaiah also tells us, “In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people” (Isaiah 28:5). So Sarah, the second thing for you to see is that you are a crown in the hand of the Lord, just as the Lord himself is your crown. You glorify him, and he is your life and joy, your very glory.

The third thing I want to point out to you is that crowns do not exist to be served, but to serve, and to give their lives up. Zechariah writes, “On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land” (Zech. 9:16). A crown shines on the land of the Lord. A crowned head is one that must be constantly bent to care for others. Elizabeth I of England, on the field of battle, told her troops that,

“I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor and my blood, even [in] the dust.”

Such devotion, first to God, and then to God’s people, is the duty of a crowned head. We see this ultimately in the figure of Christ, who wore his crown of thorns in order to save us. As the High Priest he was set apart for God by a crown, not of gold, but of thorns. He was the crown in God’s hand that was to shine over God’s land, and God was his crown, whom he obeyed even unto death on a cross. Thirdly, then, you must remember the calling which a crown represents. Sarah, we would not all desire to give you this crown if we had not seen your persistent love for your God and for his people, your brothers and sisters. We give you this crown to honor you for the way you have laid down your life for us, and to remind you that, as an imitator of Christ, you must always be ready to lay it down in his service.

Elizabeth II, at her coronation, said,

“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong. . . .”

Sarah, we are the great Imperial family, the family of God, and you have devoted your life to serving God and serving us.

Fourth and finally, this is an awesome responsibility. Stand firm under it. James writes, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Sarah, we are sending you out from PHC. We charge you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, as a member of a royal priesthood, crowned and set apart. We charge you to fix God in your heart and soul as your crown and diadem of beauty, always, as you are a crown and a royal diadem in his hands. We charge you to remember that the crown is to serve and shine from God’s hand, that you are an imitator of Christ, who is in the world to spread the Gospel of Christ in Christ’s love, and not to be served. Finally, we charge you to remain steadfast under trial, so that you may receive the crown of life, which is greater than any crown that we could give you, and receive the commendation of your Lord and Savior—“Well done, my good and faithful servant.” We charge you with all these things, and we crown you.

Bear it well, Daughter of Eve.