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4.24.06

the red cedar 1931-1933
lately i have enjoyed the works of emily carr, a renown canadian painter from the 20th century. carr is known for her expressionist landscapes and bright fauvist style of painting. she was also a member of the contemporary canadian art movement known as the "group of seven." her pieces of the british columbia forest (which i am the most fond of) display an amazing array of mood and mysticism that captivate me.

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4.20.06

welcome polly and eric to the blogging world.

review of the new fayetteville TGI Friday's:

last night megan, kimberly, rachel and i went to eat at the recently opened tgi friday's. the hostesses were very nice, and we didn't have to wait very long before we were seated. we sat at this strange half circle table (one like on the commercials) in the bar. the atmosphere was great-- very alive and fun, open and fresh. our server was kinda lame; he (unsuccessfully) flirted with us while attempting to wait on our table. overall the service was not at stellar as the atmosphere. kimberly's order was messed up, and we had to ask several times for ranch, lemons, etc.

i had the jalapeno burger, which sounded better than it tasted, but was still pretty good. kimberly had the buffalo wings, which she enjoyed. rachel had the jack daniels steak (whichever one it was) and she said it was delicious. megan had the electric lemonade, which was tasty, but it cost her $7 (outrageous!). their sweet tea is pretty good. in regards to the whole meal, it was a little pricey for the taste and quality of the food. overall, i give the experience a B-.

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4.19.06

if you are like me and enjoy getting people quizzical and/or funny gifts, you should visit the mcsweeney's book store.

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i was thinking today that the best day of your life would be a good title for a movie.

4.18.06

i went home sunday for easter. one highlight of going home is my piano. it sits in my room and collects dust on the days i am not home to play it. i have played the piano since i was little and still enjoy it very much. i don't talk about it often, so when a person hears that i play, he or she might say, "huh, i didn't know you played the piano..." so i will end this unawareness by bringing you all into the know-- i play the piano.

for christmas my parents bought me an electric one so that i could play at my apartment, which has been awesome. although i have classical training, i have spent my post-lesson days playing songs i listen to on a regular basis. my favorites include trouble, raining in baltimore, beautiful one, fred jones part 2, and so on and so forth. my friend daniel stopped by a while ago and jammed some jazz tunes on my guitar (no i don't really play that) while i jammed on piano. it was fun. there is nothing quite like losing yourself in music-- next to painting, nothing comes close for me.

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4.15.06

happy easter eve.

recent library check outs:
swordsmen in double flag town
far from heaven
magnolia
nowhere in africa
maltese falcon
yo la tengo president yo la tengo
belle & sebastian dear catastrophe
beatles 1
the anniversary your majesty

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4.12.06

yesterday i started watching Martin Luther, a pbs documentary that i checked out from the library. i had previously tried to purchase it from the pbs website but it was too expensive, so finding it at the library made me excited. its a fantastic account of martin luther's time as a monk and as the one who inspired a revolution. if you would like to read luther's 95 theses, you can do so here.

here is a passage from an introduction luther wrote to the book of romans. it is luther's definition of faith:

Faith is not what some people think it is. Their human dream is a delusion. Because they observe that faith is not followed by good works or a better life, they fall into error, even though they speak and hear much about faith. ``Faith is not enough,'' they say, ``You must do good works, you must be pious to be saved.''They think that, when you hear the gospel, you start working,creating by your own strength a thankful heart which says, ``I believe.'' That is what they think true faith is. But, because this is a human idea, a dream, the heart never learns anything from it, so it does nothing and reform doesn't come from this `faith,' either.

Instead, faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God. (John 1:13). It kills the Old Adam and makes us completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn't stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever. He stumbles around and looks for faith and good works, even though he does not know what faith or good works are.Yet he gossips and chatters about faith and good works with many words.

Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace. Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire! Therefore, watch out for your own false ideas and guard against good-for-nothing gossips, who think they're smart enough to define faith and works, but really are the greatest of fools. Ask God to work faith in you, or you will remain forever without faith, no matter what you wish, say or can do.

happy birthday today to meredith o'neal (her 21st) and to daniel paul davis (his 5th).

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4.8.06

so i copied everyone else and made a soundtrack to my blog.

here's a picture of my brother robert and my dog chester. i'm going to visit both of them today.

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i added a new section called "music & art" for my dear friends who enjoy these pleasures. i am particularly fond of andy cogbill's photos. they are worth checking out in length.

holy cow the date and title are huge...

so i finally figured out how to get comments on my page, but now i'm dealing with the voluminous size of my font at the top. i'll get to work on that soon.

three cheers for this fantastic weather. i love spring.

i loaned out a book last night to anne (jihad vs. mcworld) and found my favorite bookmark in it. its from the boulder bookstore, which is my favorite bookstore in the world. visit them here.