This Classical Life

02.Jul.08

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Watch over thy child, Kate, O Lord, as her days increase; bless and guide her wherever she may be, keeping her unspotted from the world. Strengthen her when she stands; comfort her when discouraged or sorrowful; raise her up if she fall; and in her heart may thy peace which passeth understanding abide all the days of her life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

—

Today we celebrated Kate’s fourth birthday with friends here, and it was a really great night. Kids and grown-ups coming together for food and fun. All her gifts were a big hit, except for a bag of clothes, which she peeked in and discreetly explained that she would open later. :) She actually did graciously look at all of them later and was excited about them. She is such a delightful girl, and I am so glad that she is our daughter.

5 Comments

Filed under family life, feasting

01.Jul.08

Read in June

American Pastoral by Philip Roth
This is one of the best modern novels I’ve read, hands down. It captures the human experience breathlessly with a great story written exceptionally well. Heartbreaking, yet enjoyable, beautiful, yet full of despair. It does contain quite a bit of obscene language, if that is something that turns you off, please be aware. 10/10.

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis
I am re-reading the Chronicles this year, and this is my second book in. I’ve always liked Caspian because it captures a lot of the magic of Narnia well, but it is fairly slow, and certainly not my favorite of the lot. But a very solid offering in the series nonetheless. 8/10.

The Second Wives Club by Jane Moore
For a light beachy read of little consequence I won’t think of much again – I liked it just fine. It’s not profound, but it does explore with some depth the trials and tribulations of being a second wife. 6/10.

Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life by Robert Lupton
This book has a great deal of wisdom about charity and community development in the life of a Christian. Much of it is composed of things I already knew from much more tedious reading or life experience but these insights are packaged winsomely and easily understood and digested by a broad audience. The chapters are short, the book is thin, and you will not come across many things so profitable that are its equal in ease. 10/10.

Intuition by Allegra Goodman
A book about an astonishing discovery in a lab, and the way that it affected a workplace and relationships. Perhaps my problem was that I heard a few too many positive reviews, but I just didn’t find this to be that amazing, it was predictable and a little boring, and the writing was not exceptional. 5/10

Persuasion by Jane Austen
Persuasion is a gem, but the sort that takes preparation. It’s immensely enjoyable after you’ve read other Austen, and you can see the development in her writing, the differences and similarities. Anne Elliot is a good heroine, but a different one, one very little like me, but with admirable qualities I can respect and some that I pity. The plot and characters are very Austen, but with some subtle growth. I am really looking forward to discussing this with my book club! 10/10.

5 Comments

Filed under books, reviews

25.Jun.08

Baby Bird

These birds were born in one of our hanging plants. Click to see larger.

6 Comments

Filed under photo love

24.Jun.08

I’m It

I actually am it a number of times, I’m going to get to those. But this one was from today, from my new friend Mongoose Mom. I met her playing bunco with Chewymom.

1. WHAT DID YOU DO 10 YEARS AGO?
Ten years ago at this time, I was at Governor’s School East, in Laurinburg, NC. Having the summer of my dreams, confirming that college really was going to be much much better than high school. (I was right.)

2. FIVE ITEMS ON YOUR TO-DO LIST TODAY:
Keep kids alive, don’t get too sunburned, have a blast, have a blast, have a blast (we’re on Hilton Head Island.)

3. SNACKS I ENJOY:
Oooh, all the snacks. Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips. Dark Chocolate. The Cheddar Chex Mix. Chocolate Covered Pretzels.

4. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE A BILLIONAIRE?
Adopt several more children from around the world. Give a lot of money to very good causes. Work on community development and mixed income communities in Birmingham. Buy a greek revival or transitional four-square house in the city. Fund scholarships at the downtown campus of the Westminster School. Buy cool photography equipment and take pictures of people I want to for cheap. Travel all over the world. Hire an Alice.

If you are having trouble finding blogging material, you’re it.

2 Comments

Filed under general

22.Jun.08

Life, Magnified

June has been a month, so far. A friend in our community group from church passed away unexpectedly, leaving his sweet and wonderful wife a young widow. There are no words.

That morning, our house had gone on the market, and we got an offer from the very first people to view it the following day, for full asking price. We are progressing towards a closing next month, and have found a good rental just in the area we were hoping to move. As Kate says, “We can see Vulcan and walk to our friends’ houses!” Michael has the summer off, for the first and probably last time, and has been taking the kids to the pool a lot and spending a lot of time with them. We’ve been in and out of town. I am looking forward to August, and being moved.

1 Comment

Filed under family life

10.Jun.08

In Memoriam

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

We believe, only help our unbelief.

1 Comment

Filed under theology

03.Jun.08

Read in April and May

The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett
Read with my literature students (a re-read.) I enjoy this, in spite of it’s kooky Christian Science bent, and my students did too. A good story, and worth reading once, particularly for girls. 8.5/10

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Re-read yet again, for a city-wide book read. I love this book. One of my all-time favorites. The first time I’ve read it since becoming an Alabamian and it affected me in different ways. 10/10.

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
Read with my literature students. Simply fabulous. Every child should read this in the 4th-6th grade range. 9.5/10

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
This book is ubiquitous and I read it in Barnes & Noble one night. Haunting, for sure. I better understood what it would be like to have a close family member go through that level of drug addiction. Still not a “must read.” 7/10

Being Human by Ranald MacAulay & Jerram Barrs
This book about humanity and spirituality is not difficult to read, but fairly insightful, good for the genre of Christian worldview stuff. Some parts are outdated, but not so many it is a huge distraction. 7.5/10

6 Comments

Filed under books

24.May.08

I Haven’t Jumped Ship

After you blog for seven and a half years, you are allowed to neglect your blog from time to time, or at least that’s what I tell myself.

This has been an interesting month, marked by a very intense fibromyalgia flare up. I think I am on the road to recovery now. Special thanks to my parents, siblings and grandmothers who pitched in and took the girls for a week. It was a huge help. I am trying Lyrica and hoping that will keep me more regulated in the future.

I feel like I can talk about it now because I am starting to feel better. When I feel really bad, it’s hard to talk about. It’s very depressing, so dwelling on it is not helpful, and I don’t enjoy sharing my dispair with all the interwebs until I have some hope.

Praise God, the school year has ended for both of us, and I am excited that for the first time in our marriage, neither of us will be teaching in the fall.

To my delight, I have been taking a good number of pictures and dreaming big about Kristen Stewart Photography. More to come about that for sure.

3 Comments

Filed under family life, general

08.May.08

Hark the Sound

I was extremely pleased to see that Holden Thorp will be Carolina’s next chancellor. Though I didn’t take any of his classes, I did interact with him many times during my college career, mostly in my capacity as the university photographer’s assistant. He was always kind and gracious, and I remember someone telling me then that he would be chancellor someday. In the twenty-first century, it’s wonderful that a man who only applied to one university and came back there to make his career in teaching and research, could be chosen to lead the institution that he loves. He’s also young enough to lead for quite some time, perhaps like Frank Porter Graham. May his tenure be filled with great accomplishments as the University continues to serve North Carolina and the world.

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Filed under general

07.May.08

Head’s Up

I wrote a review for Catapult last week, you can see it here. Not surprisingly, I reviewed the Jesus Storybook Bible. Red Mountain now sells it on the book table, local people. Thank you, John P.

3 Comments

Filed under books

05.May.08