Homemaking Through the Church Year

Game Trust, Real Trust, and Love

2012-01-28T11:56:00.000-08:00

When I watch reality TV, I'm always surprised by the contestant (and there's always at least one), who is shocked to find out that another contestant wasn't telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but that truth. It's a bit like someone being shocked that poker sometimes involves bluffing.

Of course, there's a whole conversation about ethics that can be had here, and it's a conversation that fascinates me, but I'm going to put it aside for the moment in order to focus on something else: the nature of trust.

Game Trust
In reality TV game shows - or in just about any game - the person you can trust is the person whose interests align with yours. You have "game trust"*. Game trust means that you can predict what the person will do and therefore you can trust them to act in the way you expect. To use game trust to your advantage, find where your opponent's interests correspond with yours, and exploit that correspondence to your benefit.

All very dog-eat-dog, right? Well, it can be. It's also very close to the reason why capitalism works and is the worse system in the world - except for all the others. Capitalism is an economic system that assumes that people are going to operate in their own self-interest, and builds all its checks and balances around that assumption. And, people being people, they do act in their own self-interest, and that's why capitalism usually works okay.

So: game trust.

Real Trust

What comes next in this hierarchy of trust? It's what I'll call "real trust". It's what we have with our spouses, our parents, our friends, and our kids, at least in the healthy versions of those relationships. We can trust them to act "not just in our own interest, but also in the interest of others".

When I was engaged to marry my husband, my mom shared a great piece of marriage advice. She said, "If it's good for Adam, it's good for you." Or, in other words, if there was a thing Adam loved - say a hobby or a job or a friend - and it wasn't something I loved, it was still good for me if he had that good thing. Because when we married, his good became my good. Anything that makes him happier, better, stronger? Makes me the same, because we've become - in ways both mystical and practical - one. His good is my good, and my good is his.

Other good relationships work this way. I have friends who have passions that baffle me - they're things I'd never want to do. But I can see the good effect that nurturing those passions has on their lives, and because I love them, I'm happy to encourage them that make them happier, better, stronger - in other words, more themselves.

So, real trust. I can trust the ones I love to love me and do me good - sometimes even to their own hurt. There are people of whom I do not need to be afraid.

Love

But, of course, even in good human relationships, there's a limit to love. We're selfish in even the best of our relationships, we can't help it. We can never fully empathize with someone else. And since you have to know well in order to love well, we can never love fully: we're not omniscient. My husband probably has a better guess about what constitutes my good than any other human being has - but it's still, at least partly, a guess. He is not all-knowing and so cannot be all-loving.

But God can. He knows us fully and loves us fully. He knows what our good is (it is Him) and is constantly working to give it to us.

And here is the marvelous thing: as Christians, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. As we commune with God in prayer, the Holy Spirit continually works in our hearts to direct them towards love and good works. As we pray for our family and friends, He shows us how to love them.

In other words, real love, full love, can be ours. It can be ours when we let God love our loved ones through us. It is not us doing the work, but Him. Will we ever see more than that "dim reflection" here? No, but the light will grow, if we walk in obedience. I'm reminded of the words Tennyson wrote in memory of a well-loved friend:

We have but faith: we cannot know;

For knowledge is of things we see

And yet we trust it comes from thee,

A beam in darkness: let it grow.

Let knowledge grow from more to more,

But more of reverence in us dwell;

That mind and soul, according well,

May make one music as before,

But vaster. We are fools and slight;

We mock thee when we do not fear:

But help thy foolish ones to bear;

Help thy vain worlds to bear thy light.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

*I'm not sure, but this phrase might have been invented by Linda Holmes back when she wrote for TWOP under the name "Miss Alli".

Chard! Chard and oranges!

2012-01-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

I know I'm lucky to live in California, where we have fresh produce even through the winter months. So I'm not complaining. Our CSA baskets are still bountiful and overflowing. My fridge right now is stuffed with fruits and veggies that were grown within a couple hundred miles of where we live. It's great.

It is also overwhelmingly greens and citrus. Chard, kale, tatsoi, and chard. Oranges, satsumas, grapefruits and, yup, more oranges.

We have vitamin C coming out of our ears.

Anyway, in honor of my green and orange winter, I offer a recipe for my current favorite lunch:

A California Winter Stir-fry:
-4 cups (or so) chopped chard
-1 tsp. sesame oil
-2 or 3 Tbs. soy sauce
-1 tsp. chili-garlic sauce
-1 tsp. sugar
-3 egg whites
-1 egg

1) Toss the chard with sesame oil in a big pan, and start cooking the chard on high heat.
2) Add soy sauce, chili-garlic sauce, and sugar. Toss to coat the chard and make sure it's all well-mixed, or you'll get a bite of chili-garlic sauce that'll make your nose run.
3) When the chard is almost as cooked as you like it (I like it still just the tiniest bit crisp), add the egg whites and egg. Cook till the egg is done, continuing to stir.

You'll end up with a sort of sauce in the bottom of the pan - all the juices from the chard and some of the sauce-makings. I pour this on top of the chard when I scoop the mess into my bowl, just to flavor it a bit more. But most of this watery sauce will still end up in the bottom of the bowl when you're done. I just toss it at the end, content that I'm not getting quite all the salt from the soy sauce, and that has to be healthy, right?

And there you have it! Spicy, salty, sweet CSA goodness. Mmmm.

And if you finish all that and you're still hungry? My advice is to have an orange.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! Prayer, books, Doctor Who fashion, and more!

2012-01-25T17:20:00.000-08:00

Mama Monk's post, "It Should Be Short", is an enlightening and heartening post about prayer.

I don't remember if I've linked to Supratentorial's Read Aloud posts before, but if I haven't, I should have, because her recommendations often form the bulk of our requested-books haul from the library. Here's one that focuses on non-fiction Cybil-nominated books.

momco3 (of "Learning As We Go" fame) has a new blog that's strictly reviews of YA books. It's called "If You Liked That". I especially like her review of "The Hunger Games"; I think she's right on about who would be living in the Capital.

A little late for this year, but Know Tea's post on celebrating all twelve days of Christmas is a good one to read with next year's celebration in mind - and I especially like the keen observation about Dickens' Christmas ghosts.

Simcha Fisher's post "Bene, Bene, Bene" is, like its title, full of goodness.

A great article on the question, "should I marry a man who struggles with pornography?" Moore points out that the answer doesn't depend on the presence of the temptation, it's how the temptation is met:

What you need is not a sinless man. You need a man deeply aware of his sin and of his potential for further sin. You need a man who can see just how capable he is of destroying himself and your family. And you need a man with the wisdom to, as Jesus put it, gouge out whatever is dragging him under to self-destruction.

Yep. Whatever the particular struggle, the person to marry isn't the sinless one, because, welcome to Earth, you won't find someone like that. If you're going to get married, you're going to get married to a sinner. But you want to marry a sinner who knows how to repent. And who runs from temptation and towards Jesus. (And remember that whoever marries you is picking a sinner too.)

I think I linked to Geek Chic's Start Trek fashion post, but this one about outfits inspired by Doctor Who is EVEN BETTER. Yes, yes I do want to dress like the TARDIS. Thank you.

So, what good stuff have you found around the web this week?

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Book Review: Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

2012-01-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know: awful title. But, y'know, she's Canadian. (Just kidding! I feel very fondly towards my former home!)

Despite that, Yarn Harlot: the Secret Life of a Knitter is a really fun little book. Or at least, it was exactly what I was in the mood for when I picked it up. A collection of vignettes about her obsession/hobby, Yarn Harlot is humorous, a trifle worrying, occasionally insightful and, at least, once, tear-provoking.

Pearl-McPhee is obsessed with all things knitting. She has rooms full of yarn and freaks out when she loses one of a set of tiny double-pointed needles. But the fun of the book is that she realizes she's obsessed and can laugh at herself. I think the book wouldn't be fun if you weren't in the mood to laugh too (I could see this book making me crazy on a day when I was inclined towards feeling crazy anyways), but I was in the mood to read about someone else's foibles and this fit the bill.

Plus, it's not just foibles. Pearl-McPhee also has a clear-eyed view of what is good and even, yes, noble about her hobby. There's something fundamentally good about wrapping people you love in warm garments and that come through in her writing. There's also something about handicrafting that tells the recipient of the handicrafts that he or she is valued, and that's very clear in her writing also.

Finally, there is one chapter in this book about a particular delivery she attended as a doula (during which she was knitting socks for the new baby) that was one of the most beautiful things I've read recently.
Recommended if you're interested in either handicrafts or portraits slightly-pathological-but-still-winsome.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Daybook for January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T13:50:00.000-08:00

outside my window . . . the sun's just come out after what was a truly satisfying morning rain storm.

I am listening to . . . "A Hymn to God the Father", sung by my alma mater's acapella group. " Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun a year or two, but wallowed in a score? When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done, for I have more." Golly. It gets me every time.

I am wearing . . . my hand-crocheted wool vest. It's just barely cold enough for it. (We treasure our cold days here in SoCal, scarcity equaling value and all that.)

I am so grateful for . . . bananas. I stopped eating them for awhile, but I'm now renewing my appreciation of what a perfect, filling snack they are.

I'm pondering . . . Lent. See above song choice.

I am reading . . . The Elizabethan World Picture. It's all about order. (And John Donne!)

I am creating . . . many, many things. A few weeks ago my writing life sort of exploded (I'll blog about that at some point, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around these new projects). I think all this mental activity (frenzy?) explains why I'm headed back in my reading and listening to old favorites like Donne. Donne (like Sayers) always helps put my head back on straight.

I am thankful for . . . writing projects. I'm doing what I love.

around the house . . . there is much making of soup, the better to treasure our precious cold and wet weather.

from the kitchen . . . 12 bean soup tonight and split pea in the crockpot for tomorrow.

real education in our home . . . working on making evening devotions with the kids more regular. All four children are currently a bit obsessed with Moses, and we're capitalizing on that.

the church year in our home . . . thinking about Lent, mostly. Enjoying how light and airy the house feels now that all the Christmas decorations are put away.

recent milestones . . . just hit 30,000 words on the current novel!

the week ahead. . . more writing, more loving on the kids, and a visit from a relative who's coming into town from Scotland.

picture thought . . . enjoying some GORP on top of the ridge we hiked with my dad last weekend:

For the start of the work-week

2012-01-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

An apt poem from Gerard Manley Hopkins. See if you can spot the line that Lewis stole and put in the mouth of a character in his Chronicles. This poem has been on my mind ever since I read it last spring and realized that I'm in the middle verse now. Oh, and all poetry is best read aloud, but Hopkins especially. And this one gathers a lot of momentum towards the end.

Here 'tis:

Morning, Midday, and Evening Sacrifice

THE DAPPLED die-away
Cheek and wimpled lip,
The gold-wisp, the airy-grey
Eye, all in fellowship—
This, all this beauty blooming,
This, all this freshness fuming,
Give God while worth consuming.

Both thought and thew now bolder
And told by Nature: Tower;
Head, heart, hand, heel, and shoulder
That beat and breathe in power—
This pride of prime’s enjoyment
Take as for tool, not toy meant
And hold at Christ’s employment.

The vault and scope and schooling
And mastery in the mind,
In silk-ash kept from cooling,
And ripest under rind—
What life half lifts the latch of,
What hell stalks towards the snatch of,
Your offering, with despatch, of!

-Gerard Manley Hopkins

Chapbook for Boethius' "The Consolation of Philosophy"

2012-01-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

Book II
"But you are wrong if you think Fortune has changed towards you. Change is her normal behavior, her true nature." -section I

"I can say with confidence that if the things whose loss you are bemoaning were really yours, you could never have lost them." -section II

". . . you should not wear yourself out by setting your heart on living according to a law of your own in a world that is shared by everyone." -section II

"There is something in the case of each of us that escapes the notice of the man who has not experienced it, but causes horror to the man who has." -section IV

". . . he who hath much, wants much." -section V

"When you think of your future fame you think you are creating for yourself a kind of immortality. But if you think of the infinite recesses of eternity you have little cause to take pleasure in any continuation of your name." -section VI

"Good fortune deceives, but bad fortune enlightens." -section VIII

Book III
"Look up at the vault of heaven: see the strength of its foundation and the speed of its movement, and stop admiring things that are worthless." -section VIII

Book IV
"Some may perhaps think it strange that we say that wicked men, who form the majority of men, do not exist; but that is how it is. I am not trying to deny the wickedness of the wicked; what I do deny is that there existence is absolute and complete existence. Just as you might call a corpse a dead man, but couldn't simply call it a man, so I would agree that the wicked are wicked, but could not agree that they have unqualified existence. A thing exists when it keeps its proper place and preserves its own nature. Anything which departs from this ceases to exist, because its existence depends on the preservation of its nature." -section II

". . . only the wise can achieve their desire . . ." -section II

". . . the wicked cease to be what they once were. That they used to be human is shown by the human appearance of their body which still remains." -section III

"There is, indeed, great punishment then, sometimes exacted with penal severity, sometimes, I think, with purifying mercy; but it is not my intention to discuss it now." -section IV

"You are urging me to the greatest of all questions, a question that can never be exhausted. the subject is of such a kind that when one doubt has been removed, countless others spring up in its place, like the Hydra's heads. The only way to check them is with a really lively intellectual fire." - section VI

"It is because you men are in no position to contemplate this [divine] order that everything seems confused and upset." -section VI - puts us in our place! :)

"Some people are excessively afraid of suffering for which they actually have the endurance; others are full of scorn for suffering they cannot in fact bear. Both kinds [Providence] brings to self-discovery through hardship." -section VI

"All fortune is certainly good." - section VII

"Once earth has been surpassed
It gives the stars." -section VII

Book V
"Human souls are of necessity more free when they continue in the contemplation of the mind of God and less free when they descend to bodies, and less still when they are imprisoned in earthly flesh and blood. They reach an extremity of enslavement when they give themselves up to wickedness and lose possession of their proper reason." -section II

". . . the operation of human reasoning cannot approach the immediacy of divine foreknowledge." -section IV

". . . human reason refuses to believe that divine intelligence can see the future in any other way except that in which human reason has knowledge." -section V

"Whatever lives in time . . . is in the position of not yet possessing tomorrow when it has already lost yesterday. In this life of today you do not live more fully than in that fleeting and transitory moment." -section VI

"Why, then, do you insist that all that is scanned by the sight of God becomes necessary? Men see things but this certainly doesn't make them necessary? And your seeing them doesn't impose any necessity on the things you see present, does it? . . . the divine gaze looks down on all things without disturbing their nature; to Him they are present things, but under the condition of time they are future things." -section VI

Last Line of the Book:
"A great necessity is laid upon you, if you will be honest with yourself, a great necessity to be good, since you live in the sight of a judge who sees all things." -section VI

Book Review: "Simply Crochet", by Robyn Chachula

2012-01-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

Simply Crochet: 22 Stylish Designs for Everyday by Robyn Chachula

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I heard that a new crochet book was coming out that featured two of my favorite designers - Doris Chan and Kristen Omdahl - I didn't just get excited, I actually preordered it.

And when it arrived, "Simply Crochet" didn't disappoint. In addition to featuring 22 patterns, the majority of which fall definitively into the "pretty" and not the "tacky" category of crochet, "Simply Crochet" is intentionally structured to help you get the most out of your yarn budget.

The projects are organized by how many balls of yarn they use and throughout the book are tips from the designers about both organizing your stash of yarn and about frugally enhancing it.

Patterns from this book that particularly stood out to me:

-the Annabel Shawl by Kristen Omdahl: a striking triangle shawl made of seamlessly joined motifs.

-the Float Vest by Robyn Chachula: well-named, the Float Vest is made of a simple lace pattern and hangs easily from the shoulders

-the Spa Shawl Top by Doris Chan: it looks like a shawl with a waist - the lacy, loose sleeves are gathered together at the waist for a silhouette that's both shapely and flattering.

-the Twist Cowl/Wrap by Linda Permann: I've been wanting to try Solomon's Knot for awhile, and this cowl is a very pretty take on that stitch pattern.

There were a few patterns I know I'll never make, but the percentage of designs I didn't like was much smaller than the percentage of ones I did, and the layout and text of the book are both inviting. If you're looking for some crochet inspiration, this is a good book to get.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

View all my reviews

Movie Review: Source Code

2012-01-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

Source Code is a bit like Die Hard crossed with Groundhog Day. In other words, it was a pleasant surprise. I queued it because, well, because I'll give most sci-fi movies a chance. What can I say? I'm a fan of the genre.

But Source Code, though it had one gaping hole that I think any sci-fi fan would scratch their head over (it's spoiler-y, so see a discussion of it below my signature, if you're interested), was a good movie, with an interesting set-up, a solid main character, and a plot that kept up both the tension and the action.

A military helicopter pilot wakes up in another man's body, and before he's even had much time to start trying to figure out his situation, the train he's a passenger on explodes and he wakes up again, this time in his own body, in some kind of a capsule/cockpit, being given instructions via a monitor from an officer he's never met. He's told his job is to find out who blew up the train, and he's sent back, again and again (hence the Groundhog Day reference) to the same eight minutes before the train's explosion, in order to try to finger the culprit.

To say much more would spoil some of the surprises, and though there's no shocking twist of the "I see dead people" variety, there are some cool plot-and-character moments that are (and here's the key) really, really well played by the actors, and it's fun to watch them happen.

The movie does include violence but no objectionable sexual content that I can recall. Recommended for viewers who like action and/or sci fi.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

SPOILER-Y OBJECTION: In the end , what happens to the consciousness of the man whose body the pilot's inhabiting? Not addressed at all. You kind of have to ignore that omission to be really satisfied with the ending.

Links! themes on purpose, the Song of Songs, and the fashion of Star Trek

2012-01-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

Shannon Hale writes about putting motifs and themes into her novels on purpose. An excerpt:

Many times I've been somewhere to speak and the introducer has talked about one of my books, outlining the themes and giving a really lovely review of the significance and resonance of the story. This is always very flattering, since most introducers just read my bio from my website or book jacket. But then so often she or he will turn to me and say congenially, "You probably didn't even know you put all that in the story, did you?"

But of course I did.

This reflection, posted over on First Things, about the Song of Songs is both thoughtful and beautiful. (Hmm. Do you think a reflection about the Song of Songs could possibly be good and not beautiful? I doubt it.)

From the profound to the slightly-silly-but-still-fun, a post on fashion inspired by Star Trek.

Have a good weekend, folks!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Yarnalong - Juice Box Socks and Essie Summers

2012-01-10T21:16:00.000-08:00

That there is the first of my Sunday Swing Socks - featuring a newly-turned heel - lying on top of the Christmas gift that made me tear up.

More on the socks: they're in the Juice Box colorway of Knit Picks Stroll Hand-Painted yarn, and the colors are so bright and pretty that I feel like I'm holding a little jewel box in my fingers as I work on them. They also represent the first time I've ever worked from a chart for knitted lace (the lace would be the twisty part just under the ribbed cuffs - it's simple, but it has holes on purpose, so it counts as lace).

More on the book: it's a gift from my parents and I did cry a little when I got it, because it's such a lovely gift. Essie Summers is one of my heroines and her autobiography is out-of-print and hard to come by. She was the wife of a minister who lived in New Zealand and she wrote book after glorious book set in her beautiful homeland, full of happy family life, heroines and heroes who are both kind and good, and, of course, the gorgeous Kiwi scenery and fascinating Kiwi history. I love her books. And I love that she wrote them in the midst of her life as a homemaker and a minister's wife - I've heard that she used to plot for several weeks of the time while doing mundane things like washing dishes, and then she'd just sit down a write for days at a time, getting out into type all of the story she'd been holding in her head.

And I'm finding her autobiography charming. It's chatty and flows from one subject to another. It's not meticulously plotted like her fiction, but more like a conversation with a fascinating person - one who grew up in another world, but who is such a kindred spirit that you feel that she saw and knew and cared about all the things you hope that you would have seen and known and cared about if you'd grown up in her place and she in yours.

More Yarn-along goodness can be found here, at Small Things!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Review: the Firm: Turbocharge Weight Loss

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

I got "The Firm: Turbocharge Weight Loss" out of my library, and I think this might be a case where having it for such a short time lessened my potential liking for the DVD, because it feels like a workout that would grow on me if I did it regularly. This seems like a workout DVD that would be nice to have sitting on your shelves for those days where you really only have time for just a twenty-minute workout - and not a workout that claims to be "only twenty minutes", Jillian*.

This DVD contains two workouts. One is strictly cardio, and the other incorporates some weights. Both move fast and certainly got my heart-rate up, though not so much as the circuit-training DVDs I usually use.

The instructors move quickly from exercise to exercise, and though this adds to the fun I'm-taking-a-gym-class feeling, it does mean that you don't really have time to get each sometimes-complicated move right before it's time to move onto the next one. However, though the moves are a bit involved (e.g., "do this with your legs. Okay, now add in the arms"), they're still simple enough that I think this difficulty would disappear the second or third time you did the DVD.

Verdict: Fun workout, would probably grow on you, moves a bit fast for something that still somehow doesn't raise my heart-rate quite as much as I like. Wouldn't be bad to have on the shelf for days when you didn't have much time. I'd probably rather just do a series of jumping jacks and burpies to fast music rather than spend the money, but if someone gave it to me, I'd keep it and use it.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

*I still do love the "30 Day Shred", and use it all the time. But it is not only twenty-minutes long. Closer to thirty. And sometimes, when dinner needs to be made, thirty minutes is something I do not have.

daily devotions and the Eucharist

2012-01-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

One of the elements of my mild case of synesthesia is that I conceptualize time differently than most people: I actually see it. I'm unable to think of it abstractly. "Time" brings up a sort of complicated picture in my head and onto that I map my days and weeks and years.

The weeks look sort of like swooping sections of wires held up by telephone poles, and telephone-pole sections are the weekends. I've seen time like that as long as I can remember knowing what time was.

When I became Anglican, it was easy to see that the highest point of the week - high literally, in my conceptualization of time - was Sunday mass. And now when I look at my weeks, it seems that communion on Sundays is really the strong structure holding the rest of the week up - my weeks swoop down from the last Sunday and up towards the next, and the grace received at each service is enough to last me through the week and the grace I expect to receive at the next service is what draws me back up from the trough of those hard middle days.

But I'm beginning to see that what keeps me open to receiving that grace through the week is my devotions - reading the Bible and praying. It’s a sort of connection to starting the week with the Eucharist. I want that peace and strength to be the line that carries me through, and it's really beginning to seem to me that prayer and Scripture reading are the practices that keep me connected to the grace that's so easy to perceive while I'm at church.

Which makes sense, because prayer and devotional reading are a kind of worship - or the obedience that properly flows out of worship.

I know this is all sort of obvious, but it's such a good thing that I wanted to think about it a bit more through writing.

Songs too. The Psalms and hymns and praise choruses - especially the ones with lots of scripture in them - I think these remind us through the week that we are, as some pastor or other put it, "Sunday people". We're the people of the Resurrection. And we can see that most clearly when we're all gathered together worshipping on Sundays, but it is true during the week too. And prayer and Scripture and songs help us to remember.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

In 2010, I had twenty New Year's resolutions. Yes. Twenty. Really.

In 2011, I had ten. And I felt very pleased with myself for my restraint and brevity.

This year, I just have four.

Last year, my word for the year was "attend". I thought all year of Psalm 123, especially verse 2, which says:

Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

I wanted to attend, to pay attention. Because I learned years ago, in mountain biking, that you go towards what you look at.

At the beginning of 2012, I don't feel like I'm even close to finished with last year's lesson, but I have a new word: faithfulness.

I feel like I don't need a great new vision for my life or startling new insights into what I'm supposed to be doing. I know what I'm supposed to be doing. This year, I just want to do it. I want to be faithful.

My verses for this year come from the first chapter of 2 Peter:

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The italicized bits are the progression I want to work on this year, and the bracketing verses explain why the middle part is both good and possible.

I'm fascinated by that progression. By faith, we believe in those "great and precious promises" and what should we add to that faith? Virtue. And what does virtue lead to? Knowledge. George McDonald said that obedience was the key to understanding and I think he's right. There are so many things we don't understand until we're actually practicing them.

And to knowledge is added temperance or, in some translations, "self-control". And then patience, and then godliness and then (here's where it just makes me want to weep) brotherly kindness and to that, charity. (And the greatest of these is love.)

I remember when these verses just read like a list to me, but now they seem like a gift. They're specific, they're instructions, they're a how-to. I mean, that's not all they are: they're a description of sanctification.

But I think it's not just descriptive, I think it is - at least the first part - prescriptive. Do this.

But it is still descriptive: this is the road that the saints of God walk and this is what they gain.

And the promise at the end: "For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now there's a promise for you. Wow. Makes me want to cry all over again. For joy at the mercy of God.

The Resolutions
So, four resolutions. Here they are:
1) Love and obey God.
2) Love Adam.
3) Love my kids.
4) Write.

Everything else either falls under those or comes after those. E.g., housekeeping is an expression of love to my family. (And to myself, a bit, and taking care of myself would fall under all three of the first categories actually, but mostly the first, because the first resource God has given my to steward is myself.)

But these for things. I think they are the most important ones in my life right now. And really, the last three come out of the first one. And the first one feels a bit strange for a resolution, but it's really what I want most. And it should go without saying that all of these are resolutions I make in the spirit of those baptismal promises in the prayer book, i.e., "I will, with God's help." Not with my own strength, not ever.

I'll be honest and say I have a few more practical resolutions, but they're just out-growths of these four simple ones. I have a word-count that I'm aiming for each day, I have a household chore list I'm checking off. But they're tools now, not goals.

Maybe that's the gift of last year's word "attend". Now I am attending, and now I know that what's important is first to fix my eyes on the Lord, and that the actions follow the attention. With God's help.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Wow, that's so me

2012-01-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

Adam and I were doing some reorganizing today, in the wake of Christmas, and I ended up moving some old papers - mostly stories written while I was a teenager - from one huge plastic bin to another. Of course, I couldn't just move the papers, I had to dip into them and read some of these old forgotten-yet-familiar words, and see what exactly I was thinking about half a lifetime ago. Here's what I discovered:

-boy, my stories had a lot of kissing in them. You'd think I was a teenager or something.

-man, my poetry had a lot of anxiety it in. You'd think I was a teenager or something.

-This. I present it without comment:

It's funny. Now that I'm a senior and now that I'm valedictorian and now that I've been accepted to college and now that I have definite friends and status; now that I have a thoroughly defined position, I feel like I can stop and look around me and no one will think it's odd, because they'll see all those things they think I am, and I can actually do as I please unobserved.

-Actually, I will comment on that: that's so me. Accomplishment for the sake of detachment. I . . . I really still can't quite tell if that impulse is altogether bad. It's certainly not all good.

-I used to think sixty was old.

-I had a real faith in Jesus even then.

-Seriously, my stories had a lot of kissing in them. Man, teenagers are horny. Even chaste ones. Golly, that's going to be an interesting time in parenting when we get there. Lord, have mercy. (I have reason to think He will be, praise Him.)

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! Time, Light, and Space

2012-01-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

Lars Walker writes about Talented People. His take on the parable of the talents is one of those brilliant things that makes you say, "well, of course! that's blindingly obvious! but I never saw it that way till now - thank you for pointing it out!"

For those of you in Southern California - my friend, Emily Moothart, is a doula who has a passion for helping women have great births. If you're in the market for a doula or know someone who is, check her out!

John Scalzi looks forward to the year 2012 in science fiction movies. I took three things away from this article:
1. I didn't know "Old Man's War" had been optioned for a movie. Cool!
2. Scalzi has much higher hopes than I do for "John Carter" (of Mars). I saw the preview in theater and snickered through the whole thing. Taylor Kitsch, get back into your football jersey!
3. There are a fair amount of sci-fi movies coming out next year. Yay!

It's almost Epiphany, and the way to celebrate it is with light and space. This is just so beautiful. And appealing.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

finished object: the Starry Scarf

2012-01-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

This project was fiddly beyond belief: the laceweight always seemed to want to jump out of my hands and despite the join-as-you-go technique, there were way too many ends to weave in.

But now that I'm done, I'm pleased with the result:

It's light as a whisper, but since the yarn is 100% alpaca, it's still very warm.

Would I make this pattern again? No, probably not. But am I pleased I made it once? Absolutely.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Books Read in 2011

2012-01-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

In 2010, I pushed myself to finish almost every book I started, so that I could list it as "read". This past year, I decided that was silly, and I put down a lot of books that just didn't hook me, and as a result, 2011's list is shorter than 2010's.

But it was a good year of reading. There are a few books on here that I read before I figured out that I should just put them down, so I'm not championing everything on this list, but most of them were pretty good. There's so much treasure out there!

Highlights include a few new books by favorite authors which reminded me of just why they're favorite authors - specifically the books by Elizabeth Moon, Lee & Miller, and Bujold. I discovered some new authors, and I also had the pleasure of reading a book by a friend (Cynthia Ruchti's "They Almost Always Come Home", which was the sort that shocked me when I'd set it down, because I'd discover that I'd read about a hundred pages at a gulp - she's just that smooth).

I revisited old friends, like Dorothy Sayers' "Are Women Human?" and Essie Summers' "My Lady of the Fuschias".

Dallas Willard, Lars Walker, and Tennyson also stand out as highlights. Rowling and Lewis too, of course. Really, there's just so much good stuff out there.

So, here's the list of books I completed in 2011 (full disclosure, I count audiobooks in my list, if I really listened to the whole thing):

1) Lewis, C. S. That Hideous Strength

2)Ugel, Edward. I'm With Fatty: Losing Fifty Pounds in Fifty Miserable Weeks

3)Martini, Adrienne. Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously

4)Lee, Patrick. The Breach

5)Sass, Cynthia. Cinch! Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds, and Lose Inches

6)Campbell, Diana. The Reluctant Cyprian

7)Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

8)Brooks, Caroline. Marchman’s Lady

9)Fallon, Siobhan. You Know When the Men Are Gone

10)Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

11)Sayers, Dorothy. Gaudy Night

12)Bujold, Lois McMaster. Cryoburn

13)Kang, Joshua Choonmin. Scripture by Heart: Devotional Practices forMemorizing God’s Word

14)Brown, Harriet. Brave Girl Eating: AFamily’s Struggle with Anorexia

15)Moon, Elizabeth. Oath of Fealty

16)Oliver, Lauren. Delirium

17)Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

18)Kunzman, Robert. Write These Laws on Your Children: Inside the World ofConservative Christian Homeschooling

19)Moon, Elizabeth. Kings of the North

20)Sanderson, Brandon. The Way of Kings

21)McCafferty, Megan. Bumped

22)Pearl-McPhee, Stephanie. Yarn Harlot

23)Summers, Essie. My Lady of the Fuchsias

24)Summers, Essie. Daughter of the Misty Gorges

25)Eastin, Staci. The Organized Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Conquering Chaos

26)Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve. Saltation.

27) Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve. Mouse& Dragon.

28)King, Stephen. On Writing.

29)Hale, Shannon. The Actor and the Housewife.

30)Willard, Dallas. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship withGod.

31)Grant, Mira. Feed.

32)Briggs, Patricia. Moon Called.

33)McGuire, Seanan. Rosemary and Rue: an October Day Novel.

34)Walker, Lars. The Year of the Warrior.

35)Creasy, Sara. Song of Scarabaeus.

36)Wainger, Leslie. Writing a Romance Novel For Dummies

37)Grant, Mira. Deadline.

38)Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

39)Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve. Ghost Ship.

40)McGuire, Seanan. A Local Habitation.

41)McGuire, Seanan. An Artificial Night.

42)Ruchti, Cynthia. They Almost Always Come Home.

43)Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

44)Heyer, Georgette. False Colours.

45)Pearl-McPhee, Stephanie. Free-Range Knitter.

46)Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. In Memoriam.

47)Kelly, Carla. The Lady’s Companion.

48)Bujold, Lois McMaster. The Curse of Chalion.

49)Vaughn, Carrie. After the Golden Age.

50)Scalzi, John. Old Man’s War.

51)Thane, Elswyth. Letter to a Stranger.

52)Kennedy, Diane. The ADHD-Autism Connection: A Step Toward More AccurateDiagnoses and Effective Treatments

53)Sayers, Dorothy. Are Women Human?

54)Bujold, Lois McMaster. Paladin of Souls.

55)Lukeman, Noah. A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation.

56)Walker, Lars. West Oversea.

57)Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

58)Pearl-McPhee, Stephanie. Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot Unravels theMysteries of Swatching, Stashing, Ribbing & Rolling to Free Your InnerKnitter.

Here's to another year of good reading!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

12 12s in 2012

2012-01-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

I'm participating in a crafting challenge this year called "12 12s in 2012". (For those interested, it's hosted on Ravelry in the group "Stash Knitdown".)

The idea is that you make a list of twelve kinds of things that you're going to make twelve of this year.

Here are my 12 12’s:
12 items made from patterns I already have
12 items made for me
12 items made for others
12 items made from yarns in my stash
12 socks (6 pairs)
12 knitted items
12 crocheted items
12 new-to-me-techniques
12 household items made (dishcloths, table runners, etc.)
12 scrappy projects
Look at 12 new craft books (probably from the library!)
12 Christmas gifts made and ready BEFORE December of 2012!

Now, if you look at the list, you'll see that it doesn't necessarily commit me to making 144 objects! (Good thing, because I only made about 50 last year.) A lot of those categories can overlap. For example, if I make a pair of socks for myself using a new technique, that'll count under "12 items made for me", "12 knitted items", "12 socks", "12 new-to-me techniques", and possibly also "12 items made from patterns I already have" and "12 items made from yarns in my stash."

Nonetheless, it's a fun challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing how exactly I decide to fill out all of those categories!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

How to Edit and Rewrite Your Manuscript

2011-12-31T13:25:00.000-08:00

One of my big projects for the first month or two of 2012 is going to be rewriting my Regency romance.

As I was writing it, I knew that the real battle for me was going to be rewriting it. I love editing . . . other people's work. Editing my own is intimidating.

And yet, I love editing. I just needed something to get me past the psychological wall of it being my work that I had to edit. Me being me, that something I needed was a plan. Plans don't make the future safe, of course, but they surely make it feel safe.

So here's the plan. I can't vouch for its entire virtue, as I'm still in the middle of it myself, but it seems sturdy as far as I've ventured. And hopefully it can help other type J's out there to dive into the process of revision: don't worry folks; the water is warmer than it looks.

Jess Snell's Editing and Rewriting Plan:

1) Print out the whole book, double-spaced.

2) Print out allmy “go back, and change” notes that I’ve made while writing.

3) Copy andpaste into a document all beta reader notes (in thestory’s chronological order), and print that document out.

4) Make a list of all “tics” (like passiveverbs and comma abuse) that I have, and make a list of those – one sheet ifpossible, because these will have to be checked for on every page. (Use notesfrom read-through of The First Five Pages to help come up with this list.)

5) Go throughthe hard copy of the book with lists/docs from points 2, 3 & 4 in hand, andmark up whatever changes need to be made. (This means going through the wholestory at least three times.)

6) After allthese changes, read through the whole thing and make note of:

- any BIG plot or character changes thatneed to be made

-scenes that need to be entirelyrewritten

-scenes that need to be added

-scenes that need to be erased.

7) Rewrite allthings noted in Step 6 – printing out and inserting new material into marked-uphard copy, and crossing out old scenes where necessary.

8) THEN, takethat marked-up, patched-together copy, and retype the whole book from the marked-up hard copy. In otherwords, I’m going to literally rewrite thewhole book, so that every word passes under my fingers one more time,forcing me to pay attention, and make any final tweaks that would bebeneficial.

9) And THEN (this is the really hard part),print out the whole thing again, and then mark it up again, make sure all thechanges work, etc. Then make thesechanges in the final document.

10) Query.

There you go. That's the plan. Have at it, and happy New Year!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

p.s. If this ends up being useful to you, fill free to use it, print it out, share it, whatever, just attribute it to me and include a link back to this blog. Thanks!

crocheted finished object: the Pineapple Shrug

2011-12-26T14:11:00.000-08:00

A quick palate-cleanser after all the Christmas crafting:

And a view of the shrug from the front:

This was made with incredibly soft merino/alpaca yarn given to me by my mom, so even though it's a bulky lace design, it's really warm.

I love the classic pineapple motifs radiating out from the center. In the magazine version of the pattern, the design was obscured by the variegated yarn they used, but when I went on Ravelry, there was a version done in solid-color yarn and I really liked it.

One of the other fun things about this project is that I got to have a little email conversation with the designer over Ravelry, and she was really friendly. I love that I can chat with the people who make the patterns I'm using!

Now that I've made a quick and satisfying design, I'm starting up a long and complicated one: the gorgeous pattern on the cover of this book. I'm using Knit Picks Shadow Lace Yarn in the Nocturne Heather colorway. I've been planning on making this sweater for well over a year, so I'm excited to see it starting to form under my fingertips:

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Book Notes: "West Oversea: A Norse Saga of Mystery, Adventure and Faith", by Lars Walker

2011-12-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

West Oversea: A Norse Saga by Lars Walker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"West Oversea" follows Father Aillil, the Irish hero of Lars Walker's previous book, "The Year of the Warrior", as he travels with his Norwegian lord, Erling, across the sea to Greenland.

Adventures ensure, including a long and feud-filled stay in Iceland and a storm-tossed journey to the New World, but they do eventually make it to Greenland - sailing northeast rather than northwest.

This is a Christian novel, and of the best sort. You don't pick up a Lars Walker novel to find an idealized world - in this book not only is there violence, war, and death, there's also real sin, real sorrow, and - perhaps most surprisingly of all - real demons, real magic, and real gods.

But only one God. This novel is set at the time of the Christianization of Scandinavia, and while Walker's telling of that story is fantastic in the most literal sense of the word, the struggle between the old spiritual loyalties and the new felt very realistic to me.

And all of that is just the theme! Even if you took that all out, you'd have a fascinating adventure tale, full of swash-buckling, and sea-faring, politics, romance, and quest. Add in the powerful spiritual element, and you simply have an excellent story, well-told, and edifying. Which is an odd thing to say about an adventure tale. But you can say it about this one, because it points the eye toward Christ.

View all my reviews

Keeping Advent: an Extremely Practical Post

2011-12-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

There are two weeks before Christmas. If you finish your shopping this week (and the wrapping and mailing too!), you can really enjoy the last week of Advent.

If you've got an idea of what to get someone, get him that. If you don't have a great idea, go with a good idea.

Here are some good ideas:
-a bottle of good wine
-a jar of local honey
-candy from this lady (she'll include a note for free!)
-notecards from this artist (she'll include a note for free too!)
-yummy soap from this shop (I think she does notes too)
-a book you've read and enjoyed this year (maybe this one or this one)
-a music album you've read and enjoyed this year (maybe this one, or this one, or this one)

Get it done this week. You'll be glad you did.

More Advent posts here.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Life Hacks: Making Your Future Self Happy

2011-12-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

When I was in high school, I knew that I was a teenager and that teenagers were stupid. I knew that their brains were basically a construction zone complete with hazard signs and pitfalls and electrical connections that weren't hooked up properly yet.

So I decided that the best way to make decisions was to not let my teenage self make decisions. Instead, I invented a hack. I decided to live not in the way that would make my teenage self happy; I decided to live in a way that would make my thirty-year-old self happy.

I imagined that thirty-year-old self and what she'd be like and thought, "what will she wish she'd done when she was my age?" Or, honestly, adolescence being what it is, I thought, "what will she wish she hadn't done when she was my age?"

How did it work? Honestly, now that I'm in my thirties, I can look back and say: it worked pretty well. It kept me from very basic disasters like getting pregnant or getting arrested, and it also put me in a good position to handle college academics and not go into debt (because I worked hard at school and at my job. Because I had a job.) It kept me close to the Lord.

So, though I can look back and say, a bit fondly, Idiot, of some of my teenage thoughts and feelings and actions, honestly, I'm very grateful to that young girl who took her adult self seriously enough to safeguard way before she was in possession of her.

And now that I've reached the once-far-away-land of my thirties, I find myself more and more thinking of my forty-five-year-old self. And my sixty-year-old self. And even a little, if God grants me years, of the happy woman I hope to be in my nineties.

What will those women want? What will those women hope that their thirty-year-old self did? And didn't do?

I know for sure that that forty-five-year-old Jess will want most to have done a good job mothering her kids and wiving her husband and following her Lord. Mostly she'll want to have had a solid fifteen years in relationship with those few most important people. And then a few important others. After that, she will want a lot of novels under her belt. Just, you know, a decade and a half of solid work. I don't think she'll care if she's in the best shape of her life, but she'll want a body in shape enough that it's a help and not a hindrance in her daily life. She'll want to have been kind. She'll want me to not have wasted my time.

That's what I've got after just a few minutes of thinking about it. I want to think about it more in these waning weeks of the year, because it could use some refinement.

But I recommend it to you as a useful technique for even the smallest decisions of life. In the morning, when you're having trouble deciding what to do first, ask yourself what your evening self will want done, in those few precious hours after the kids are in bed and before you are. On Monday, ask yourself what your Saturday self will hope your week looked like. At the beginning of Lent, what your Easter self will be glad to have read and thought and prayed.

And ask it a few decades out too. I promise you'll find it illuminating.

In the End, it is all about our Easter selves.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Reading through the Classics in 2012

2011-12-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

Why is it that I keep thinking next year is 2013?

Anyway, December has me thinking about the new year, and one of the things I'd like to do is to reread some of the Christian classics that I last read in college.

In a few weeks I'll post my annual "Books Read this Year" post, and this year the number is hovering somewhere around sixty, which is considerably less than last year's close to one hundred.

But I was pickier this year. Last year I finished a bunch of books just to be able to list them; this year I put a lot of books down after ten, twenty, even a hundred pages. My number completed is smaller, but I think it was a better year's reading.

And I'd like next year's to be better yet. My enthusiastic self wants to say, "I'm going to reread every book I read in my college classics program!" But . . . my more mature self says, "Eh . . . Let's go for ten."

So, there's my goal: I want to reread ten classic works of literature. Probably most of them will be Christian; I'm feeling particularly drawn to Augustine and Calvin, and to a few of the great English poets.

There is this problem with the poets: how much do you have to read to have "read" them? I might try to read the complete collected works of a few of my favorites. We'll see. Among those clanging to be read are Donne, Herbert, and Hopkins. Well, those three always. And then also Rossetti.

I tried and failed at Dante this year, and I'm still trying to figure out why. So that'd be worth another go too. Maybe.

Oh! And DeTocqueville! Great reading for an election year.

Yes. "Year of the Classics". I like it.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! art, books, writing, sex, and generosity

2011-12-12T17:19:00.000-08:00

To start off, here's your dose of pure beauty for the day. It's a Baltimore Album style quilt and it's just stunning.

Once you realize books are the most wonderful thing in the world (they are, aren't they? aside from a nice MLT . . .), the question is, what to read? And, over and above that, what to have our children read? Simcha Fischer's answer is lots and lots. She says that if your kids read lots of good books, it'll be a great protection against harm when they read the odd bad apple. And that, more than that, you should pray for them. I think she's right on there (though - standard disclaimer - Protestant me is not going to be following her suggestion to pray to Mary).

I also haven't read any Nora Roberts, but I found this interview with her fascinating. That woman works. Worth reading also, I think, for her insights into the publishing industry and the disdain much of the public has for romance novels. Quoth Roberts:

"They don't see that as legitimate. But it's just so insulting towards millions of people. Why would you apologise for what you read for pleasure? Just think of the illiteracy rate. Every book read for pleasure should be celebrated. And novels that celebrate love, commitment, relationships, making relationships work, why isn't that something to be respected?"

I'd add that I do think there are things that shouldn't be read for pleasure (or possibly for any other reason), but I think she's right about people disparaging happiness, as if something can't be important unless it's tragic. Happiness is too important; she's right there.

Finally, in the "Ya Don't Say?" column, a new study found that people with generous spouses are more likely to be happy in their marriage. But not as happy as married people who who have good sex.

This is one of those posts that crack me up because, firstly: Duh. And, secondly, I love how they present it as an either/or. You can't have both? And, moreover, does any married person out there think it's even possible to have a marriage where the two aren't related? Heh, science.

Or rather: Heh, science reporting.

That's it for today, folks!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

the Monster Afghan is almost done!

2011-12-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite groups on Ravelry is the "Stash Knit Down" group, and this past month they've been holding a "End of 2011, UFO/Scrap Down and Get Organized" challenge that I've been participating in.

The idea is to start the new year with a clean slate, craft-wise, to finish up any works-in-progress that have been laying around, to finish up scrap balls of yarn, and to organize your stash so you know what you have to work with.

Because of this project, I actually dragged my monster afghan - the one I was sure I was only halfway through - upstairs and spread it out on our bed to see how close I actually was to finishing. And look!

That there is an almost-complete afghan! I have less than forty rows to go, which on this monster translates into "almost done". I'm sure I can finish it by the end of this month, which is so exciting!

And it's so pretty. It's made up of leftover bits of acrylic yarn from old projects and thrift store finds and gifts and, oh, everywhere. It's got bouclé and fun fur (fun fur!) and tweedy yarn and sparkley and yarn of every color you can imagine. But the white stripes in between the colors pull it altogether, and make the bright colors harmonious and cheerful, rather than garish.

I really like it. I'm surprised by how much I like it. And I'm very grateful to the Stash Knit Down forum for providing a challenge that's pushing me to finish a project that I'd been neglecting.

See? Sometimes Internet forums are good for something! :D

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Top 10 Romantic Heroines of Literature

2011-12-11T22:30:00.000-08:00

The twin of this post (Top 10 Romantic Heroes) can be found here. You'll notice that not every half of each couple is on both lists, and that's because some heroes are better than their heroines, and some heroines than their heroes, at least when it comes to loving their mate. Or perhaps it's just that they face sterner competition on their side of the dividing line.

Be that as it may - in no particular order - here are my votes for the Top 10 Romantic Heroines of Literature:

-Britomart, from "The Faerie Queene" by Edmund Spenser.
-Ekaterin Vorvayne, from "A Civil Campaign" by Lois McMaster Bujold.
-Harriet Vane, from "Gaudy Night", by Dorothy Sayers.
-Jane Eyre, from "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte.
-Beatrice, of "Much Ado About Nothing", by William Shakespeare.
-Viola, of "Twelfth Night, or, What You Will", by William Shakespeare.
-Prudence Tremaine, from "The Masqueraders", by Georgette Heyer.
-Phoebe Marlow, from "Sylvester, or, The Wicked Uncle", by Georgette Heyer.
-Eowyn, from "The Lord of the Rings", by J. R. R. Tolkien.
-Elizabeth Bennett, from "Pride and Prejudice", by Jane Austen.

In case you're curious, the couples which contain individuals who BOTH made their respective Top 10s are:

-Miles Vorkosigan and Ekaterin Vorvayne
-Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey
-Prudence Tremaine and Anthony Fanshawe
-Pheobe Marlow and Sylvester, Duke of Salford.
-Eowyn and Faramir

And, of course, I have a few runners-up:

-Ginny Weasley
-the Essie Summers heroine
-the Carla Kelly heroine

What do you think? Do you agree? Did I make a villainous omission anywhere? Or just a thoughtless oversight? Is there anyone there you think doesn't belong?

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Dear Rachel, you may not read this post.

2011-12-11T11:55:00.001-08:00

At least not till after Christmas. The rest of you are welcome, because I think the rest of the recipients don't actually read this blog.

Here are some Christmas presents I've finished up in the past week or so:

This first one is a lace scarf made of yarn that I dyed with Kool-Aid and food coloring (sadly, the colors didn't show up well in this picture, but you can see the simple lace pattern):

The second is a simple pair of fingerless gloves in a sock yarn with subtle color changes:

The third is probably my favorite: it's a lace scarf made out of cashmere yarn that I harvested from a thrift store sweater. I just love the broad swath of delicate lace at the ends:

Finally, on the Christmas theme, I made a quick Christmas tree skirt for our own tree:

And with that, my Christmas crafting is done. I didn't make things for many people this year; I didn't want to be rushing through my crafting at the end of the year. Instead, I picked a few people to craft for this year, with the idea that each year I'd pick a few different people. That way I can enjoy making the gifts, and really take the time to make something that suits each person. Much less stress that way, and better finished objects, I think.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

More on women and vocation, and Mary and Martha

2011-12-06T12:25:00.001-08:00

Just after I posted my last blog entry, my mom came over, and so I talked to her about what I'd been writing. And now I have more vocation-and-women stuff to put out there in the Pool of Ponder.

(That last blog entry was - and this might not have been obvious, but it's true - just an I'm-pondering-these-things entry. Not an I-have-this-all-figured-out entry.)

One important thing my mom pointed out is that we shouldn't look at the first Mary-and-Martha story in the gospels without also looking at the second: the death of Lazarus. In that case, Mary was overwhelmed with her emotions and missed Jesus. But Martha was there, and present, and confessed that Jesus was the Messiah. So . . . Martha got the better part in the end too, and it's worth thinking about how much her sensible, practical nature helped her to be present and aware in the midst of tragedy - present and aware enough to recognize Life Himself when he stood before her.

I guess what really struck me about the Mary-and-Martha story as Sayers presents it is that being a contemplative is a legitimate calling, even for a woman. (And yes, I know who the other Mary is, and so this should have been obvious to me.) I feel like so much of what I want to do is just to read and think and read and think and read some more. And Mary's story shows me that sometimes sitting and listening isn't lazy; sometimes sitting and listening is exactly the right thing to do. It's not sloth; it's something we are made for.

The other thing my mom helped me with was with a clearer explanation of the traditional Christian view of "vocation". (My mom's a theology prof, so she knows this stuff - that said, anything I get wrong in this recounting is my mistake, not hers - and some of it isn't her information, it's just my ruminations.) She talked about how vocation means "calling" and that it includes everything that God calls us to, which means that my division of calling into "vocation" and "duty" isn't correct.

There are the things we are all called to, like wisdom. Or like obedience to Christ. Then there are the very common callings that are ours because of where we are when we become Christians. Are you a mother, a brother, a husband? You are called to be that in service to God. Are you a soldier, a teacher, a welder? You are called to be that in service to God.

Then there are the more specific gifts and callings, and some people have lots and some have a few, but whatever they are, you are to use them in God's service, as He leads you to do so.

And then there is the question of time. You aren't called to do everything all the time. For instance, when my twins were newborn, and I had four children under the age of four, my whole duty was pretty much comprised in loving God and my immediate family. It was all I could do to just do that! and I don't think I was called to anything else at that specific time.

I think there are times like that in most people's lives. When you have a newborn, when you are gravely ill, when someone who it's your duty to care for is gravely ill . . . your duty narrows to one very specific point and you just serve Christ there, wherever there is. You're still following the first and second greatest commandments, and so even though the scope of duty is narrow, the obedience and love found there can be as great as any in the whole wide world.

There's also the fact, my mom pointed out, that sometimes the hard and narrow parts of our lives are the times when God is equipping us for some future work, but we can only see it in hindsight. We look back at those times and see, "oh, that's when I learned to pray" or "that's when my heart was truly converted" or whatever other thing it was that God needed to do in us in order to fit us for our true calling, to get us ready for whatever tasks were lying ahead.

And in the end, our calling is a calling to Him, it's a calling to our home. He Himself is our peace, as Dante said, and He wants to make us into people who can be at home with Him. In Advent, that's good to remember too. In the words of the children's carol, we pray, Lord Jesus, fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Keeping Advent: Watching, Working, and Waiting: the duties and vocations of women

2011-12-06T09:40:00.001-08:00

My Advent thoughts this week have been prompted by my Bible reading, which is probably a good thing. The St. James Devotional that I use has been taking us through some of the more dire parables in Matthew, and so I've been pondering things like the Parable of the Talents.

Is it a coincidence that in English "talents" means gifts or abilities, and that when I read the Parable of the Talents I can't help but think of "gifts or abilities" rather than "denomination of coin"?

When I think about this parable, what comes to mind first is Milton's sonnet on his blindness, where he complains, "When I consider how my light is spent/Ere half my days in this dark world and wide/And that one talent which is death to hide/Lodged in me useless . . ." He was a writer who couldn't see; what had he to offer God then?

The poem famously leads him to a consideration of the majesty of God, who has thousands upon thousands of other servants to perform whatever acts of service He desires. Milton concludes that God doesn't need him, and yet it is God's good pleasure to have him ready and willing for whatever order may come. Milton concludes, "They also serve who only stand and wait."

And Advent is a season of waiting. So Milton's sonnet seems a fit conclusion for me to reach. I stand and wait.

And yet . . . and yet I know what the blind Milton went on to do: he wrote Paradise Lost in his blindness, dictating each stanza to his daughters. He was willing to only stand and wait, but that wasn't what ended up being required of him.

So.

I said above that my Advent thoughts this week have been prompted by my Bible reading, but that's only part of the truth. They've also been prompted by my Sayers reading; I just reread her powerful collection of essays entitled Are Women Human?

(The answer, in case you're wondering, is "yes.")

These essays, perhaps surprisingly, are largely about work. One of Sayers' primary concerns, in promoting the humanity of women (women, she points out, are human ("homo") first and female ("femina") second) is that they be allowed to do their proper work.

She doesn't insist that every woman everywhere has a special vocation, instead she says:

I have admitted that there are very few women who would put their job before every earthly consideration. I will go further and assert that there are very few men who would do it either. In fact, there is perhaps only one human being in a thousand who is passionately interested in his job for the job's sake. The difference is that if that one person in a thousand is a man, we say, simply, that he is passionately keen on his job; if she is a woman, we say she is a freak.

I can't help but be reminded of Sayers' character Harriet Vane, who, when challenged about the "unwomanliness" of her job of writing murder mysteries retorts that her challenger would no doubt rather she did something more feminine, like washing floors. The only problem, says Harriet, is that:

". . . I should scrub floors very badly, and I write detective stories rather well. I don't see why proper feelings should prevent me from doing my proper job."

The idea of a "proper job" captivates me, probably because I know what mine is. It's to write fiction. (Is there any wonder I go back to Harriet Vane's story again and again?)

And yet I also have my duty - the duty that does come on me not as a human, but as a woman, and as a married woman: the care of house and children. "Duty" sounds cold to our modern ears, but I don't mean it that way. My children are the delight of my heart and my home is the happy center of my earthly universe. But "duty" in the sense of "the normal tasks appointed in the normal course of things, without which I could not be healthy, well, or sane".

I'm not quite sure what the solution to the problem of vocation and duty is, mostly because I'm not quite convinced that it is a problem. (Clarification: I'm not sure it's a philosophical problem. I do see (oh so clearly!) that it's a practical problem.) I just can't see an earthly reason why it should be "duty versus vocation" rather than the simple "duty and vocation". It feels like the former, sometimes, but I firmly believe that God always gives what He demands, and that it's all a question of how and when and not what.

But there is one section, in the final pages of Are Women Human? that seems to at least frame well the at-least-apparent-if-not-actual conflict between duty and vocation:

God, of course, may have His own opinion, but the Church is reluctant to endorse it. I think I have never heard a sermon preached on the story of Martha and Mary that did not attempt, somehow, somewhere, to explain away its text. Mary's, of course, was the better part - the Lord said so, and we must not precisely contradict Him. But we will be careful not to despise Martha. No doubt, He approved of her too. We could not get on without her, and indeed (having paid lip-service to God's opinion) we must admit that we greatly prefer her. For Martha was doing a really feminine job, whereas Mary was just behaving like any other disciple, male or female; and that is a hard pill to swallow . . . Women are not human; nobody shall persuade that they are human, let them say what they like, we will not believe it, though One rose from the dead.

Mary was a contemplative. She is, I think, a fitting model for this Advent season, wherein we watch, we work, and we wait.

More Advent thoughts found here, at A Ten O'Clock Scholar.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

ETA: An update on this entry can be found here.

"Keeping House" Read-Along, Chapter 3, "Sheltering a Household"

2011-12-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

My notes on chapter 3 of Margaret Kim Peterson's book are, well, just notes. Notes that highlight the few things that stood out to me this time through. First off, her assertion that:

". . . many of us, I suspect, are demoralized by the task of keeping house in part because we know that our houses, no matter how well-kept, will never look like the palaces in the dream house publications." - page 44.

Yes. We should careful about where the ideas we come from. What our ideals about homemaking and how did those come to be our ideals? Did we deliberately take them from a trustworthy source - scripture, a good mother, etc. - or did we just absorb the zeitgeist?

And then Peterson comes to what is, to my mind, the most important concept in this chapter:

"Christian tradition . . . has been inclined to see limits as a necessary component of human flourishing." - page 47.

In other words, the fun of life is in the deciding. And then in living within the confines of your decision. No one can love people in general, we must love specific people. You can't follow a general vocation, you must write or pastor or fix computers or what have you. You have to limit yourself, and then flourish within those limits.

And some of these limits are self-imposed limits - there are parts of our life we choose - but as the quotation above implies, a lot of these limits are imposed upon us. And when it comes to the things imposed upon us - most specifically, I think, the law of God - our choice comes in choosing to obey.

But like a young tomato plant encircled by a chicken wire trellis, we thrive within that limiting, strength-lending structure.

Further, on the same point:

"The fact is, there are a lot of lovely and useful things in this world, and our houses and our lives simply do not have room for most of them. We have to learn to say no, and to say no not just to things we don't need or want but also to things we might very well enjoy." - page 56.

One thing I would add is that, when you really internalize this message, you end up having a new kind of fun: the fun of replacing an item that you have really and truly worn out. If you really do use the things you have and use them to the end of their useful life, well, you get to replace them. And that's fun. You get all the fun of choosing and none of the guilt that comes with choosing something you just want and don't really need.

I'm always shocked when I wear out a piece of clothing - I think it's because my children so seldom do (they tend to out-grow, not out-wear) and I deal with their clothes far more than I deal with my own (there being four of them and only one of me), and so my expectations for the life-span of a piece of clothing is set by their clothes and not my own. But I'm not growing anymore, and so I do wear out my clothes eventually, and sometimes I have to buy new ones, not because I want the fun of shopping, but because I need new clothes.

And that, it turns out, is when the shopping is really, truly, fun.

". . . if there are places to put things and it is simple and convenient to put them there, then picking up the house becomes a kind of active meditation, like putting a favorite puzzle together and seeing the familiar picture - the tidy house - appear anew." - page 56.

I totally get this. It's my favorite part of housework.

Read other people's thoughts on this chapter over at The Quotidian Reader.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Knitted Finished Object: Forest Feet Socks

2011-12-04T14:35:00.001-08:00

The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in the Canopy colorway. And the super-awesome, couldn't've-learned-without-it tutorial I used was Silver's Sock Class.

They're so comfy and warm, and I'm so happy with them. I'm off to make another pair!

Learning to knit was totally worth it.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

"Keeping House" Read-along, Chapter 2

2011-12-01T10:22:00.001-08:00

In this chapter, entitled "A Place to Live", Peterson begins by talking about the tenant in Christian spirituality that we are to struggle against feeling at home in the world. She talks about how we are to remember that "God's people are always to be 'resident aliens', people who yearn for the fulfillment of all things in God and cannot feel themselves at home until that day has come."

It reminds me of Screwtape saying that he wants his "patient" to feel that he is "finding his place in the world" when really the world is finding its place in him. (Shiver.)

And yet we only understand things by metaphor and simile. Whenever one human tries to explain something to another human, he ends up saying, "It's like when" or "you know when you do X? It's like that." We always explain using comparisons. And I think the experience of a good earthly home sets up the metaphor that allows us to conceptualize and understand the idea of a heavenly home.

And, as Peterson points out, our earthly homes are places where we can practice the very virtues that will be required of any citizen of heaven. Our daily routine is the daily stage for the process of sanctification.

A few other quotations from the chapter, points that I really appreciated:

". . . parents may spend the preschool years waiting for things to 'get back to normal.' But young childhood is just as normal a state of life as adulthood; we just tend to forget that, in our age-segregated society." - page 32.

"Precisely because housework is necessary, it is not contemptible." - page 35.

"Housework is all about bringing order out of chaos." - page 38.

"Housework and gardening and God's providence itself are exercises not in futility but in faithfulness . . ." - page 39.

"If in Jesus God himself could take up a towel and wash other people's feet, surely we, as Jesus' adopted brothers and sisters, can find it in us to wash one another's dirty clothes and dirty dishes and dirty floors." - page 39.

More on this book to be found here, at the Quotidian Reader.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Advent thoughts: Donne's Holy Sonnet #4

2011-12-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

"You must die before you die. There is no chance after." -C. S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

Advent is a season with apocalyptic overtones. We say that we are readying ourselves for Christ's birth, but he has already been born. We are really readying ourselves for the celebration of his birth.

But underlying even that reality is a deeper reality: we are readying ourselves for his coming, a real coming - not the first one, but the second. In preparing ourselves for his first coming, which has already happened, we prepare ourselves for his next coming, which is yet to be.

And what does that preparation look like? In a word: repentance.

In many and better words, like this:

At the round earth's imagined corners blow

Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise

From death, you numberless infinities

Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go ;

All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow,

All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies,

Despair, law, chance hath slain, and you, whose eyes

Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe.

But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space ;

For, if above all these my sins abound,

'Tis late to ask abundance of Thy grace,

When we are there. Here on this lowly ground,

Teach me how to repent, for that's as good

As if Thou hadst seal'd my pardon with Thy blood.

I'm going to explicate the poem (which is one of John Donne's Holy Sonnets) a little, because it repays examination.

The start of the sonnet is impressive, drawing in all of creation - commanding the angels to begin the trumpet-sound of the apocalypse, commanding even the dead to rise again - all the dead, every person slain by mischance, by sickness, by malice, even by old age - to return to the scattered dust of their bodies and - note how Donne implies but does not actually state - to stand in front of their one Judge.

The whole first eight lines of the poem are one long sentence, gathering all the created universe together in a breath and commanding it to commence the End of All Things. It's a grand, masterful, majestic summoning.

But then, there, at the ninth line, the whole motion of the sonnet abruptly halts, turns, does an about-face, and Donne's tone becomes low, humble, and penitent, begging God to stop the great event that Donne's own words just urged, and Donne says, "But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space".

His eyes turn, suddenly, from the vastness of the universe to the microcosm of his own soul, and what he finds there utterly dismays them. "For, if above all these" - that is, all those other persons he just summoned - "my sins abound" (this is an echo, of course, of St. Paul's admonition that we think of ourselves as the "chief among sinners") "tis late to ask abundance of thy grace, when we are there" - that is, when we do, indeed, stand naked before the judgment seat of Christ.

And what is Donne's remedy for the horrific place he finds himself, riddled with sin and in danger of imminent Judgment? It is this: "Teach me to repent".

Well, as far as it goes, but then there is the shocking turn of the last couple of the poem (remember, "good" did use to rhyme with "blood"): "Teach me to repent; for that's as good/As if thou hadst sealed my pardon, with thy blood."

Donne seems to say that repentance is as good as grace - as good a remedy against condemnation as the spilled blood of Jesus himself! As I said: it's a shocking assertion.

Except, of course, this is John Donne, a man quite possibly as devout as he was clever, and that is saying a good deal.

If you look again, you can see what he is saying - what he is trying to convey with that apparently heretical last couplet: he is saying that grace enables repentance. It all turns on the "as if" in that last sentence. "As if thou hadst sealed my pardon with thy blood." The sentence is falsely hypothetical. Donne knew very well that Christ had sealed his pardon with his blood, and so that "as if" becomes a "because", and the meaning of the last couplet becomes clear: Donne is saying that his repentance will be good because Christ has sealed his pardon with his blood; it is that sacrifice which makes true repentance possible, it makes it possible for repentance to become not just fruitless despair at his sin, but a godly sorrow that leads to a real change of heart, that will help him become a new man, a change that makes him not just safe, but also sound.

Now with all that said, here's the poem again. Read it aloud, because spoken rhythm always aids meaning in good poetry:

At the round earth's imagined corners blow

Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise

From death, you numberless infinities

Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go ;

All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow,

All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies,

Despair, law, chance hath slain, and you, whose eyes

Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe.

But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space ;

For, if above all these my sins abound,

'Tis late to ask abundance of Thy grace,

When we are there. Here on this lowly ground,

Teach me how to repent, for that's as good

As if Thou hadst seal'd my pardon with Thy blood.

More Advent thoughts can be found here, over at A Ten'O'Clock Scholar.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Book Notes: Letter to a Stranger by Elswyth Thane

2011-11-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

Letter to a Stranger by Elswyth Thane

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first fifteen pages or so of this book made me think it was a comedy of manners, but then it shifted into something between a ghost story and a psychological thriller - or what I would call a psychological thriller if the propriety of the Eastern seaboard upper-class white fifties culture in which it takes place didn't keep it from ever becoming anything quite so severe.

To be honest, I felt too much culture shock (I feel weird calling it that, but I think that's what it was) reading this to feel like I can really say how good it was. It was certainly well-written - well-written enough that I want to read another by this author. But I kept wanting to yell at the characters that THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DEAL WITH CRAZY PEOPLE (seriously: you don't go and spend the weekend at the house of an abusive father who thinks you should marry him to heal him from his heartbreak over the death of his neighbor's wife) and that desire to yell at the characters did, I think, interfere with my ability to just sit back and enjoy the book.

But great characterization (I couldn't have been so frustrated with the characters' actions if they hadn't seemed so real) and some of the best-turned phrases I've read in a long time. It does make me want to read more by Elswyth Thane - if only to find out whether or not they're all about crazy people or whether she ever did write the comedy of manners I was hoping for when I started.

View all my reviews

Keeping Advent: the week before the fast

2011-11-22T13:46:00.001-08:00

Advent starts on Sunday, and I have only two thoughts about it right now:

1. My kids need hats for St. Nicholas' Day. Bright, garish, warm, stripey hats. I'm working on them now.

2. I want to fill my heart with good things this Advent. I want to listen to all four gospels and read lots of John Donne.

If Advent is about preparing our hearts, that's how I want to prepare mine. I want to feather the nest of my heart with scripture and poetry.

And I want the good stuff to crowd out all the bad. Sometimes the best way to flee temptation, to banish evil thoughts and sinful tendencies, isn't to fight them head on. It's just to fill your heart so full of good things that there's no room for the bad. Remember the story of the demon in Matthew: he was banished, but when he went back and visited the exorcised man, he found his old place swept clean and emptied, and so he reinhabited the man, bringing in other demons worse then himself.

Don't leave your heart empty. Don't just banish what is wicked; fill in its place with what is good. Focus your eyes on Jesus, and let his words resonate in your mind with every beat of your heart and exhalation of your breath. Sing hymns, read poetry, pray the Jesus prayer in every spare moment: Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Because he is ever ready to hear us. And he does have mercy on us. Every time.

And pray for me, a sinner.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

ETA: more Advent thoughts found here, at A Ten O'Clock Scholar.

"Keeping House" Read-Along: Chapter 1, Part 2

2011-11-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

The first commandment (to love God with all one's heart and soul and strength and mind) always takes precedence over the second commandment (to love one's neighbor as oneself). But in the paradoxical realm that is real life, it is not possible to love God without loving neighbor, and a primary and essential way of loving one's neighbors is to feed and clothe and house them.

I feel that this section of the book had two main points and that they are well summed-up in the above-quoted paragraph:

1) Housekeeping is not the most important thing in the world, and,

2) Housekeeping is an important thing in the world.

It's the way that Peterson holds that paradox in right tension that really gives this book its value. Too often the pressing nature of housework tricks us into thinking that housework is the whole world, that if only we could keep everything clean all the time all the other problems would solve themselves and we'd all be perfectly happy.

And that isn't true. In fact, too often, that very pressing nature - the immediacy of needing food to eat and clean clothes to wear and a place to lie down and sleep - can prove a terrible distraction from "the one thing needful", a frustrating sort of temptation, a jangling noise that draws our attention away from our Lord and gives us nothing but neverending work in return.

But at the same time, in cleaning and covering and feeding and caring lies our secondary duty - the love of neighbor, and we can't, as Peterson says, really love God without loving our neighbor. It reminds me of the old song lyric, "A heart to God/And a hand to man". Our eyes on Him and our hands active about his work.

And in that work we learn something we can't learn any other way: we learn a longing for home. In loving these imperfect homes we learn to value home and also we learn that the ones we have are not sufficient or final:

The practicalities of housekeeping - cooking, cleaning, laundry - are among the things that ground our existence in the particular times and places in which we live and in so doing make it possible for us to keep alive the memory of our first home in paradise and the hope of our ultimate home in God's new creation.

More thoughts on this book found here.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! white clothing, cuckoopants movies, and teenage writers

2011-11-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a history of white - no, really, it's about how people have, through the centuries, dyed their clothing white. With great difficulty and in great peril, apparently (see the parts about sulfuric acid and powdered lead). Makes me skeptical about our current use of "optical brighteners" (which trick our eyes into thinking our laundered clothes are whiter than they actually are).

My two favorite media writers - Linda Holmes and Steven Lloyd Wilson - both reviewed the new Twilight film. Given the impact that these stories have had and are having on current culture, I really appreciate reading smart people's takes on these movies. While they both point out how, in Holmes' words, "cuckoopants" the latest installment is, Holmes' review delves into the domestic abuse aspects of the film whereas Wilson's review has this to say:

There is also no getting around the fact that Bella and Edward are not characters but blank slates. Their honeymoon consists of hiking and playing chess. They do not talk except about their drama. They have no interests, they have no future, they have no dreams. Fans have repeatedly emphasized that these blank slates are what is appealing about the characters, that they can map themselves onto the characters. But only being able to empathize with characters devoid of anything that might distinguish them as individuals is terribly emotionally immature. Empathy is the ability to empathize with those who are different, requiring them to be blank slates so that you don’t have to empathize with any degree of difference is just the softer side of sociopathy. (Emphasis mine.)

By the way, a heads-up: the comments on the second linked-to site tend to be raunchy (the first one is on NPR, so no worries there). I really like the site's movie reviews, because even though the writers often have different world-views than mine, they've very good and clear writers and their reviews make it easy for me to know whether or not I'd be interested in the movie they're reviewing. But I skip over a lot of other stuff on the site 'cause of content. Caveat lector.

John Scalzi's 10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing is great advice. And not just for teenagers.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

"His pains were o'er and he sighed no more/For he lived in the love of a lady"

2011-11-19T21:36:00.001-08:00

A pretty song for Saturday night:

Have a restful night and a joyous Christ the King Sunday tomorrow!
Jessica Snell

Top 10 Romantic Heroes

2011-11-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

From books, of course. I could do movies too, but I'm afraid that if I did the list would end up with silliness like: "William Wilberforce. What do you mean why? Oh. I guess you're right. 'Because he's played by Ioan Gruffudd' isn't a good reason, is it?"

No, actually, if I made such a list, it'd probably read:

Top 10 Romantic Heroes from the Movies:
#'s 1-9: Westley, beloved of the Princess Buttercup.
#10: Han Solo.
The End.

No, this is a list of romantic heroes that win a place on the list based on character alone - the fictional fellows who have flaws, but who love their ladies well despite them. As I look over the list, I realize that firstly, it doesn't hurt to be a lord, and, secondly, most of these men share in common the virtues of integrity and courage, allowing them to see both themselves and their loves clearly and to take whatever action (including self-abasement!) is necessary in order to win their ladies' hearts. But also just plain old courage, which lets them stand against the world, championing the cause of right - and of the women they love.

Here's the list:

1. Lord Peter Wimsey. From "Gaudy Night", by Dorothy Sayers.
2. Sir Anthony Fanshawe. From "The Masqueraders", by Georgette Heyer.
3. Lord Miles Vorkosigan. From "A Civil Campaign", by Lois McMaster Bujold.
4. Hugh Beringar of Maesbury. From "One Corpse Too Many", by Ellis Peters.
5. Sir Percival Blakeney. From "The Scarlet Pimpernel", by Baroness Orczy.
6. Faramir. From "The Lord of the Rings", by J. R. R. Tolkein.
7. Val Con 'yos Phelium. From "Agent of Change" by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee.
8. Gilbert Blythe. From the "Anne" books, by L. M. Montgomery.
9. Joe Willard. From the "Betsy-Tacy" books, by Maud Hart Lovelace.
10. Sylvester, Duke of Salford. From "Sylvester, or, The Wicked Uncle", by Georgette Heyer.

Runners-up:
-Robin MacRae ("Sandy"), from "Dear Enemy", by Jean Webster.
-the Essie Summers hero (same one in every book, but he's awesome)
-the Carla Kelly hero (ditto)
-Mr. Darcy, from "Pride and Prejudice", by Jane Austen.
-Benedick, from "Much Ado About Nothing", by William Shakespeare.
-Michael Moon, from "Manalive!" by G. K. Chesterton.

What do you think? What would your list look like?

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

p.s., "Top 10 Romantic Heroines" coming up shortly. :)

Yarnalong

2011-11-15T21:24:00.001-08:00

I'm working on finishing my second (ever!) sock, with the help of Silver's Sock class (a free online tutorial). I'm enjoying it so much, mostly because of how lovely and rhythmic the work is. It's very meditative, and the easy motion of my hands feels like it stills my heart.

The book I'm reading is "A Dash of Style: the Art and Mastery of Punctuation" by Noah Lukeman. All I can say is that I knew it was a good book when it came down in favor of the semicolon.

More knitting and reading to be found here.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Keeping Advent, the week before Christ the King Sunday

2011-11-15T21:06:00.001-08:00

". . . for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." - Psalm 96:13

It being the week before Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year, when we pay special attention to the imminence of Christ's return, I am thinking about how the first coming of Christ that we prepare to celebrate in Advent carries with it foreshadowings of the second coming of Christ, when he will come again to judge the Earth.

I am also thinking about something I read here, about how Advent is the time for making room. As she says, there isn't any room and yet there must be room. (And when the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on the Earth?)

And I am thinking about the Christians in other parts of the world who "don’t even pray that their persecutors would stop, only that they would be able stand when their time comes."

And I have no synthesis for these thoughts yet, but Advent is a time of waiting and fasting, and this whole year has been a time when I've felt urged to pay attention, and so I'm gathering my thoughts here, hoping that writing them down will keep them in the forefront of my mind, where I can pay attention, and hoping that when the synthesis comes, I will be able to see it and God would give me the grace to bear it.

Finally, from Christina Rossetti:

Then awful Judge, most awful God,
Then cause to bud Thy rod,

To bloom with blossoms, and to give
Almonds; yea, bid us live.

I plead Thyself with Thee, I plead
Thee in our utter need:

Jesus, most merciful of men,
Show mercy on us then;

Lord God of mercy and of men
Show mercy on us then.

More Advent thoughts are here, at Kerry's place.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

on recommending non-Christian books

2011-11-15T16:44:00.001-08:00

This is a long blog post. The short version is: I read secular books when I think they have more good than ill in them. And I avoid books that I think will tempt me to sin. But what I should read and what you should read are not necessarily the same thing, so I'm wondering what and how much I ought to say about the potentially objectionable parts of books when I review them, and I'm interested in what other people think on the subject.

I've been thinking of my review of "After the Golden Age" since I posted it. I really did like the book and I know my review reflected that. But it was certainly written from a worldview that differs from mine, and I've been wondering how much I ought to comment on that when I review books.

I regularly read both Christian and non-Christian books. I'm careful about what I read insofar as I avoid reading anything that I think will tempt me to sin, but I often read authors I disagree with. I know that's not unusual, especially when it comes to non-fiction books - what good Christian thinker, after all, would shy away from learning from Plato or Aristotle? But I wonder if it's less common when it comes to fiction.

There are a couple of potential problems when it comes to reading secular fiction - I'd separate them into the problem of character and the problem of author.

The problem of character is that you're going to have characters in the story doing things you disagree with. They're going to sin in all kinds of creative ways. This, actually, isn't so much of a problem. Everyone you meet in real life sins in all kinds of ways too - and that probably goes for the person you see in the mirror too. And while I'd expect a Christian to repent and make good, I don't expect non-Christian characters to conform to my ethics any more than I expect real non-Christians too. People who disagree with me are just a part of life and it doesn't bother me overmuch that they're a part of my reading life too.

The problem of author is a little harder, because there is telling and there is persuasion. Take adultery: you can write about it well and you can write about it poorly. Adultery could be the subject of the greatest Christian masterpiece (try something like Graham Green's "The End of the Affair") or the filthiest piece of trash ever to be set into type. It's not what you write about, it's how you write about it. I mean, think about it: every time you see a crucifix, you're seeing a piece of art on - among other things - the subject of torture. Is torture something you're normally willing to read about? I'm not, not usually. But my love of Lars Walker's "The Year of the Warrior" and Stephen Lawhead's "Byzantium" tells me that I'm willing to entertain the subject when it's really, really, really well-presented, and that by Christian artists.

When you read books by non-Christians, you're going to basically be allowing someone to try to persuade you to think about ethical issues in a way that disagrees with your faith.

At least, you might be. You might, if that's what the book is about. You might not be though: there are plenty of secular works that have large areas of agreement with the Christian faith. As far as I know, Lois McMaster Bujold is not a Christian. But her book "Memory" taught me yards and miles and ells about what integrity is and means and looks like. Are there parts of her work I disagree with? Certainly. Am I a better Christian for having read her work? On the whole, I think I am. Her idea of courage, for instance, largely accords with the Christian ideal, especially in books like "The Curse of Chalion".

St. Augustine talked about "stealing the treasures of Egypt", or, how all truth is God's truth, and it's ours to take wherever we find it. This is true, and I think there's a lot of truth to be found in works that aren't overtly Christian. The universe was ordered by an intelligent Creator, and any creature of His who approaches it thoughtfully and makes art out of what he finds will inevitably showcase some of that inherent order and beauty put there by God, whether that artist himself believes in God or not.

On the other hand, Augustine pointed out that the real treasure isn't in any of these secular works, but in God's own word. And we can certainly get so caught up in the art of the creature that we forget to turn our eyes towards our Creator. And that is disaster.

So, that's what goes through my mind - or that should - when I pick up a book. I still don't know how much of a disclaimer I should add to my reviews of non-Christian books. I've assumed that most people who read my blog have their own rule for what they will and won't read, and know their own individual weaknesses and watch out for them. For example, I know some people I admire that can handle art that's a lot more terrifying or depressing than I can handle. They can learn from it and be edified by it, but I'd just be a weeping puddle of goo if I watched what they watch or read what they read. And I know that, so I avoid those works of art. They might be good, but they're not good for me.

(And that's no statement on the relativity of eternal principles. Eternal principles are eternal principles. But I am mortal, mutable, and small, and so it's about the application of eternal principles to such a one as me.)

I hope that anyone reading my book reviews will take it as given that I'm assuming you'll do your own assessment of whether or not the book I'm reviewing is something you should read. For example, "After the Golden Age" has a heroine who has (off-stage/off-page) sex before marriage. I liked the romance in the book regardless, because, given who the character was (a non-Christian I wasn't expecting to act like a Christian), she did a great job of discerning which man was good for her and which wasn't and why. That's what I liked about the romance in the story. And I felt able to say, "this part is good" and "this part isn't" without being tempted to change my mind about Christian sexual ethics. Did I agree with all the heroine's choices? No. But did I think there was something good to learn from the good choices she did make? Yes.

But should every person read the book? I don't know. How can I? Maybe someday, as I grow and mature, I'll come to the realization that I shouldn't have read it. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll always think it was a good decision.

The point is, though, that I think we all have to take responsibility for our own choices in regard to the art we consume.

The other point is that I don't want to lead anyone into temptation - I don't want to highlight pieces of art that will hinder anyone in their walk with God.

But if I only talk about absolutely perfect books, I am left talking about only one Book.

(Some people in some places at some times might tell me this is not a bad thing.)

Anyway, I suppose I haven't quite reached a conclusion here, so let me open it up to discussion. How do you decide what you're going to review? If it's a worthy piece of art with a few problematical elements, how do you present it to your readers? Do you present it to your readers? Are there things you absolutely won't read or recommend (I know I have some very solid lines myself)? If you like the book reviews I do here, would you prefer a heads-up on anything, content-wise, and if so, what? Also, what about heads-up on method (i.e., not the "what" of the book but the "how" the author handles it)?

This is one I'm still thinking about. I'm sure about some of it, but there's a lot of it, especially the new-media aspects, that I'm still pondering, and would really love to hear your thoughts about.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

"Keeping House" Read-Along: Chapter 1, Part 1: "What's Christian About Housework?"

2011-11-15T16:19:00.001-08:00

Willa, over at The Quotidian Reader, notes that this part of the chapter is not very practical, and I think that's what I love about it.

I understand the practical part of housework - the basic how-to. But this book is all about the "why" and in order to get to the "why", Peterson takes a step back and recounts the history of housework.

She points out that "housework" is a new-ish word, in the history of things. There used to not be "housework". Rather, there was "husbandry" and "housewifery", the two halves of the work needed to keep an estate running, the two sides of a coin. But when everyone started leaving home for his or her daily work, there was this whole category of jobs that were left undone during the day: housework. And ever since, whose job it is and how it should be done (and how much of it should be done) has been argued about. (This is a fact worth remembering when it comes to talking about gender roles: our assumptions about "women's work" are a lot more modern than we might, well, assume.)

Also, Peterson points out, the amount of work to be done hasn't changed much. In some cases, it's been added to (no one used to have bathrooms to clean, after all, because no one had indoor bathrooms or knew about germ theory, and no one had mountains of laundry to do, because no one had that many clothes). But we do have modern machinery that makes us more efficient at it. So: same amount of work, more or less, but we can do it faster.

(And that "faster" might mean that it takes us a couple of hours less than it took our forebearers - but those are a valuable few hours. That's enough to let you read for an hour before bed, you know? That's a luxury, that is.)

I'd add - because I've been noticing it a lot in my daily life - that we have yet another whole new category that I don't think Peterson mentions. You could call it "paperwork", but I almost want to call it "electronic work" - it seems like the "business" of the house exists in a miserable limbo between envelopes and email - and none of it is ever done. I hate that part of housework. It's a lot easier to know if the floor is clean than if all the paper/electronic work is done. At least, for me it is.

Which is why I also appreciate the clarity of Peterson in this chapter, redirecting my attention from the paperwork morass: at its heart, housework is about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. That command to feed and clothe includes a lot more than our own families, but it does include them. The housework that Adam and I do does clothe and feed us and our children, and that's not the end of all work, but it's the work without which no other work gets done.

In Peterson's words:

There is undoubtedly more to the merciful service that Jesus describes in Matthew 25 than caring for the daily needs of the members of our own households. Housework is a beginning, not an end. But it is a beginning - not a sidetrack, not a distraction, but a beginning, and an essential one at that - in the properly Christian work of, among other things, meeting the everday needs of others, whether those others be our fellow household members, our near neighbors, or people more sociologically or geographically distant from ourselves.

I'm excited about the next section, where Peterson talks about God's own "divine domesticity" (stuff from the Psalms! always cool!), but I appreciate the time she takes in this first section to lay out the history and necessity of housework.

This read-along is hosted at the Quotidian Reader, here.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

New music!

2011-11-14T17:59:00.001-08:00

New to me anyway. Well, newly in my possession. Well . . .

I had an iTunes gift card that I got at Christmas - that I was delighted to get at Christmas - but that I didn't spend till today. Mostly because I'm a procrastinating git. Partly also because my husband grouses to me about iTunes and I feel guilty buying stuff on there that he won't be able to listen to without going to a great deal of trouble to get it in a format that works with whatever Linux-y music program he's using these days. (Loooooooove you, Adam!)

(Um, I should add, if you know Adam and I at all, you'll know that Adam doesn't really care and that I think about everything too much.)

So, here's what I bought, even though my husband likes Brooke Fraser too:

-Brooke Fraser:
Something in the Water - a love song of pure happiness, bright and spring-y.
Here's to You - not merely a drinking song, but a toasting song, with great lines like, "cheers to friendships well-worn-in" and "cheers to the losses that grew us up, killed our pride, and filled our cup".
Coachella - This makes you want to be somewhere outside with a fire so you can spin around with your arms flung out, gazing at the stars above.
Who Are We Fooling? - this is heart-piercingly sad - a song about the breaking up of a marriage . . . except maybe not. It ends on the slimmest of hopeful notes, and that, along with the utter beauty of the melody, makes it sad, but not depressing, and certainly not despairing.
Orphans, Kingdoms - This reminds me very much of Dallas Willard's writings, about how we are all in charge of our own "kingdoms" - kingdoms that, of course, we are to put in submission to God's own. With poignant phrases like "babes with coats of arms" and an incredible bridge that starts with "Eat and drink for tomorrow we die" and builds up to a crescendo of "Who is he that can conquer himself?" this is a powerful song whose effect lingers long after the notes fade.

-Graham Kendrick:
Shine, Jesus, Shine - this really is a hymn, in structure, though it's from the height of the time of great-praise-chorus-writing. Anyway, I've long loved it and didn't have a copy, so I bought one.

-P!nk
Please Don't Leave Me - this is, of course, your poster-boy (girl?) anthem of a dysfunctional relationship. But, again, I find that the beauty of the melody makes it - for me at least - not depressing, but thought-provoking. I don't identify with the situation of the singer, but the haunting refrain of "I've always said that I don't need you/but it's always going to come right back to this: please, please don't leave me" . . . well, who hasn't felt that heart cry at one time or another? At the heart of it, we humans don't want to be left.

And, again, it's just so pretty.

-Shakira
Ciega, Sordomuda - I really just bought this because I like how it sounds. I didn't even do my customary due diligence and look up an English translation of the words. I feel a little guilty about that. I should probably go and ask my sister just how guilty I ought to be feeling, shouldn't I?
Gitana - And this one . . . I bought in Spanish because I disliked the English lyrics enough. They're not terrible but . . . eh. Not great. (I'm a gypsy! Which means I'm leaving soon! So let's live in the present! Carpe diem! I.e., sex!) But, again, it's such a pretty tune that I wanted to be able to listen to the pretty music . . . so I bought the Spanish version to make it easier to ignore the words. Heh. Not being very proficient at my chosen second language has some advantages . . .

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! Doctor Who, Abraham Lincoln, and more!

2011-11-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

Sean Gaffney is writing a series on the Christology of Doctor Who, and it's brilliant. Since I became a Doctor Who fan because the main character reminded me of Christ, I'm really digging this blog series. The reason, btw, that it can be a good series is that Gaffney recognizes both that A) the series' authors aren't Christians and so the show isn't a straight-forward Christian analogy (not even close!) but that B) our world is God's, and therefore any really good heroic stories are going to have echoes of THE good heroic Story. (And Doctor Who is a truly superlative heroic story.) Intro to the series is here, and the first two entries are here and here.

John Mark Reynolds writes about what he's learned from Abraham Lincoln. An excerpt:

Fifth, God is not on the side of America, but America can be on God’s side. Lincoln was too smart to believe that the cause of the Union was God’s cause. He hoped that he could associate the United States with what God was doing on the earth.

God is not an American, but Lincoln tried to make America godly. He knew virtue was in both sides and vice in every man who fought in the War. Lincoln acted boldly, but always with charity.

Is writing therapy? R.L. LaFevers of Shrinking Violets says that it's not in the traditional sense, but,

It has not provided me an avenue to work out my past and my own emotional baggage on the page. Instead, the hard work I do to make my writing better has spilled out into my non-writing life. How could it not? One of the first lessons we learn about characters is that whatever conflict they are going through affects all aspects of their lives. So when we as writers push ourselves to strive and grow, of course that is going to spill out into other aspects of our lives as well.

The rest of the article is well worth reading, for any artist.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Book Notes: "After the Golden Age" by Carrie Vaughn

2011-11-13T22:33:00.001-08:00

"After the Golden Age" by Carrie Vaughn has a logline as high concept as any movie's: what if your parents were super-heroes, but you were just a squib?

Celia West is the daughter of Captain Olympus and Spark, two superhumans who have saved their cities countless times over the years, but don't seem to know what to do with their ordinary human daughter.

The book starts, hilariously, with several kidnappings in a row; Celia is the constant target of villains who grab her in order to manipulate her parents. She's always fine, of course, because her parents always come to her rescue. But the constant hijinks make it difficult for her to pursue her own life, which includes a career as an accountant. Celia may be less flashy than her parents, but she pursues justice in her own quiet way, following the numbers and nabbing wrong-doers by finding out cases of tax fraud and other financial malfeasance.

I don't want to go much further into the plot or I'd start giving away the fun stuff, but suffice it to say that the rest of the plot is very fun - there's a super-villain and conniving politicians and a mind-altering ray gun, just to start - and I think anyone who enjoys superhero stories will enjoy this. Celia's not an anti-hero and this isn't superheroism gutted and rebuilt, but "After the Golden Age" definitely does tell the same old story from a new and intriguing point of view. And it includes a romantic subplot that I liked very much*.

I also found the end more moving than I expected, probably because it ended differently than I expected it to, and I'm still pondering the ideas about sacrifice and love that the climactic scene of the story provoked.

It's not meat and drink, like Lewis and Sayers, but it was a fun story, well-told. I'm definitely going to look for more by Carrie Vaughn, and I even quite hope she writes in this world again. There are characters here I'd like to see more of.

To copy Lars Walker's warning: this book contains adult situations and language.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

*mild spoiler alert: the romance is not what you think it is when the book starts - though I guessed where it was going earlier than the author officially tipped her hand, which only added to the fun, for me.

"Keeping House" Read-along: Preface

2011-11-13T19:16:00.001-08:00

In the preface of "Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life", Margaret Kim Peterson talks about why she started writing the book, so it seems appropriate to recount, at the beginning of this read-along, why I wanted to ponder over her words again.

My original review of this book can be found here. A lot has changed in my life since I last read "Keeping House", a year an a half ago. My kids are older, two of them are in school, our church situation is different, and my writing life has grown.

In the past few months I've begun to learn the new rhythm of my days, and as I have, I've noticed three things about my housekeeping:

1. It's getting better. I'm becoming more efficient and, with older children, I'm able to do more than I have in the past.
2. It's getting harder. Largely because I'm fitting more into my days - more writing and more interaction with the kids. As they grow, I'm finding that I want more and more time with each of them; it feels like most of the physical tasks of mothering are still there, and the relational/intellectual ones are also increasing in leaps and bounds.
3. I value good housekeeping more. More and more, I'm noticing the effect of a messy house on my soul - and of a clean one. An uncluttered room encourages inner peace, and I'm less willing to discount the value of that than I have been in the past.

So, mostly because of the third reason - because a peaceful home-space is something I'm learning to value - I'm rereading Peterson's book. As she says in the preface:

Of course housework is about making a home, but a Christian home, properly understood, is never just for one's own family. A Christian home overflows its boundaries; it is an outpost of the kingdom of God, where the hungry are fed and the naked are clothed and there is room enough for everyone.

Our bodies and our spirits are not separable matters, not in practice. And so it's not strange that what influences our bodies also influences our spirits. Our homes are homes for our own bodies and the bodies of those we care most about. Which means our homes are worth caring for.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

This read-along is hosted by The Quotidian Reader.

I made a sock!

2011-11-13T18:43:00.001-08:00

Now I just need to make its mate!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

7 Quick Takes

2011-11-10T22:45:00.000-08:00

1. The traffic reporters in L.A. are nuts. An accident happens and they say things like, "Two cars got together in the left lane." Got together? Guys, it was not a DATE, it was a CAR CRASH.

2. My husband was playing "Happy Birthday" on the harmonica and I realized: I still don't hear the words in English when I hear that tune. Someone starts playing the "Happy Birthday" tune and my brain goes, "Bonne fête à toi, bonne fête à toi . . ." Never in English, never.

Such is the result of going to early elementary school in Canada.

3. My husband's work gave him a pedometer (cool!) that tracks both his walking, and his aerobic walking. You know, because you can walk without using your lungs.

4. By the way, I assume “for Pete’s sake” must have once been “for St. Peter’s sake”? I think that makes me like the saying better, if it’s not profane. St. Peter is so familiar to all Christians, after all, and in the end, such a comforting figure. Even in his epistles, where he’ll ream you up one side and down the other and you know you deserve it, in the end he is the rock and you know you can rest your chastened self against his assurance of Christ’s goodness and borrow his conviction for awhile, letting it soak into your bones and become your own. I love St. Peter. If I’m allowed to. You know what I mean.

5. When I printed out my calendar for November, I got to print out "Christ the King" on November 20, which put a big smile on my face. It's my favorite feast!

6. I've often written sentences that use "that" twice in a row - like "who would have guessed that that would happen?" - and felt that it must be wrong, but thanks to Daily Grammar, I now know why it's correct. The two "that"'s are doing different things. They're both pronouns (who knew? not me) and the first one is a "relative pronoun" joining the two clauses together and the second one is a "demonstrative pronoun", pointing you back to the antecedent.

Even knowing that, it still doesn't sound quite right, does it?

7. I'm rereading "The Elizabethan World Picture" by E. M. W. Tillyard, a favorite from college, and finding his picture of the "chain of being" - a cosmic ordering of creation moving from the inanimate through the beasts and men and up to the angels - compelling. In that ordering of things, each realm of being mirrors the others, which means that you can learn about man, say, by studying either the animals or the angels, and extrapolating. Try this on for size:

Morally the correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm, if taken seriously, must be impressive. If the heavens are fulfilling punctually their vast and complicated wheelings, man must feel it shameful to allow the workings of his own little world to degenerate.

Ouch.

Anyway, I'm not saying I'm ready to subscribe to the idea of the four humors and such - I have reason to be grateful to modern medical science after all - but it seems to me that there's a great deal of wisdom in how Shakespeare, Milton, and Donne saw the world, and it'd be a pity to ignore what they knew. Especially as what they knew made for such excellent poetry.

For more Quick Takes, go visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

knitpicks giveaway

2011-11-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Knitpicks is doing a wishlist giveaway and since I like their yarn, I'm entering. Here's my wishlist and if you want to enter the giveaway too, head over to their site and follow the instructions here.

-Jess

Daybook for November 7, 2011

2011-11-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

outside my window . . . it's dark. It's after four'o'clock: of course it's dark.

I am listening to . . . This. You're welcome. (the line that totally makes that song is, "I'm not jokin' any more, girl . . .")

I am wearing . . . My Birch Vest! It's finally cold enough that walking around all day in wool is appropriate. Or at least not wildly uncomfortable.

I am so grateful for . . . not being sick. We were sick here for two weeks straight, and it just wasn't any fun.

I'm pondering . . . I just finished The Curse of Chalion (again) and I'm pondering what it had to say about saints. In that book, the saints are those who open themselves completelyto the will of the gods, and the gods pour through the open portal of the saint's person in order toaccomplish their works. And the saint sits back and watches in astonishment atwhat his own hands accomplish when hands other than his are guiding them. He isin the company of his god, and it is enough.

Thatis it, that is the theme - and I think it's a true (as far as it goes) reflection of Christian life: that God is enough. He, Himself, is our peace.

TheChristian life is, over and over again, surrendering ourselves to God andfinding ourselves again in that place of profound peace (“His will is ourpeace," as Dante said). And I wonder if that’s not what I’m meant to write about, in the end.But I can only write it if I live it.

I am reading . . . Not Chalion, sadly, having just finished it. I'm in the middle of several nonfiction books, but I'm dithering about a bit for a novel. I might start West Oversea or The Hawk and the Dove, which comes highly recommended from a friend.

I am creating . . . my novel! Which is going swimmingly, just as it's supposed to (my hero and heroine touched for the first time today and I cackled like an old matchmaker at how giddy it made them both), and that unexpected trilogy is getting plotted too, just as it wasn't supposed to (I'm the one getting a bit giddy in that case - it's turning into just the sort of story I love most: "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...")

("Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.")

I am thankful for . . . Adam.

around the house . . . getting everything shaken back to rights after two weeks of being sick.

from the kitchen . . . my grandma's persimmon cookies!

real education in our home . . . Bess and I are reading Mandy together. It's just about the perfect story for any girl of any age. In making her home, her home finds her. It's very good.

the church year in our home . . . still collecting gifts for the kids for the Twelve Days of Christmas. Pondering what I'm going to do for the Advent fast. (See, that's the fun of being Anglican. If I was Eastern Orthodox, I'd just know.)

recent milestones . . . got the novel to 15,000 words today!

the week ahead. . . I'm having my tooth pulled tomorrow. No, it doesn't sound fun to me either. But I'll be very glad to have it out. It's not where it's supposed to be (and never has been) and it's been a minor irritation for over a decade now.

Can I add that I'm also grateful for dental insurance?

picture thought . . . Here is my terribly blurry proof that I've figured out how to knit cables:

It's a hat for a friend, just before the ends were woven in. Adam obligingly tried it on for me so that I could make sure it'd fit the friend, and now it's in the laundry, waiting to be washed and blocked. But - cables! I'm so chuffed. I love learning new things.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! Violence, Death, Pain, and More

2011-11-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

Another links post, because we've all (well, 5 of the 6 of us) been sick here, and I'm down for the count for a second time, and so I've had way too much time to just poke around the internet, reading. Here are some of the cool things I've stumbled across:

-I actually caught this interview when it aired on NPR, and it was so good. Interview with the author of "Don't Shoot: One Man, a Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America." I know that sounds dull and perhaps depressing, but it's actually one of the most riveting and hopeful things I've heard in a long time. Highly recommended.

-In "Steve Jobs and Death In Medias Res", John Mark Reynolds argues that the saints never die in the middle of their stories, but always at the end.

-Shannon Hale's giving away some ARCs of her new book "Midnight in Austenland" if you like her on Facebook. I do like her and her writing, so I'm passing this one on! :)

-Willa, over at Quotidian Moments, is going to be hosting a slow, thoughtful read-through and blog-through of Margaret Peterson's "Keeping House: the Litany of Everyday Life". I'm joining in and I'd encourage you to join in too; if you go look at Willa's post, you'll see that the schedule she's proposing is really leisurely and doable - and the book isn't very long to begin with. To encourage you further, here's a link to my review of the book from a year ago. As you can see from the quoted sections, it's very lovely, rich, and rewarding reading.

-Jeanne over at At A Hen's Pace has a beautiful and profound post on pain up on her blog.

-Fictional Places You Can Visit in Real Life. Anyone up for a visit to Hobbiton?

-When a motif starts showing up over and over in popular culture, it's smart to wonder why. With that principle in mind, here's another thoughtful analysis on the current popularity of zombies in today's entertainment offerings. An excerpt:

David has grasped a breathtakingly essential point about zombie fiction: if human beings really were merely animated meat suits, then there would be no moral difference between killing zombies and killing human beings--and, as a corollary, we could kill human beings without remorse or pity simply because they were in the way. The history of the atheistic regimes of the twentieth century shows us what that looks like--what it looks like when a society arises to whom human beings are merely interchangeable animated future corpses, and which treats people as if they have no intrinsic human worth.

But if humans have intrinsic worth--if they are not mere walking bodies, if they are more than merely well-evolved animals--where does that worth come from? If the people we once loved who have died are not merely decomposing flesh, if they, the essential selves, still exist, then where and what are they, and why are they still alive? For Christians who believe in the soul, these questions can be pondered with placidity, gratitude, even joy. For anyone who does not believe in an immaterial and immortal human soul which makes us look like our Creator, though, these questions can only be rather grim to think about.

-And, the best news for last, Lois McMaster Bujold, my favorite living novelist, has finished a new book! Better yet? It's the one about Ivan. w00T!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links: All Saints, All Souls, Reformation Day, and more!

2011-10-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here's your terrifying link for the day: "The Dark Side of Dubai". Seriously, folks. It sounds like something out of a dystopian sci-fi: gleaming, Disneyland-like outer surfaces, and an underside of slavery, abuse, and torture, all wrapped up in an artificially propped-up environment surrounded by an arid, hostile desert that's trying to consume buildings and people alike. All absolutely true and in existence at this very moment. *shiver* (ETA: I should have noted that this article is a couple of years old. Still, there's a ton in there I hadn't read anywhere else, and I still think it's worth the read.)

In older, better news: Happy Reformation Day, my friends!

Tomorrow is All Saints' Day (celebrated here with candy) and Wednesday is All Souls, upon which, apparently, we all ought to eat doughnuts. I can get down with that tradition.

And here's an easy idea for celebrating All Saints with your kids, if you're feeling crafty.

Back to the bad news (well, sort of, if the-wages-of-sin-is-death is news), apparently they're finding that porn use is causing erectile dysfunction in otherwise healthy men. (I don't even want to think of the amount of spam I'm gonna get for linking to this). The article is really interesting though, because apparently it's a physiological problem with the reward cycle in the brain. I just have to say: I don't think that defeating your body's ability to react to dopamine is going to make your life better. Yeah. Probably not.

Now, as a palate-cleanser, here's Mumford and Sons singing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing":

a problem with word count

2011-10-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

I just did a quick calculation, and realized that my current book is likely to be about 115,000 words when finished (current word count, divided by number of chapters written so far, times projected number of chapters).

That's pretty long for the genre.

But then I realized: hey! At least when it comes time to edit, I'll have plenty of leeway to be ruthless with the delete key!

"Always look on the bright side of life . . . do-do, do-do-do-do-do-deeeeeee . . ."

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

How (Not) to Knit

2011-10-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Even my non-knitting husband cracked up watching this:

Knitted Finished Object: newborn hat

2011-10-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Posted today because the baby it's intended for is now officially a finished object too! (I.e., I have a new nephew!)

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

a prayer for bill-paying day

2011-10-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Two things I asked of You,

Do not refuse me before I die:

Keep deception and lies far from me,

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is my portion,

That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?”

Or that I not be in want and steal,

And profane the name of my God. - Proverbs 30:7-9

Grateful to have enough,
Jessica Snell

p.s. If anyone else is pondering money and the sufficiency or insufficiency thereof, may I recommend this post by Simcha Fisher? It sure helped me today.
p.p.s. I should note: we're fine. We're even blessed. (Really, truly, tangibly.) We're just a family of six living on one income in a high COL area and today it was throwing me for a loop, and I needed to go back to this passage of scripture in order to get my head on straight. I'm so grateful to have the Bible! God is good, all the time.

goodreads!

2011-10-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my. How did I miss this for so long? I read this article over at Shrinking Violet Promotions and thought, Hmm, I should check this goodreads thing out.

Wow. It's like Ravelry, but for books.

So . . . if you're a regular reader of this blog who's also on goodreads, come friend me! I just spent a few hours entering most of the books I've read the past few years and, well, someone should appreciate the effort, right? ;)

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! Butterfly effect, maternal guilt, a Christmas blog carnival, and more!

2011-10-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

You remember the "butterfly effect" in chaos theory that was made famous by Jurassic Park? Here's a real-life case involving the Japanese tsunami and a turbine plant out in the boonies in Pennsylvania. I think I actually laughed out loud when I got to the "IT WILL BE TRUE for this test floor" bit.

I laughed even harder and longer when I read Simcha Fisher's "Maternal Guilt Cheat Sheet". A sampling:

THE OFFENCE:

You accidentally let slip a comment which implies that not every moment of childrearing is a profound and ecstatic dance of bliss, a sentiment which will undoubtably set the pro-life movement back forty years and do irreparable harm to your children’s souls, causing the boys to become pimps and the girls to become bitter, tank top-wearing Riot Grrrls who listen to Terry Gross and tattoo “I [heart] the culture of death” on their lower backs.

THE SOLUTION:

Remind yourself that, in order for your words to do any harm, your kids would actually have to be listening to you. Whew!

Anyone else notice that zombies are showing up a lot in popular culture these days? I'd actually been wondering why that was, and this is the first article I've seen that offers a plausible theory. (Warning: slightly gory picture at the top of article - easy to scroll past, but don't open it while little kids are reading over your shoulder.) I do wonder, though, if even though some of it is about the economy, as the writer suggests, if more of it doesn't have to do with our culture having no coherent idea of what the afterlife is like. (Suggestion to culture: convert to Christianity! En masse!)

Facing down the editing of the first book I intend to query, I've been trying to give myself a crash course in grammar. My education in English grammar could charitably be called eclectic and I really wanted a more complete - and functional - understanding of the topic. And look! Here's a free online class in grammar! I think I've found what I need, and I'm passing on the link just in case someone else out there is realizing that not only is she an English nerd, she's an ignorant English nerd. (No? Just me?)

Kerry is thinking of organizing a Nativity blog festival (for Advent and Christmas and Epiphany) and wants to know if anyone's interested. Go tell her you are so we can do it! I'm sleepy enough right now that I think my contribution will be, "Let's all be quiet with our eyes closed and spend the holy season praying quietly," but surely someone has a better idea and if the blog carnival goes forward I'll just be able to happily copy those of you with more energy. :)

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

the perfect isn't the enemy of the good

2011-10-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Since Lent, I’ve been avoiding looking at that section of John that I started memorizing because I knew that I couldn’t do the chapter a week I wished that I could. Avoiding tasks I know I won't be able to accomplish as beautifully as I wish I could has long been a failing of mine.

But God's been teaching me that doing what I ought to do - even if I'm afraid I can't do it well - is right. I'm learning to find my peace in obedience, and not in success.

Memorizing scripture isn't the most important area I'm learning this in, but it's not unimportant either. Even though I can't do as much as I like, it's better to do just a verse a week – or even just read it once a week! – rather than to do nothing at all. The fact that I have not the speed I wish for is no excuse for not moving at all. It is better to do something rather than nothing.

And it’s not that “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. The perfect is the perfect and thank God for that. It’s that the good is better than the nonexistent. And that perfection won’t be reached without effort and that we have to walk before we can run. (Now there’s a truism that actually holds.)

And haven’t I seen that in my writing this year? In fact, I wonder if that’s where I actually, practically (perhaps without actually realizing it) learned this lesson first. I cannot write a novel nearly as fast as I think I should be able to write a novel. But I can write a novel. And I don’t even have to concede that I’m wrong about how fast I should be able to do it. I should be able to write a novel in six months, research and plotting time included. That might well be the perfect (we’ll have to see - I'm getting faster).

But it is better to write a novel slowly than not to write one at all. And it’s only by practice that I’ll get faster. So I’ll keep going. One slogging hour at a time. And be grateful.

Turning towards our tasks instead of away, in the knowledge that God takes our inadequate offerings and makes up the lack: this way lies peace. It's pride to think that we can be perfect on our own. Our job is obedience.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! children and prayer, forgiveness among the stars, and more!

2011-10-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

The noted humorist, Anne Kennedy, gives an oh-so-true description of attempting to pray with young children. (And yes, the attempt is still more than worth it.)

Why I Am Catholic writes about Robert Downey Jr. asking Hollywood to forgive Mel Gibson.

Jen over at Conversion Diary wrote The Ultimate Burnout Survival Guide. It's really good.

This study on the effect of steroids on preemies (they're given to speed lung development) is a little sad, but I still say it's better to have the babies here and alive, even if the means were sort of hard on them. I hope that medical treatment overcomes this, but I'm still really glad my girls were able to breathe when they were born.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Daybook for October 18, 2011

2011-10-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

outside my window . . . slowly dwindling light, all golden, the western sky still too bright to look at.

I am listening to . . . the WEBS podcast.

I am wearing . . . a sleeveless cotton shirt, and a floaty cotton skirt, both in blues. Very calming, pretty, and comfy.

I am so grateful for . . . feeling the freedom to pursue my writing career. After speed-writing Adam's birthday present, I feel a new energy and, to be frank, ability, to really tackle my current work-in-progress, and even my current work-in-editing. I think in those crazy two weeks, where I pushed myself harder than I've ever pushed myself before, I finally really learned the work of writing.

And as Miles Vorkosigan points out, the reward for a job well done is . . . another job. Work is good.

I'm pondering . . . writing, and what I want to do. Contemporary romance? Historical romance? Sci fi? I thought the question was, "which?" but I think I was wrong about the question, because the answer seems to be simply, "More."

I am reading . . . still finishing up False Colours and In Memorium.

I am creating . . . a scarf out of recycled cashmere. I'm at the boring, "repeat stitch pattern till it measures X inches" part. But then it all explodes into lace, so that'll be fun.

I am thankful for . . . an amazing afternoon spent with my mom and Cynthia Ruchti this past Sunday. Still pondering all we talked about.

around the house . . . I recently cleaned out the pantry, the deep freeze, and the fridge. But I'm getting itchy to do some more decluttering upstairs, and get this place really, truly organized.

I can't help but think that simplified housekeeping will only help with all my writing goals. I'm not adverse to working hard when it comes to the house, but I'm increasingly desirous of also working smart.

from the kitchen . . . my friend Emily's carne asada recipe. It's on the stove right now. Folks, I am so hungry right now. Just waiting for the twins to wake up and we will EAT.

real education in our home . . . lots of books. I'm reading Redwall with the eldest, and going through The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading with Gamgee (who's picking it up so fast) and lots of picture books with all four. Also working on having more regular family devotions after dinner.

the church year in our home . . . I have Michaelmas coloring pages printed out that I haven't yet remembered to give to the kids to color. How sad is that? But the kids are getting excited about All Saint's Day, and I am too.

the week ahead. . . the weekend is jam-packed with extra church stuff. Hoping to live the week in a calm and measured manner so that we end up at the weekend with energy for aforementioned extra church stuff.

picture thought . . . My sister and I at her son's first birthday this past weekend:
Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Versailles scarf - crocheted finished object

2011-10-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

This is the Versailles scarf pattern, crocheted in Knit Picks Shadow Tonal lace yarn, in the colorway Summer Blooms:

So pretty! It looked lacy and pretty while I was making it too, but I blocked it last night, and I was amazed at how much that opened up the stitch pattern. It feels light as a feather now, despite no change in weight. It moved beautifully in the breeze while I was photographing it.

Here it is all folded up; you can see the colors better in this picture:

Not my colors, but very lovely colors all the same. It's a gift for a friend, and I'm looking forward to giving it to her!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Movie Review: Cary Fukunaga's "Jane Eyre"

2011-10-12T16:51:00.001-07:00

This is a film I meant to see in theater, but just missed, and having watched it now on DVD, I'm even sorrier I didn't get to see it on the big screen, because it's one of the most visually stunning films I've ever watched.

Cary Fukunaga's "Jane Eyre" stars Michael Fassbender as Rochester and Mia Wasikowska as the titular Jane, and if the visuals are the best part of this movie, the acting is the second best part. Fassbender is utterly convincing as the compelling, brilliant, and sometimes cruel master of Thornfield Hall, and Wasikowska manages to play Jane as both reserved and strong, while also conveying her inexperience. And all this without making Jane the least bit boring; instead Jane comes across as intelligent and interesting - interesting precisely because of how interested she is in the world and people around her.

Despite these strengths - and they're huge strengths that I think make the movie worth a viewing despite what I'm going to say next - the movie suffers when it comes to the script. As with any adaptation, what the scriptwriters leave out matters almost more than what they leave (or add) in. While I didn't notice anything in the movie that departed greatly from Brontë's words, I noticed a lot that wasn't there.

Most especially, I missed Jane's faith. In this movie, you're left with the impression that the story is all about Jane's self-respect. And that's true as far as it goes. But it's the basis for Jane's self-respect that is missing. In the book, it's very clear that the reason Jane sees herself as a worthy match for Rochester is that she, like he, is a creature of God. It's her value as a created being who abides by God's law that bears her up in the worst of her struggles.

I found it very telling that in the scene when Rochester is pleading with Jane to stay (a scene that the actors hit out of the park, btw), Jane's impassioned speech about the purpose of law is missing:

Still indomitable was the reply: "I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad - as I am now. Laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth - so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane - quite insane, with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations are all I have at this hour to stand by; there I plant my foot."

It's as if the screenwriters were looking at the book with a magnifying glass and found all of the passion and self-determination, but missed the larger frame surrounding it. Which made it feel, in the end, disappointingly empty.

But still so very pretty. And there were several scenes that I feel like I understand better after watching them acted by Fassbender and Wasikowska - I think having their interpretations of the characters in my head during my next read-through will add to my enjoyment of the book. So I would still recommend it to fans of the book, with the caveat that it'll feel a little bit like you've had a lovely dessert that tasted great but left you a bit empty, rather than filling up on the glorious, full, five-course feast you might have been expecting.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Yarnalong: False Colours & DPN Knitting

2011-10-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

Yarnalong is hosted over at small things - check it out!

And here is what I'm knitting and reading this week:

The book is "False Colours" by Georgette Heyer. Now, I'm not saying her heroes are Fred and George Weasley, but if you thought your reading life needed a few more witty, red-headed twins in it after you finished Harry Potter, this is the book to go to. It's a mistaken identity plot, of sorts, with one of the twins taking his brother's place for what he thinks will be a one-time event, and all of the trouble (and romance!) that follows. I'm enjoying it vastly.

The knitting is the "Basic Newborn Hat in 3ply" and it's step 4 in my self-imposed Jess-learns-to-knit-socks class. I'm vastly enjoying this too, because as fiendish as working with four needles looks, it's actually just really fun. Lovely, rhythmic work - though I'm realizing that anything knit on size 1 needles is worth its weight in gold, 'cause, well, that's a LOT of stitches in that there hat. 100 stitches per round. No kidding.

But so fun! I love how clever it looks - how clever it is really. Whoever thought up knitting in the round on what's basically toothpicks was absolutely brilliant.

More yarn-y, literary fun over here!

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

I'm knitting!

2011-10-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

I am learning to knit. Not because I'm tired of crocheting, but just because, as there are some things you can do with crochet that you can't do with knitting, there are some things you can do with knitting that you can't do with crochet.

Specifically: socks. I want to learn to knit socks.

(Yes, there are crochet patterns for socks but, frankly, they're mostly terrible. A few are okay, but none I've ever seen look good.)

So I spent a few hours on Ravelry one evening, and planned myself out a mini knitting course that starts with the very, very basics and works up to knitting socks.

My knitting experience was very small: I learned the knit stitch as a child and made a square or two. A few years ago, I tried it again and couldn't figure out how to purl. That's it.

So, here's the plan, and my progress thus far.

1) Relearn how to cast-on and knit; learn to purl.

To do this, I went to Knitting Help and used their videos to learn these three things. I'm knitting continental, as I'd heard it was both faster and more natural to crocheters, and wow! what a difference there is in terms of ease between continental knitting and the English knitting I learned as a child. Love it!

And I couldn't figure out the purl stitch with just a book, and couldn't do it with just the video, but when I looked at the video AND had my trusty old needlework encyclopedia open beside me at the same time, I was able to figure it out.

2) Learn how to knit ribbing (i.e., a pattern of knit two, purl two that's used in lots of patterns because it's super-stretchy). This was tricky, because every time I switched between the knit stitch and the purl stitch, I ended up with extra loops on my needles. But eventually I figured out that I was bringing the yarn around the needle instead of between the needles, and I achieved this slightly-wonky ribbing:

But, hey! it's real ribbing! Super-stretchy and everything.

3) I was ready to start a first project, and I wanted to make: A) something I'd actually use, B) something that let me practice ribbing and C) something that'd let me practice short rows. So I cast on for a Calorimetry.

And I finished it in two days!

From the side, you can see that it's basically a large knit headband, but from the front it looks like a hat:

It's actually a really nifty thing because if you've got long hair, you don't have to mess it up the way you do when you shove it under a hat. You can just stretch the Calorimetry over your hair and button it at the nape of your neck. Lovely!

4) Next I'm planning on knitting a very basic newborn hat, in order to learn how to knit in the round on double-pointed needles.

5) Finally, a sock! Albeit a teeny-tiny, Christmas-ornament-sized sock. But it should let me practice all the different parts of sock construction (heel, gussets, etc.) in miniature before committing to a full-sized sock.

6) Finally, a real sock! This is actually a sock class, with super-specific, detailed instructions on each step of the pattern. This is absolutely the level of detail I'm going to need, I think, if I've any chance of getting a wearable sock out of this.

So, that's my new project! I'm loving it so far. It's so much fun to learn something new, especially something that's related to something I'm already so familiar with (i.e., crochet). Knitting is a whole new thing, of course, but it really feels like I'm just expanding my options in the yarn-y world I already enjoy so much.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . .

2011-09-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hey! I remembered something!

Well, actually, Adam remembered something: we meant to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas this year with the kids, giving them a small gift on each day from Christmas Day till Epiphany.

He remembered this when we were out shopping today and the kids got excited about gloves (gloves with snowflakes, gloves with camo print, gloves with flames). At first he said, "Hey, stocking stuffers!" but then he remembered, "weren't we going to skip stuffing the kids' stockings and do the 12 Days of Christmas instead?"

Yes, we were. And now we are, because we remembered in time!

So, I'm blogging just in case any of you out there had similar plans, since these things always go better if you start a few months ahead of time, so you can pick stuff up as you see it. It's a neat way of observing the entire Christmas season and not just the 25th (I hear).

And I promise, we're not being horrible parents by forgoing stuffing their stockings because their grandparents do such a good job of that already. :) Anything Adam and I added was just superfluous compared to the Awesomeness of the Grandfolk.

So now I'm contemplating what else I want to look for: maybe some new Bible story books or prayer cards or such, as well as fun stuff like bottle candy (I know, but they think it's really cool) or pop-guns and such.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Links: Wizards, Writers, Walks, and Walls

2011-09-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

-In Hollywood and the Hacker, Steven Lloyd Wilson critiques the way television and movies handle technology:

Movies and television have conjured computer geeks into modern wizards in perhaps the truest sense of the word that has ever been realized, conjuring hidden knowledge from the very air with arcane language and the clattering of fingers. The reality of a computer expert is a black screen full of white text, completely impenetrable to the untrained, but too intimidating for an audience according to the standards of Hollywood. Fancy monitors and slick touch interfaces, anything to put a visual face on the black hole of text that represents real coding. Never mind that there’s a reason coders type. Text is the most efficient form of communication yet devised for interface with the human animal, a dense soup of information that can nonetheless be engineered into speech and processed into meaning like lightning. Graphical interfaces? Touching the screen to select things? That’s nice for your mp3 player, but if you want to tell the computer to do something complicated enough that it would take sentences to explain to another person, you’re going to need words not pictures. If words weren’t more efficient, our vocal cords would have atrophied by now in favor of charades and pictionary.

Great explication- of the way Hollywood treats technology like magic. As Wilson says later in the piece, "The effect is being idolized without understanding the cause." It's a great essay for the person who enjoys modern entertainment, but who doesn't want to digest it without analyzing it.

-In "Hold the Scalpel!", Jim Rubarts writes:

I'd finished the manuscript for my first novel, ROOMS and through connections I made at the Mt Hermon Writers Conference I got the story in front of three agents. All three were interested in representing me. But none signed me.

Why? My story needed more work. My novel was 90% of the way there. But as agent Steve Laube says, a novel from a first time author needs to be 95% - 98% of the way there . . .

I'm fond of this classic writing anecdote which illustrates my view:

An author and a brain surgeon went golfing one spring day and the brain surgeon said, "I'm taking a six weeks off this summer to write a book!"

The author stared at his friend and said, "That's a stunning coincidence. I'm taking six weeks off this summer to become a brain surgeon."

The rest of the post is really encouraging - encouraging in that actually encouraging, tough-love sort of way, not in the there-there-it's-all-just-fine sort of way. Love it.

-Anne's post on discovering new walks around her new home is beautiful.

-Check out the cool Church Year Timeline Kelly's put up on her wall!

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Using the Prayers of the People for intercessory prayer

2011-09-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

My two oldest kids go to school every weekday now and recently I've been feeling more called to intercessory prayer.

Could there be a connection there? ;)

All kidding aside, I really have been feeling called to intercede more than I have in the past - or perhaps, a better way to put that would be that the Lord has been reminding me that this is something He has asked me to do and He still wants me to be doing it. (I first got the impression that I was really supposed to be doing this on my honeymoon, actually. I remember journaling then that I thought a big part of my job as a wife and a mother was going to be praying for my family.)

One of the things I did in response to this most recent reminder was to email my grandma and ask her about her prayer life. It only made sense, because she's one of the people I always ask to pray for me when I'm in need of prayer.

Her response was both generous and helpful. And as I read her list of the different people and groups of people that she prays for, I thought, Huh, that sounds a lot like the Prayers of the People.

So I've started using the Prayers of the People in my own prayer life. I'm using the version that's in the back of my St. James devotional, as I already have that with me during my Bible-reading time.

And that's it. That's all I've got for this blog. No great spiritual insight, just a passing-on of something I've found useful. If you're having trouble structuring your intercessory prayer life, try the Prayers of the People. Pray them and let them remind you of all the people you were planning to pray for anyway. I'm finding them immensely helpful, both in reminding me of people I meant to pray for and of reminding me of how I ought to be praying for them.

Praise God for his servant Thomas Cramner.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Summer Camp!

2011-09-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

So . . . when you think of summer camp, what do you think of? What activities, games, relay races, experiences really made summer camp summer camp?

It's research, honest. :) I'd really like to know. Capture-the-flag, canoe-ing, weenie-roasts, sing-a-longs, horses, cabin raids . . . what does a summer camp have to have to make it really, really good? Extra points if it's something competitive.

Thank you!
Jessica

crocheted finished objects: hats, gloves, and more!

2011-09-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

I've finished a few things lately. First, a little vest for a friend's soon-to-arrive baby:

I love how it looks a bit like an old grandpa sweater. I think it's the folded collar that really cements the look of the piece:

Little baby boys so often look like funny little old men, I thought the old-man vest might be especially cute. :)

I crocheted it in Wool-Ease, my first time using that yarn, and I quite liked it. The wool content takes away that artificial slickness you sometimes get with acrylic, but it's still largely acrylic, so it'll be easy for the new mom to just toss into the wash if it gets burped on.

Then, I finished another Christmas present, a beanie crocheted up in a self-striping sock yarn:

This was the project I carried around in my purse for a few months, working on it here and there as I was out and about. Happy with how it turned out, but glad to be done with it!

Then, a favorite, my dad's handwarmers:

This was fun because he actually requested a pair after I wore my own pair on our backpacking trip, except he wanted some in green. I hunted about, found a yarn that would work, and played with the pattern till it fit him. They're his stocking stuffer, but not a surprise, as I kept making him try them on as I tried to adjust the pattern!

Then, I made up just a few more yarn-eating baskets. I had fun with these, but I think I'm done with them for awhile. I achieved my goal of using up some yearn I had no other plans for and making room for some yarn that my sister had recently passed on to me. Everything fits in the crates I have set aside for yarn storage again.

Here's my favorite:

I like the subtle, tweedy appearance.

This one's not bad either:

This one, however, is downright Seussian, from the garish colors to the crazy corners (hey, I was experimenting):

I have no idea what I'll do with it.

And, finally, one last, heavy-duty tote:

Whew! That was a lot of single crochet stitching! I just started up a new project, using some of the laceweight cashmere I harvested from a thrift-store sweater, and I think it'll be a nice change of pace after all this heavier work.

Of course, the laceweight is so light and delicate that it snags on any bit of rough skin on my fingers and threatens to tear if my tension is even slightly too tight. So it's got its own challenges! But it's delicate and pretty and just what I'm in the mood for now.

What are the rest of you working on?

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

7 Quick Takes- Quotation Edition

2011-09-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

1. I've been mulling over this line from Mumford and Sons for a long time: "If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy/Then I could have won."

I think this is something you want to avoid having to say.

2. I'm also mulling over this from Gerard Manley Hopkins: "The effect of studying masterpieces is to make me admire and do otherwise."

3. More goodness, this time from Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."

4. And this one, I think, could apply to television and the internet: "Leave the presence of a fool, Or you will not discern words of knowledge." - Proverbs 14:7

5. Have you ever heard the old chestnut, "God moves in mysterious ways"? I would like to point out (having just discovered the fact myself) that the poem that's from ("Light Shining Out of Darkness" by Cowper) ends with:

Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan His work in vain;

God is His own interpreter,

And He will make it plain. *

So . . . the poem ends insisting on pretty much the opposite of what everyone who quotes the more famous first line means.

6. The above-quoted poem also includes this cheering stanza:

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take:

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head.

7. And I've been thinking, all week, about John Donne's "Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward." I thought of it because of the famous line, "Who sees God's face, that is self life, must die; What a death were it then to see God die?" and because of the heartbreakingly hopeful end, but when I went to read it again, it was the beginning that struck me:

Let man's Soul be a Sphere, and then, in this,

The intelligence that moves, devotion is;

What a thought, eh? that the intelligence that moves the sphere of our souls is devotion. (It was an old belief that the heavenly bodies were moved by intelligences proper to them.) "Devotion to what?" is the next logical question. But Donne goes on:

And as the other Spheres, by being grown

Subject to foreign motions, lose their own,

And being by others hurried every day,

Scarce in a year their natural form obey;

Pleasure or business, so, our Souls admit

For their first mover, and are whirl'd by it.

Doesn't that sound familiar? We admit pleasure or business in place of devotion to God, and like a moon caught in the gravity well of a planet, we're whirled away from our native trajectory and spin far, far, far from our proper courses.

The poem goes on, of course, to talk about which direction Donne is facing versus which way he ought to be facing, and why, and what that means, but I've found myself simply sitting and soaking in the idea that it is devotion that moves me in the direction I find myself going each day.

"Devotion" and "attend" were the two words I started the year with. What am I given over to and where am I looking? Anyone who's every mountain-biked knows that you go where you look (which is why you don't look where you don't want to go - don't look at the scary ditch or you'll find yourself heading over the handlebars into it).

This poem is all about that.

If you are what you repeatedly do . . . well, you ought to think about what you want those repeated actions to be. You ought to attend. And having attended, you'll quickly be called to devote yourself to God - he who has ears, let him hear. If you pay attention, you can't help but hear His call.

But alas, Lord, we are "fools and slight". So the poem ends the way that it does:

O think me worth thine anger, punish me,

Burn off my rusts and my deformity,

Restore thine Image so much, by thy grace,

That thou may'st know me, and I'll turn my face.

More Quick Takes to be found over at Conversion Diary.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

*emphasis mine.

Extra Links: Edition Question-Not-the-Need

2011-09-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

Erm, I forgot two links on the last post, but they're both about yarn, so if you're not into yarn (and you're not someone looking for ideas for my birthday), you can skip this post.

First, isn't this the prettiest blue-and-green combination you've ever seen on spun fiber? It's called "Mallard" and it's lovely, and I want it in laceweight, yes I do.

Second, there is such a thing as Doctor Who yarn. Oh, let my nerdy heart rejoice. Check out this colorway, called "Tenth Doctor", in TARDIS blue and cool-suit brown. I could see doing another Visage Lace Beret in sock yarn from this colorway and whispering "Allons-y" to myself every time I walked out the door wearing it. Hee, hee.

I think the whole Internet is just one giant nerd-enabling device, don't you?

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

p.s. Yes, quoting Lear in the title is silly. Yes, using the word "need" in reference to yarn is silly. Yes, I know, I know.

Links! Why Writers Drink, Let's Rush to Judgement, and more

2011-09-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

Sharon Lee (coauthor of the excellent Liaden books) writes about "Why Writers Drink, Part Whoknows", a post about intellectual property rights and the villains who don't know what those words mean. I like:

The whole Orphan Works Issue that we all hear so much about and which is the total justification put forth by universities and Google and proselytizing professors? Is a red herring. There are NOT millions or even hundreds of thousands of Brilliant! Works! Still! In! Copyright! just lying around the place whose authors-or-rights-holders have fallen off the face of the earth and cannot be found, that in-force copyright therefore Robbing! The! Ages! of those gems.

Fellow fans of Georgette Heyer will enjoy this interview with the author of a new biography on the grand dame of the Regency romance. Plus, the author's giving away a copy of the book!

NPR's Monkey See blog has a great feature called "Let's Rush to Judgment" which critiques movies solely based on their trailers. The post for the new Breaking Dawn trailer is hilarious, including sentences like this:

As if that weren't enough, MONSTERBABY is not a very easy pregnancy, since it is attempting to devour Bella in a "trapped in a giant pile of M&Ms, I could only try to eat my way out, nom nom nom" kind of way.

Oooh! "Om-nom-nom danger!" Seriously, this is going to be the most unintentionally hilarious movie every made. It's so, so sad.

(But read the NPR post. It's funny.)

Daybook for 9/13/11

2011-09-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

outside my window . . . a nice, cool, end-of-summer day. The clouds this morning were glorious, covering half the sky, but in little cotton-ball puffs, the edges of each all a-shining.

I am listening to . . . Mumford and Sons' "Home" and Brooke Fraser's "Something in the Water". One is mournful and longing, the other is upbeat and triumphant, and I like them both so very, very much.

I am wearing . . . shorts, a grey t-shirt, Celtic knot earrings from a dear friend, and my hair up and off my neck (of course!).

I am so grateful for . . . a good school experience, so far, for the two oldest.

I'm pondering . . . how I want my writing life to look, now that Adam's gift is finished and I'm back to ordinary times. I think that I always want to be editing/querying a book (so one finished), be writing a book (in process), and be plotting/researching a book (prospective). That way I can move smoothly from one project to another. Ideally, when I finish writing one book, I want another one waited for me: plot outlined and research complete.

We'll see how that goes.

I am reading . . . Ghost Ship, by Lee and Miller. And I'm sadly almost done. Write faster, guys!

I am creating . . . I just finished a tiny vest for a new little boy due soon at our church, and I'm about to cast on a cardigan for Adam's cousin's new baby, also due soon. Oh! And I'm starting my next novel - my first contemporary romance! The research on that one is finally done. Exciting times.

around the house . . . everything's actually pretty clean and calm, now that the rowdy summer days are gone. I'm enjoying the peace.

from the kitchen . . . I have chicken baked; I'm going to shred it and put it on bagels tonight with some marinara sauce and cheese to make mini-pizzas. Strawberries are waiting to be washed for our side dish.

real education in our home . . . spending time each day listening to the kids talk about school, reading books, helping with homework. Doing some popcorn reading of the Psalms with my eldest.

the church year in our home . . . today is the feast day of Cornelius the Centurion and of St. John Chrysostom. I find myself wanting to pray, "May God give us both faithfulness and golden words."

recent milestones . . . the two eldest started school! They both like it, and I'm very grateful. For my part, I'm enjoying having more one-on-one time with the youngest two in the mornings, and with the oldest two in the afternoons, while their little sisters are napping.

the week ahead. . . hoping to get a handle on the new rhythm of our days, now that we've got two in school.

picture thought . . . We had the pleasure of spending a long Labor Day weekend with some dear friends who live a bit north of us, and one of the things we got to do was to help with the bee harvest. It was so cool!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

addendum to the last post

2011-09-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

Emily and Ingrid's comments made me realize that I should add: now that Adam's read the book, I'm glad to send it to anyone else who wants to read it, provided I actually know who you are. Just shoot me an email or a comment. Skip it if you don't like sci-fi or (clean) romance, as it's both.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

the Project That Must Not Be Named

2011-09-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

Jess' note: this post was started a couple of weeks ago, because I was working on a project for my husband's birthday, and couldn't talk to him about it, and not talking to my husband about what I was doing was making me crazy. So I blogged about it, keeping a log of what I was working on. But I couldn't publish the post, because my husband reads my blog.

So, I'm publishing it now, two weeks delayed

-Jess

I am writing this because not talking about what I'm doing is driving me nuts.

I'm writing my husband a novel for his birthday. Or at least, I am writing my husband a novella for his birthday.

I'm always making things for people with my hands, but it struck me recently: I'm a writer. Instead of a handmade silk-and-alpaca scarf, why not give a novel? The receiver's very own novel, a novel no one has ever read before?

I've only done something like this once before, when I gave my friend Deanna a story for her birthday, a piece of X-Men fan fiction (hey, we were in high school). Deanna, being awesome, took the story and illustrated it, and my gift became this cool, two-person piece of art.

This time is sort of similar, but not because I expect my husband to illustrate the book. It's because he helped to plot it.

When the kids were younger, we used to take long walks every night, with the kids up on our backs or down in a stroller (or both), and one of the things we enjoyed doing on those walks was plotting our own sci-fi story: something swashbuckling and fun, using all of our favorite story-ish things: Sir Percy-ish disguises, Vorkosigan-ish intrigue, and Liaden-ish high romance. It was fun to take those walks and build our impossible story in words.

So when I give my husband a stack of paper with a title page that says, "Julian and Kiana", he'll know exactly what it is. And he'll be very, very surprised.

But is it possible? I had a little less than two weeks when I decided to do it. Less now.

Over the years, I've kept a file with notes on the plot, and even written a scene here or there, when inspiration struck. To be added in when I finally wrote the real thing, "some day". On the weekend, I pulled those all together and put them in order, stringing them in between bullet points that summarized what I knew of the plot.

That gave me about 10,000 words. Only 40,000 to go!

Day 1: I am insane. I wrote 4000 words today, which I almost can't believe, but I feel like my brain has parted company with my head and I don't know where it's gone to. This reminds me of staying up late on Christmas Eve trying to finish the stitching on Bess' stocking before her first Christmas morning. Or of the time I tried to speed-read Don Quixote before class (note to the wise: don't speed-read Cervantes). Or of the end of a very long hike, when putting one foot in front of the other isn't any fun anymore, and hasn't been fun for hours now, but has to be done if you want to get to water before dark.

I skimmed back through my work, and it's not bad, but I found many places where I'd left out a simple word or used the same word twice or other such errors of exhaustion.

I'm glad I already have those 10,000 words of scenes written in a more relaxed mood, because they'll probably be the streams of deeper feeling that carry all these action scenes along.

Day 2: 2700 words today. Which puts me 1300 behind. When I talk to Adam, I have to search around for things to say, because the first thing on the tip of my tongue is always the story. I'm swimming in story and not talking about it feels like lying. I think when this is over, he'll not only be surprised about his gift, he'll be enlightened about why I've been so out of it for a week and a half.

Is it still a good present if he has to spend a week and a half with a wife who's not all there?

Day 3: I want it on record that I'm giving up my exercise time in order to write this book. That right there tells me that 4000 words/day is not sustainable in my normal life. I don't mind it for a couple of weeks though. (And I'm beginning to think that 2000-3000 words/day might be more sustainable than I'd imagined.)

Later on Day 3: "I won't be seeing you again, because I'll be killing myself once we reach the honeymoon suite." "Won't that be nice? She kissed me! cackle, cackle." Seeeeriously, here folks.

Later yet on Day 3: Today my brains came back, and I rewarded them by taking a handmixer to them, blending them, and snorting them out my nostrils. This is insane. No one was meant to imagine this hard and this fast. EXTREME IMAGINING. DON'T FORGET YOUR HELMET. DON'T BE SURPRISED IF YOUR BRAIN FEELS LIKE IT JUST DID THE DEATH-VALLEY-TO-MT.-MCKINLEY RUN.

3000 words in. Can I make it to 4000 before I call it quits for the night?

Later yet: 4,300 total. Awesome.

Day 4: I hit a point in the story today where a lot of my prewritten scenes come in. You would think this would be good for my word count, but it isn't, because going through those scenes and tweaking them so that the details fit the story-as-written-so-far is taking a lot of time. At about 2000 words right now.

Day 5: I am reminded of what Stephanie Pearl McPhee said about knitting: I do magic: I take two sticks and some yarn in my hands and wave them around and, poof! fabric!Only I wave them around for a really long time.

It's like that: I wave my fingers around in the vicinity of my computer and POOF! a STORY appears!

Only I wave my fingers around for a reeeeeeeeally long time.

Day Whatever-the-heck-we're-on-now: Well, we traveled up to central California. Did I mention that I was insane enough to try this during a two-week period that includes a five-day trip? Also, that includes my two oldest children's first day of school?

Actually, this nutty project is keeping me from worrying about my children's first day of school. So that's good, I think.

I've discovered that my laptop has enough battery to let me write all the way from Lodi, down the 99, to the 5, and to the place where you first catch a glimpse of the Grapevine winding its way over the mountains and down into the Los Angeles basin.

Day We're-Almost-Done: Well, it's my husband's birthday and the first day of school for the kids, and I'm almost done. Happily, Adam's party is tomorrow night, which gives me one more day to bring this story to its close.

I'm finding that I can write a lot faster than I gave myself credit for before. This isn't good, because it means from now on I'm not going to be able to coddle myself. The whole illusion I had of Artist-as-Fragile-Flower is completely gone. Turns out that not only can I work, I can be a workhorse. I can actually sit down, seemingly idea-less and without inspiration and keep writing anyway. And the writing that comes out isn't crap, it's pretty much just as good as the stuff I write when I feel inspired.

So, there's that.

Day HURRAH: It's done, it's done, it's done! And I love it!

Very violent book. It's not a sit-and-take-tea like the romances I've written.

But even as I write that, I realize that the last romance I wrote also involved soldiers, beatings, and violent death.

I think I might not be the writer I thought I was.

(Note: I told this to my mom, and her response is, "Maybe you've found something to do with your anger." Ha!)

On the other hand, as I was writing it, I noticed that the words I used over and over again were "grinned", "laughed", and "smiled". (Better than "grimaced", "sneered", and "snickers", Twilight.)

I found myself using those words over and over and over because, well, the hero and heroine were falling in love. And falling in love is, in my experience, full of laughing and smiling and grinning and then laughing and smiling some more, because here is this person, and he constantly delights you, and you're so happy, and it's just good.

And that, of course, was the impetus behind this whole project. I love you, Adam!

Later yet: He loves it. :D I gave it to Adam and he knew exactly what it was. And he got the biggest grin on his face. And he's sitting next to me now and reading it and laughing at all the right parts. Yay!

Wow, this was the hardest thing I've done in a long time. But it was worth it. So, so worth it.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

p.s. Here's my log of my word counts from the project. It says I started out with 13,000 words already written, but the truth is that once I cut out the stuff I couldn't use, as well as the plot prompts from my outline, I only started with 8000 words already written.

8/29: went from 13,000 to about 17,000 (4000 total)

8/30: went from 17,000 to about 19,700 (2,700 total) – should be at 21,000

8/31: went from 19,700 to 24,000 (4,300 total) – should be at 25,000

9/1: went from 24,000 to 26,500 (2,500 words total – but lots of prompts cut, which means I actually wrote a lot more that that) - should be at 29,000

9/2: - went from 26,500 to 27,000 (500 words total – but lots more prompts and whole scenes cut, so I don’t know how much I actually wrote) – should be at 33,000

9/3: - went from 27,000 to 27,500 (500 words total) should be at 37,000

9/4: - went from 27,500 to 28,200 (700 words total) - should be at 44,000

9/5: - went from 28,200 to 29,200 (1000 words total) - should be at 48,000

9/6: - went from 29,200 to 31,100 (1900 words total) should be at 52,000

9/7: - went from 31,100 to 34,400 (3300 words total) should be at 56,000

9/8: -went from 34,400 to 36,600 (2400 words total – but erased lots of prompts)

9/9: - went from 36,600 to 38,700 (2100 words total – but, again, erased lots of prompts)

pretty, pretty, ugly, and pretty again!

2011-09-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

I've made some more of the yarn-eating totes, and I'm still loving them!

First, this color-coordinated effort:

Then, this garish item, which the children nonetheless love:

They use it to carry their toys around the house - they tie ropes on the handles and haul their toy animals up and down the stairs.

And then, my very favorite, this lovely Easter-y one:

The only problem with this project? All the ends I have to weave in. Check it out:

But I'm close to getting all my old Red Heart skeins down to the place where they'll be merely a stripe or two on my scrap afghan.

Maybe once the one at the top is done, I'll be there.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! - Cancer, Criticism, and more!

2011-09-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

This news - that scientists have tweaked a smallpox virus so it just attacks cancerous cells - is super-cool. Even if it does spookily remind me of the beginning of Feed.

Simcha Fisher on how criticism is not un-Christian.

Even though I knew some of the 18 Things You Didn't Know About Firefly, there was enough in there I didn't know to make this link interesting.

In the wake of the reality-TV-related suicide, the excellent Linda Holmes proposes an ethical code for the producers of unscripted television. It's pretty brilliant, especially as she admits that some types of reality shows could never sign on (hi, Jersey Shore!). Some however - basically the ones that involve any level of skill on the part of the contestants (from game-playing on Survivor to dress-designing on Project Runway) could benefit greatly from agreeing to a standard code of ethics, including things like psychological after-care for the contestants.

Reality TV is still pretty young, historically speaking, and the ethics of it are still under a lot of debate. I think it's a fascinating discussion (and I think the popularity of books like The Hunger Games bears me out one this).

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Chapbook Entry for "Hearing God", by Dallas Willard

2011-08-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

"All of the words that we are going to receive from God, no matter what may accompany them externally or internally, will ultimately pass through the form of our own thoughts and perceptions. We must learn to find in them the voice of God in whom we live and move and have our being." - pg. 182

"It cannot be stressed too much that the permanent address at which the word of God may be found is the Bible." - pg. 183

"God acts toward me in a distinctively personal manner. This is the common testimony across wide ranges of Christian fellowship and history. I think it is this sense of being seized in the presence of Scripture, in a manner so widely shared, that gives the Bible its power to assure us in the face of our continuing fallibility. We stand within a community of the spoken to." (emphasis mine.) - pg. 184

"Without any real communication from God our view of the world is very impersonal, however glorious we may find God's creation. But there is all the difference in the world between having a fine general view that this is our Father's world - or even that an arrangement has been made for our eternal redemption - and having confidence, based in experience, that the Father's face, whether in the dark of the night or the brightness of the day, is turned toward us, shining upon us, and that the Father is speaking to us individually." - pg. 186

". . . God is not a mumbling trickster.

"On the contrary it is to be expected, given the revelation of God in Christ, that if he wants us to know something, he will be both able and willing to communicate with us plainly, just as long as we are open and prepared by our experience to hear and obey." - pg. 191

When seeking direction regarding a specific matter and direction doesn't come: "I do not cease my general attitude of listening. But I am neither disappointed nor alarmed, nor even concerned, as a rule . . . From my own experience, then, and from what I have been able to learn from the Scriptures and from others who live in a working relationship with God's voice, I am led to the following conclusion: Direction will always be made available to the mature disciple if without it serious harm would befall people concerned in the matter or the cause of Christ." - pg. 200

"Think of it this way: no decent parents would obscure their intentions for their children. A general principle for interpreting God's behavior towards us is provided in Jesus' words, 'If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!' (Lk 11:12). How much more will our heavenly Father give clear instructions to those who sincerely ask him - in those cases where he has any to give? Where he has none to give, we may be sure that it is because it is best that he does not. Then whatever lies within his moral will and whatever is undertaken in faith is his perfect will. It is no less perfect because it was not specifically dictated by him. Indeed it is perhaps more perfect precisely because he saw no need for precise dictation. He expects and trusts us to choose, and he goes with us in our choice.

"Several different courses of action may, then, each be God's perfect will in a given circumstance. We should assume that this is so in all cases where we are walking in his general will, are experienced in hearing his voice and, on seeking, find no specific direction given. In these cases there are usually various things that would equally please God, though he directs none of them in particular to be done. All are perfectly in his will because none is better than the others so far as he is concerned, and all are good. he would not have you do other than you are doing. (Of course, being in his perfect will does not mean you are quite flawless yet! You can be in his perfect will without being a perfect human being!)" - pgs. 206-207

The above rings so true with my own experience as a parent; I love watching my children choose between goods. They become more themselves when they say, "This and not that," and in such cases, what I'm hoping is not that they choose one good or the other, but that they choose what is best for them, and I rejoice that they have more than one good to choose between. It makes so much sense - as our parenting, at its best, is only a pale reflection of the fatherhood of God - that He would rejoice in seeing us choose between goods too. It must be like watching a toddler, finally able to take more than ten steps in a row, wobble confidently towards his stuffed bear instead of his stuffed rabbit, grinning all the time at his accomplishment. You're just delighting in him, and are happy for him to grab either toy.

A quotation from John Wood Oman: "We can only be absolutely dependent upon God as we are absolutely independent in our own souls, and only absolutely independent in our own souls as we are absolutely dependent on God. A saved soul, in other words, is a soul true to itself because, with its mind on God's will of love and not on itself, it stands in God's world unbribable and undismayed, having freedom as it has piety and piety as it is free." - quoted on pg. 204

Lazarus

2011-08-21T22:18:00.001-07:00

There's a small section in Tennyson's great poem, In Memorium, about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. One part made my breath puff out in a half-laugh, half expression of astonishment, as Tennyson wondered how Lazarus might have answered his sister when she asked him where he had been those several days he was dead, and observes:

Behold a man raised up by Christ!
The rest remaineth unreveal'd;
He told it not; or something seal'd
The lips of that Evangelist.

Indeed. One wonders.

But then the next section of the poem caught me by surprise with its beauty:

Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,
Nor other thought her mind admits
But, he was dead, and there he sits,
And he that brought him back is there.

Then one deep love doth supersede
All other, when her ardent gaze
Roves from the living brother's face,
And rests upon the Life indeed.

Can you even imagine?

And yet someday we will all sit around a table in that company: our beloved dead, who are no longer dead, and Life Himself.

God have mercy on us sinners.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

more yarneating baskets!

2011-08-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, the joints in my hands are sore and the writing callus on my finger now has a blister to keep it company, but this triple-stranded crocheting is addicting! It just eats yarn (good for the decluttering effort) and it makes such useful stuff.

I mean, you'd hate to wear anything made with this technique, but for household items, it makes a wonderful, sturdy-but-flexible fabric. Here's a small basket to corral the remotes:

And here's a tote for the kids' toys:

I'm loving this. I wish I'd thought of it earlier!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! pronoun use, kitsch and how Harry Potter should have ended

2011-08-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here's an article from Scientific American about what the pronouns we use can tell us about ourselves. Seriously. With statistics and everything. Even the researcher behind the project never thought that researching pronoun use would lead to any discoveries but . . . well, read the article. The pronouns we use most frequently are actually incredibly revealing.

I know a lot of you also enjoy podcasts, so let me recommend this one from the Scriptorium, discussing kitsch and camp, and whether or not we can still afford to be silly in the digital age.

The brilliant folks at How It Should Have Ended now have a video for how Harry Potter should have ended. I have to say: their solution is quite clever and even plausible for the character involved:

But my favorite part (now that you've watched it, right?) is Voldemort's "I'm pointing my wand at you as hard as I can!" :D Yep! That was certainly the one part that was a lot sillier in the movie (where you didn't have any narration to explain what was going on) than it was in the book (where you did).

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

decluttering WIN (and crochet FO)

2011-08-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

There was a pile of power cords sprawling under the end table in our living room, making that corner of the room look messy. (I was able to notice this only because the rest of that corner had recently been decluttered.)

I wanted to contain the mess by nesting all the cords together in a basket, only I didn't have a rightly-sized basket. I tried a smallish one, and it looked nice for a moment, but as soon as we plugged anything into the cables, they all spilled out of the basket. No good.

I thought about buying a basket, but then I had an idea: I could make one, and not only clean up the mess in the corner, but use up some old acrylic yarn I had no other plans for.

I got three coordinating colors of yarn and crocheted them, holding all three together:

The resulting basket is just the right size:

I like this technique. The fabric it makes is stiff enough to hold the shape of the basket, but you can still bend the basket, which is nice for fitting it into the odd corner. I want to try using this technique again to make a square-bottomed tote - I bet it'd be great for holding toys, or for gathering toys that have been scattered around the house (I'm picturing handles made by leaving two parallel slits near the top of the tote - that should be pretty sturdy).

Crocheting with a triple strand of worsted weight yarn is a little hard on the wrists. But worth it for the results. It's so satisfying to be able to solve a problem by making something.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! culture, SAHMS, fashion, and more!

2011-08-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

And Sometimes Tea talks about politics, but more interestingly (to me, anyway), she talks about how in our culture "I disagree" is increasingly being taken to mean "I hate you". (I also recommend the comment thread on this post.)

Jennifer Fulwiler writes about how "Stay-at-Home Moms Need Help". I can't agree with her more. And the comment thread on this article is even better than the comment thread on the previous article.

Betty Beguiles reviews the upcoming fall trends (can it be a trend if it hasn't happened yet?). Though I disagree with her opinion on dusters (dusters are AWESOME!), she has the rest of it pretty well nailed. And she's very funny.

Here's a cartoon from The Ironic Catholic that summarizes the nature of internet arguments.

Crochet is often wacky and colorful in bad ways, but I think this sampler afghan is wacky and colorful in all the right ways. Each square was designed by a different pattern author and uses different stitches but the colors are all coordinated. In its nature it's like an old-fashioned embroidery sampler, but due to scale it reads visually more like a crazy quilt. Speaking of, do you think I'm crazy for wanting to make it? I'm visualizing it in white and blue and green . . .

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Crocheted Finished Object: Noah Beanie

2011-08-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is another fabulous pattern from Kristin Omdahl, who also wrote the Birch Vest pattern I made recently.

All the kids wanted to try it on:

The yarn is Chroma from Knit Picks and was really fun to work with - although I was frustrated by the fact that there were two different breaks in my skein of yarn and after one of them the colors started running in the opposite direction . . . oh well, it was still much more good than bad, and I like the finished product.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Daybook for August 17

2011-08-17T18:55:00.001-07:00

outside my window . . . eighty-degree weather in August. So weirdly wonderful.

I am listening to . . . knitting and crocheting podcasts. Thinking it's about time to switch to some music.

I am wearing . . . A light, full cotton skirt and a tank top. I feel comfy and pretty, and that's a valuable combination.

I am so grateful for . . . kids who love to play together. Seriously.

I'm pondering . . . appearance and what we communicate by how we look, whether we want to or not.

I am reading . . . Tennyson's In Memorium. Also, just finished Deadline, and am bummed that the next one in the series isn't out yet.

I am creating . . . a couple of scarves, one out of laceweight alpaca, and one out of my Kool-Aid-dyed yarn.

around the house . . . The upstairs is clean and picked up. The downstairs is clean and NOT picked up. My goal is to have both floors clean AND picked up by the weekend.

from the kitchen . . . there is much fresh produce and very little actual cooking. That's okay: it's summertime.

real education in our home . . . Bess and I are popcorn-writing a story together, i.e., she writes a sentence and then I write a sentence. It's about fairies, but the best part is the names of their evil goblin enemies, things like "Snot Rag" and "Rotten Mustache" and "Poop Paper". Gamgee is learning to read.

the church year in our home . . . I thought a lot about the Dormition of Mary on Monday, but didn't do anything to celebrate it. Still enjoying the long, green, post-Pentecostal season. Making Christmas presents. Grateful for mass every Sunday.

recent milestones . . . Gamgee read his first book!

the week ahead . . . getting the house in order. Finishing the bulk of the research for the next novel. Reading to the kids, a lot, I hope.

picture thought . . . perfect morning from camping: in the Sierras, next to the fire, drinking coffee, reading Tennyson.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

"Lend me your eyes; I can change what you see"

2011-08-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

I've been camping up in the Sierras with my family and some friends and it was glorious. Then I came back and didn't blog for a whole week because, frankly, regular life was glorious too and I didn't feel like missing it to write anything but fiction.

And so I got to thinking, recently, about why I like writing fiction (like novels) better than I like writing non-fiction (like blog posts). Especially as I like reading non-fiction almost (but not quite) as much as I like reading fiction.

And I realized that it's because in non-fiction I can't use specific examples. When it comes to writing about marriage, parenting, the devotional life, etc., many of the specific examples I'd like to use are private, either to myself or to others.

But in fiction - ah! fiction! my home, my love, my strong cup of tea! - I can make up the examples. And they're all the better for being made up because, unlike when writing a blog post, it's not like I write a book thinking, "this will explain my deep beliefs about marriage". No. That would be a boring book.

Instead, I have some scene, some "what if?", some picture of two people together doing something, and I think, "who are they? why are they there? what happens next?" and the questions get the wheel turning and suddenly the story is spinning itself out from under my fingers like roving turning into yarn.

And somewhere in the midst of that I get to think about all those non-fiction topics that fascinate me. I know that what I believe comes out in my stories, but the important part is that it comes out. I don't have to state it, I don't have to argue it. If I do my job right, the story is the argument. And even if you don't agree with me*, if the story has internal consistency, you might admit my beliefs' plausibility. You might, for a moment, say, "I can see what you mean." And the whole world opens up when authors can do that for you.

Art is, I am more and more convinced, the job of saying, "Look at it this way." I've thought that ever since I first saw a Van Gogh painting in high school and realized that afterwards I looked at irises differently. Even though what he painted isn't what irises actually look like, he showed me that there was more to them than I ever could have seen without him lending me his eyes.

I'm no Van Gogh. But I want to do what he did. I want to say, "look at it this way," because so many other people have done that for me.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

*Watch me just ignore modern literary theory that would tell you that what I think has nothing to do with it. Ha! Somebody say that to Dickens' face. Or Tolkein's. Or Tennyson's . . . sure, they didn't mean anything by what they wrote. Give me a break . . .**

**Of course, I also don't mean to imply that you can tell what the author thinks by identifying him with one of the main characters, or the narrator, or anything like that. It's not that simple. You have to take the work as a whole. But on the other hand, if you read "Jane Eyre", and don't think that Charlotte Bronte had something to say about integrity, and that Jane's long argument to Rochester before she leaves him doesn't about sum it up . . . well, I don't think you know how to read a book.

***title quotation from Mumford and Sons' "Awake My Soul".

Links! just two!

2011-08-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

Anne Kennedy on sharing the gospel. Go read this. It's so good.

Ooh, a new Dr. Who trailer:

Book Notes: Lee & Miller's "Saltation" and "Mouse & Dragon"

2011-07-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

I recently recommended Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden books to a young friend, saying:

. . . Lee & Miller's books are awesomely fun, just because they have no compunction about giving their heroes absolutely every virtue they possibly can. The hero's a stunningly talented pilot! And swordsman! And linguist! Oh, yeah, and he's an aristocrat! And has piles of money! And is a spy! And outrageously handsome! And did we mention he's a talented telepath? :D Their stories just overflow with adventure and swashbuckling and joie-de-vivre. They're ridiculously unlikely, but I love 'em.

The two most recent efforts from the husband and wife team, "Saltation" and "Mouse & Dragon", were terribly fun, especially as they filled in some gaps that have piqued this faithful reader's curiosity for years. What did Daav yos'Phelium do during his missing decades? Who is Theo Waitley? How did Daav and Aelianna fall in love? These two volumes answer those questions.

I liked "Saltation" well, and "Mouse & Dragon" less well . . . the latter just didn't have enough plot, and was too moony a romance for my liking. I'm glad to know what happened in that part of the story, but I don't think I'll reread it quite as often as I reread their other work.

However, though I think that Lee & Miller's entirely edible prose, ridiculously talented characters & sense of fun would carry the day with any reader who happened to pick up "Saltation", I'd strongly recommend against starting with it if you haven't read any of their other books. "Saltation" was a lot of fun to read, but I don't think it'd be nearly as much fun to a new reader, who wouldn't get the enjoyment of having gaps in a favorite fictional universe filled.

But, since the Liaden books are a delight, I do recommend picking them up. Start with "Conflict of Honors" or, better yet, "Agent of Change."

As Lars Walker* says, the usual cautions for adult situations apply. Liaden morality doesn't equal mine, but within their fictional society, Lee & Miller's characters are strongly ethical and moral people - heroes, in fact. (And master traders, scouts, swordsmen, pilots, mathematicians and all the rest.)

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

*Read Lars Walker too. His stuff is like the Vikings meets Stephen Lawhead peppered with a bit of "That Hideous Strength".

Secular Novels and Christian Novels

2011-07-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

I read a blog post today called "The Myth of 'Secular Fiction'" which encapsulated a lot of what I've been thinking about lately.

I'm plotting my next novel and one of the problems I'm running into is that I'm not sure whether I want to aim it at the Christian fiction market or the secular fiction market.

And it really is a marketing issue. As Mike Duran points out in the blog post linked above, lots of Christians write "secular" books. And any good secular book written by anybody is going to have some truth in it that any Christian can recognize, simply because the world we live in was made by God, and good art is built around truth, and, as the old saying goes, all truth is God's truth. (Duran makes this point in the classy way: by quoting C. S. Lewis.)

But when you publish a book, you have to market a book. That is, you have to try to get the book in front of the sort of people who'd be likely to buy it. Labeling it as "Christian" is one way to do that. It lets the reader know (a little bit) what he's in for.

And it's not wholly a bad thing. It's good to give the reader an idea of what he's in for.

But there are limits to what you can do in a book labeled "Christian fiction", because CBA-associated bookstores have rules on what the fiction they sell can & cannot contain - rules having to do with sex, alcohol, etc. And there are some really good stories that can be told within those limits. But there are also really good stories that can not be told within those limits.

The book I'm reading right now, "The Year of the Warrior" by Lars Walker, is an example of a good, Christian book whose content falls outside of those limits. War, murder, rape, fornication, drinking, demons - all of those things are present in the story. But it's also one of the most Christian stories I've ever read - the theme might be said to start with "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" and build from there to a towering fanfare of "Who is the King of glory? the Lord strong and mighty!" And it's published by Baen.

Suffice it to say that I think the Christian/secular division doesn't necessarily hold past the marketing aspect (the marketing aspect is real).

But that doesn't really make my current decision easier. The novel I'm plotting is a romance, and so the main plotline could easily be written for a secular publisher or a Christian publisher (since both publish books about people falling in love). But one of the subplots involves an ethical dilemma that I know my character is going to approach from a Christian worldview. In fact, the ethical dilemma is what's really compelling me to write the book: I'm honestly not sure how he's going to solve the problem and I'm eager to watch him do it.

(In my mind, the only good reason to write a book is because you want to know how it's going to turn out too.)

But because I'm not sure about how my hero's going to solve his problem, I'm not sure which market it's going to be fit for. Also, knowing which market I'm aiming at will, in part, determine my hero's characteristics. Which will have an effect on how he solves the problem.

The circle is just a little vicious.

How am I going to solve my dilemma? Well I'm pretty sure the key is just to write the story whichever way makes for the strongest characters and the biggest possible disaster for those strong characters should they fail to solve the problems I set them up for.

Since I'm not sure which market that's going to leave me in, I guess that just adds another layer of suspense for me while I write. Game on!

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

p.s.

Book Notes: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

2011-07-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

For my money, the best advice in this book was, "let me urge that you take your story through at least two drafts; the one you do with the study door closed and the one you do with it open." (Emphasis mine.)

Writing a book is a funny thing: you're basically inviting the public to take a guided romp through your heart. And even though I (rarely) think when I read someone else's book, "what kind of person does it take to entertain thoughts like these?" it's very hard for me not to expect people to wonder that about me.

I mean, the truth is that everyone thinks about God, sex, and death, about survival and love and pain, so your average author isn't really going into unexplored territory, humanly speaking. But most of us don't tell each other what we think about all those primal things, and as authors we don't tell you what we think exactly, but you know that in order to write characters whose experience encompasses all of that we have to have thought about it, and thought about it a lot and thought about it hard.

Which feels embarrassing, even though it isn't.

So in order to keep that embarrassment from hindering you in writing something that really says something about life, the universe, and everything, it makes sense to keep your work private, at least the first time through.

Of course, if you never show it to anyone and write like you never intend to show it to anyone, it'll just be heart-barf. Blaaaaaargh. All your id and super-ego and angst, vomited out there on the page. No one wants to see that. But I don't think that's what King is suggesting.

After all, here is what he continues on to say:

"Here's something else - if no one says to you, 'Oh Sam (or Amy)! This is wonderful!," you are a lot less apt to slack off or to start concentrating on the wrong thing . . . being wonderful, for instance, instead of telling the goddam story."

Yep. Really, the whole point is to stop looking at yourself and to do the work. Anything that aids that goal is to be embraced, whether it keeps you from being embarrassed or keeps you from preening.

Do the work. And I think that might sum up the theme of this very admirable book.

Read it; it's good. (Standard disclaimers for adult content and - as is obvious from the above quotation - language apply.)

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Yarn Dying . . . again

2011-07-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

This yarn dying was prompted when I discovered that in washing some angora/lambswool that I'd skeined from a thrift store sweater, I'd accidentally dyed a bit of it blue - accidentally because the tub I'd washed it in apparently still had a bit of blue dye in it from some blue yarn I'd washed in it previously.

So I thought, hey! lemons for lemonade!

Here's the yarn soaking in warm water before being dyed:

Yeah, the patch of blue was small, but it wasn't going to be unnoticeable on that creamy white fiber.

Here's the yarn post-dying:

Very bright! I think it might need to be made into a very light, lacy scarf. Or maybe be worked up with some of the still-white skeins I got out of the same sweater.

What do you think?

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

or what's a heaven for?

2011-07-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts from a recent Stations of the Cross walk:

-looking at the depictions of Jesus being stripped, beaten, and crucified, I can't help but think, "this is what he took on a body for." Which makes me wonder, is that what bodies are for? Are they made for breaking? For being given to others? For sacrifice? And then, for redemption?

-Look at the way the daughters of Jerusalem look at Jesus. That is what I want to be: I want to be looking at Jesus.

-Regarding the former: when I let myself be distracted by frivolities, and look away from my children when I am supposed to be attending to them, am I looking away from God? Think of Mother Teresa finding Christ in those she cared for . . .

-Looking at the soldier beating Jesus and thinking of the scriptures saying that Jesus bears our burdens: is this how we put our burdens on to him? Sometimes I think it might be.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Links! work, stories, weight loss, epic fantasy, & more!

2011-07-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Anne Kennedy waxes wonderful about work - in all its repetitive monotony - and about the "very very few things . . . . that we do one time only for complete lasting satisfaction and joy."

Lars Walker writes about the Apologetic of Story (that's part one, and part two is here) and why - except for the witness of the actual lives of the saints - it is story that most compellingly convinces us of the truth of the gospel.

Betsy Barber writes about the Tale of Two Daughters in the gospel of Mark. I liked these two parts especially:

. . . she reaches out, and touches Jesus’ clothes and immediately the flow of blood stops and she feels in her body that she is healed of the disease. . . . Touching Jesus should have made him unclean, instead the touch made the woman clean! . . .

and then in regard to Jairus' daughter:

We are told in Numbers 5 that touching dead bodies defiles a living person. But again, the holy power differential flows the other way with the Lord Jesus.

(Hi, Mom!)

(The author is my mom.)

(Okay, I'm done with parenthetical statements; onto the rest of the links.)

This article explains why Ravelry is so awesome. It's the perfect cross-referencing. It really, really is.

Over at Learning As We Go, read about a huge study from the New England Journal of Medicine and what does and does not (statistically) lead to weight maintenance.

Annnnnnd, this is why I'm in favor of continuing to protect the second amendment. A story of a family fighting back against a home invader.

A guest blog by the awesome Elizabeth Moon on the subject of epic fantasy. I found this part particularly interesting:

Transformation, in epic, is as much bigger than the “growth” the usual story protagonist manages as the epic challenge is greater than the problems of ordinary characters. Transformation goes deeper, affects more of the character. At the end, the once lumpy and awkward caterpillar in the confining chrysalis breaks out, and has that triumph…but is so changed that it’s rare for an epic hero to go home and live a quiet life–sit by the fire, grow a few vegetables, settle down with the family, bore the grandchildren with familiar stories.

Frodo couldn’t. (Sam could, and that’s particularly interesting since without Sam, Frodo wouldn’t have been successful. Tolkien was showing something very, very interesting about character in that.)

Become An Email Jedi In 7 Steps. Love it! (Using it, too.)

This dance routine made me tear up; it's just beautiful. The story line is that they're two statues who can dance at night, but that have to become still once the sun rises, and it's a bit of a love story, and it's just amazing:

Crochet FO: lace-trimmed top

2011-07-18T16:09:00.001-07:00

I found a lovely tank top at the thrift store:

I like the intricate white paisley, it's a lovely lightweight cotton (perfect for our weather), and the cut is perfect. Except . . . it was a little low in front.

But then I thought: I crochet! I can fix that.

So I sewed a line of thread to the inside of the neckline in a running stitch and then crocheted a thick white trim directly onto the shirt. Here's the result:

I'm pretty happy with the result. I'm seeing crochet-trimmed items all over the place these days, and I get a bit of a kick out of the fact that I can do that style of embellishment just with what I have to hand.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

the decluttering proceeds apace

2011-07-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Albeit a very slow, slow pace.

It's good though. This time, I'm enjoying decluttering not fast but well.

So, for example, when I got to the part of our dining room bookshelf where I'd shelved CD's that needed filing (we keep all of our music CD's in one giant folder, sans jewel cases), I didn't just file them in the folder. Adam & I went through the folder, pulled out music we don't listen too, put it in the donate pile, and cleared the electronic copies off of our computers. Then I filed the CD's that needed filing.

I'm enjoying taking that level of care as I go through all our house and organize it. I think it means that I'm going to be done somewhere around Christmas rather than at the end of summer, but I love the feeling of putting things into order - real order.

One of the odd things I've noticed as I work is that I have to go through most spaces two times, not just once. The first time I sweep up all the obvious stuff and either put it where it belongs, trash it, or donate it. Then - usually a week or two later, after the purpose of the space has had time to marinate in my mind - I come back and do a more thoughtful reorganizing: This is what we use this space for, so this is what should be here and this is how it should be arranged.

Like I said: it's a slow process. If you came over to my house right now, you wouldn't be impressed (especially as it's in its normal state of Sunday afternoon mess - clean up won't happen till after dinner).

But I can feel the difference as I move through my day-to-day routines. Chores are easier. The atmosphere is more peaceful.

I'm very happy we're doing this.

Anyone else doing some tardy spring cleaning?

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

driftwood flame gloves

2011-07-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

The colors of the yarn remind me of the colors you see in the flames when you burn driftwood:

I wore these on my recent backpacking trip and was really pleased with them. It was nice to have warm hands while still being able to use my fingers properly.

I used this pattern and this yarn. It took less than one skein and I bought it with one of those great coupons JoAnn's prints every week, so it was a pretty frugal project too!

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell