Call for Mercy for Asia Bibi:

Please, watch this video.

If right is leaving, I'd rather be wrong.

She lives in a daydream where I don't belong
She is the sunlight and the sun is gone

I know that it's not within your nature.

Sarge ran away last night. I know, nothing surprising. Nothing unusual, and he even had good excuses to be frustrated with me. It was late-- I haven't been spending as long a time with him as I usually do on our runs because I've been writing so much in preparation for a story contest.

He burst out of his cabin and just...ran. Gone to the neighbors' or the woods or wherever.

At eleven, I went out again and found him snuffling in the yard near the chickens' scraps and I gave him his dinner and took him to his dog-cabin-thing.

Tonight, during our run, we looked at the stars, me resting my hand on his head.

Sarge, don't ever stop coming back. I know and understand that it is not within your nature to stop leaving, but never stop coming back.

That's what I told him.

---Grace

"She doesn’t judge you, though. Also in her free time, she is a vital part of the campus ultimate Frisbee team."

I found this article amusing. I also liked how, at the end, he didn't have a jaded tone; instead, an appreciative one with some humor thrown in. This is social commentary I admire.

Tromping

"Milo! C'mon! Let's play that we're young explorers! Except for Gracie. She's not young." Ava totes the leash of The Lion [Sarge] a little in front of Milo who is whining about prickle bushes. The Bear [Kipper] trots a little ahead of all of us, because bears aren't very good at waiting up.

Of course Gracie isn't young. She's the one that goes barefoot over the blackberries even though the thorns prickle seven-year-old feet. She's the one that can merely walk while four-year-olds have to tromp. She's the one who is next to them, taking part in the magical world of their imaginations, giving that world an extra dose of intrigue with her outlandish suggestions for their games... yet at the same time, she's the one that they're scared isn't really quite all with them. They're scared that they can't capture her completely, that her mind is wondering somewhere else out-of-reach when she starts looking somewhere else.

Before, the verdict was up in the air, but now, there's no doubt about it. Gracie is not a kid, but she is playing with the kids. She's a Big Girl, half lost to another realm.

She's tall, taller than Momma. She goes on trips and wears pretty dresses and can talk to other people about nothing at all for just about forever.

She could really get married any second here, they're sure of it. Just like Sleeping Beauty, who was alone in the woods, just the same! Except Sleeping Beauty was sixteen, which is younger and more eligible.

She knows how to catch the most water-skippers and whittle wooden forks and, out of a single maple leaf, make a bowl that can actually hold water. She can carry the heaviest logs and make a fort out of them.

And when I am walking my very slowest, they call, "Gracie! Wait up! Gracie! Don't leave me behind!" with a note of desperation in their voices, because it is the worst thing in the world to be unable to keep up when you are seven or four.

And when a chicken hops out of the low-creeping blackberries and the two of them start shrieking, I tackle The Bear [because, while most dogs would obey the words "leave it!", bears aren't very good at restraining themselves] and my voice gets all harsh as I yell at them to scare the half-brained chicken away. And for a second, because I'm yelling and harsh, the kids look scared.

When The Lion and I eat salmon berries [he's an omnivorous lion], the kids join in and pick berries too. Their faces wrinkle up when they pop the berries into their mouths and Milo starts to say that they're sour, but Ava hushes him. They exchange a secret sibling glance, then hurriedly assure me that they love the way the berries taste, just like Gracie.

Ava gets sick of holding The Lion's leash and so it is thrust into my hands. Sarge, willful lion, has actually calmed down. Who would have thought we'd see the day when Sarge calmed down?

He's in heaven now, with all the kids. Ava's the same age I was when he was a puppy. Don't read him wrong, though. He hasn't gone soft. He's as disobedient than ever; he will only listen to Grace and Sophe, and even then, only under limited circumstances.

Sarge, since when are we the big kids? With the adults, I'm a young thing. With my little brother and sister, I am grown up. I'm just messing around, feeling my strength, feeling full of life. I ask myself, --isn't it weird, the veneration in their eyes?

19

The past couple weeks have held two unnerving firsts. The first of my contemporaries has gotten married... and the first has met death. Both of them are[were?] nineteen.

Keenan is the world's loveliest bride. And so full of happiness. That was a celebration like none other.

Jimmy, I.......don't know what to say. Though I only worked with you a handful of times, you were a dear friend to many of my peers and what I remember of you is your infectious joy.

"It isn't wrong...." [take it or leave it]

An important clarification must be made, as I discovered in the discussion occuring in the comments section of this post!

"Lack of style" doesn't make me shudder. I don't find it "annoying" either. At all. It usually shows me that a person isn't very image-conscious, which has a good connotation in my book. =) However, I don't think that many gents understand the effect that style has upon womenfolk, and enlightenment in this direction was my goal with this post.

I'd never think it wrong to reject an extra edge of attractiveness... but it isn't wrong to want it, either.

Gentlemen:

Fashion sense matters, even for you, perhaps especially for you. I don't think you understand how important good style is, how much it changes your image in the eyes of your small-minded feminine acquaintances. You could complain, but girls have stopped complaining about how unfair it is that guys are visual, so just shut up and listen.

Women notice what men wear because their dress reflects the amount of time and money put into their clothes; since ancient times, fashion has marked how much wealth a man has and thus whether he is able to fulfill the traditional role of provider. I know that men don't always take on this role in our modern world, but it's somewhat instinctual. Because of this, you don't need a nice face to be considered attractive. If you don't believe me, take it from the American Psychology Association [really really interesting citation].

Oh darn. I was about to go into the importance of good shoes and good jeans, but I have to run...... be warned-- more posts on the same subject coming up [Bridget, I hope you're rooting me on....].

Skater, by Ted Kooser

Here is your poem for the day, friends:

She was all in black but for a yellow pony tail
that trailed from her cap, and bright blue gloves
that she held out wide, the feathery fingers spread,
as surely she stepped, click-clack, onto the frozen
top of the world. And there, with a clatter of blades,
she began to braid a loose path that broadened
into a meadow of curls. Across the ice she swooped
and then turned back and, halfway, bent her legs
and leapt into the air the way a crane leaps, blue gloves
lifting her lightly, and turned a snappy half-turn
there in the wind before coming down, arms wide,
skating backward right out of that moment, smiling back
at the woman she'd been just an instant before.

Yes, I know it's June. This was just too beautiful to pass up.

However rare true love may be...

"However rare true love may be, it is less so than true friendship."
-- La Rochefoucauld (1665)

I'm gonna steal your heart

Meet me at the water
Where all your dreams come true
Tell your sisters and your brother
Well I'll be waiting for you

And when all of this is over
When all your silver turn to gold
Say a prayer for each other
Someday I'm gonna steal your heart

I'm gonna steal your heart
Gonna steal your heart away
Gonna steal your heart
Gonna steal your heart away

Now love is like an ocean
Take it down to the depths
Yeah I'm taking you with me
Taking every step to steal your heart

I'm gonna steal your heart away
Gonna steal your heart
Gonna steal your heart away

Life is like a shadow
It never stays in one place
I'm standing here anyway
However long it takes to steal your heart

Hey look! A song in English. All Grace can do these days-- link to people, post their videos and quote them

Stay dangerous,

Gray

Revolverheld/Halt Dich An Mir Fest/Cling to Me

Gah! Just listen to this song! And their voices! And their harmony! And the music video is so simple and lovely! And there are so many more languages in the world to learn!

Let's give a round of applause to Google translate for this one; German translates really really well. That and the fact that song lyrics are always going to sound better translated than prose.

An alternate translate goes, "cling to me" instead of "hold on to me." I think I like "cling to me" even better:

Halt Dich An Mir Fest

You tell me not so long considered
I have long said nothing more.
Our photos you've taken
because you lack something.
You call me and say I do not remember
do not remember what moves you.
Recent years have stirred up
and confused you even more.

Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I can understand you.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.

I'll leave the light on until you can sleep
but you embankments up to and fro.
Sleep the night away from me,
are you alone with me?

Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I can understand you.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.

Do you see the way out of this darkness?
Want to get out, I'm ready.
This can not all have been in already.
I believe in us and our time.

Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I can understand you.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.
Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I let not go up.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.
You tell me not so long considered
I have long said nothing more.
Our photos you've taken
because you lack something.
You call me and say I do not remember
do not remember what moves you.
Recent years have stirred up
and confused you even more.

Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I can understand you.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.

I'll leave the light on until you can sleep
but you embankments up to and fro.
Sleep the night away from me,
are you alone with me?

Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I can understand you.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.

Do you see the way out of this darkness?
Want to get out, I'm ready.
This can not all have been in already.
I believe in us and our time.

Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I can understand you.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.
Hold on to me, if your life breaks up.
Hold on to me, if you do not know everything on.
I let not go up.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.
Hold on to me tightly, as this is all that remains.

Original German lyrics:

Du hast mich lang nicht mehr so angesehen
hast mir lang nichts mehr erzählt.
Unsere Fotos hast du abgenommen
weil dir irgendetwas fehlt.
Du rufst mich und sagst ich weiß nicht mehr,
weißt nicht mehr was dich berührt.
Die letzten Jahre haben dich aufgewühlt
und dich nur noch mehr verwirrt.

Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich kann dich verstehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.

Ich lass das Licht an bis du schlafen kannst
doch du wällst dich hin und her.
Schläfst die Nächte von mir abgewandt,
bist du einsam neben mir?

Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich kann dich verstehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.

Siehst du den Weg aus dieser Dunkelheit?
Willst du raus, ich bin bereit.
Das kann nicht alles schon gewesen sein.
Ich glaub an uns und unsere Zeit.

Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich kann dich verstehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich lass dich nicht gehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.
Du hast mich lang nicht mehr so angesehen
hast mir lang nichts mehr erzählt.
Unsere Fotos hast du abgenommen
weil dir irgendetwas fehlt.
Du rufst mich und sagst ich weiß nicht mehr,
weißt nicht mehr was dich berührt.
Die letzten Jahre haben dich aufgewühlt
und dich nur noch mehr verwirrt.

Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich kann dich verstehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.

Ich lass das Licht an bis du schlafen kannst
doch du wällst dich hin und her.
Schläfst die Nächte von mir abgewandt,
bist du einsam neben mir?

Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich kann dich verstehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.

Siehst du den Weg aus dieser Dunkelheit?
Willst du raus, ich bin bereit.
Das kann nicht alles schon gewesen sein.
Ich glaub an uns und unsere Zeit.

Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich kann dich verstehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn dein Leben dich zerreißt.
Halt dich an mir fest, wenn du nicht mehr weiter weißt.
Ich lass dich nicht gehn.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.
Halt dich an mir fest, weil das alles ist was bleibt.

Isn't that breathtaking?

Stay Dangerous,

Gray

Katherine Sophia: Flying

Annnd I'm still aggregating, bringing to you yet another post from Katherine Sophia, this one from November of 2010, actually. Read the original post and watch the videos she posted with it on her blog.

"It was the week before my flight test...
I had studied harder for that than for any other test in my life.


Now I was flying, doing a practice flight with another instructor to prepare for the actual test.
I'd done landings, stalls, radio towers, steep turns... It had taken hours.


Suddenly the instructor turned to me (hot-dog dare-devil that he was, the kind of guy who when you ask "What happens if the door broke and opened while you were flying?" looks and you and opens the door when you're 2,000 feet off the ground).
"Sometimes you get to this point and you forget why you're doing all this. You want to do something fun?"


I did.


And before I knew it, I was upside down and the world was overhead. We spun around and around until I was dizzy, and then he pulled us out of the spin. Then we were flying through the frozen river valley, only inches above the ice... Ice and snow were everywhere... it was like a different world.

It was the most amazing flight of my life.

But do know what annoyed me?
The entire time I felt like I was watching a movie.
Like I was at the Omni-Theatre, watching Magic of Flight or something.
I had to keep telling myself that no, this was really happening.
I was actually hurtling through the air just above the ice, spinning through the air, actually living what I was seeing and feeling.

Just thinking about this lately... and about one of my favorite quotes -

"Have you ever felt that there was something going on in life that not everyone was aware of?...As though there’s a story going on that everyone is a part of, but not everybody knows about—a sort of drama, a battle between what’s peripheral and what’s really important. As though the people you meet aren’t just their plain, prosaic selves, but are actually princes and princesses, gods and goddesses, fairies, gypsies, shepherds, all sorts of fantastic creatures who’ve chosen to hide their real shape...Or have forgotten who they really are.
Have you ever thought that?"
~The Shadow of the Bear




And I wonder... how many times do we forget about what is real? How often are we aware of the battle going on all around us, of the true story that is being written, of the reality underlying the happenings of our life?
Are we so caught up in the "movies" being played in our life, in the drama, in the fun, in the excitement of what we like and spend time doing, that when reality happens, when God brings us directly into the thick of the fight and gives us a glimpse of the glory beyond, we don't even recognize it?


Instead of seeing the day-to-day things as an inkling of far greater and more wonderful things, we compare those greater things to what is only a faded picture of them. Instead of experiencing the actual moment God places us in, we miss out because we have experienced too many moments faking what it is He wants for us.


We can't live our lives through others' battles and triumphs. We can't get what He wants for us to have by listening to others tell about their quiet times or their witnessing experiences. We have to go live the life He has for us, knowing and experiencing Him, knowing that the "unseen" is true reality.
I want to live in that reality."

Stay dangerous,

Gray

Breathe Me -Sia

This song was introduced to me by my good friend Gabby, who has been staying at our house for the past crazy week.

The song reminds me of my heroine, Murie... and all of the things she will never, ever admit to herself. One of my favorite parts of Murie is her blindness to her own vulnerability.

Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And, the worst part is there's no-one else to blame

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Ouch I have lost myself again
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah I think that I might break
Lost myself again and I feel unsafe

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Katherine Sophia: Being Real

An excerpt from this powerful post from Katherine Sophia:

"Today I went to see Rio... and rode her for something like the 8th time this year. She was good, as usual, but I felt kind of sad as I was lunging her.


Because she wasn't better.


Last year at this time, we were doing all the same things... she hasn't moved forward at all. In fact, last year she was just coming off a somewhat intense training period, and was that much more responsive and obedient. In this past year, all that has happened is that she has grown older - she turned 4 just 10 days ago. At this point in her life she could be doing anything I asked of her; I just haven't taken the time to ask her.

The thing is, this is exactly what has been staring me in the face for the past 2 days. This afternoon I was flipping through some old journals and it really hit me.


I am in the exact same place as I was a year ago.


I'm struggling with the same things, I'm trying to learn the same things, good grief, I even weigh the same! Only... looking at my journals from when I was 17, I can see when I was actually in a better place. Where I was listening to God's direction and stepping forward, even if it was by baby-steps, to do what He wanted me to do. When my time with Him was so much more real than it has been lately. When the only time I got serious was not when I wanted to write a serious blog-post.

At this point in my life I could be doing anything. There is nothing stopping me from doing anything for my God - except that I'm not walking beside Him. I'm not listening. My life, my mind, my heart, are filled with distractions, with things I spend my time on instead of spending it with Him. That is a sobering thought. Extremely so.


And I think I may finally have slowed down enough to stop and look at where I am. I don't like it. It's not who He has called me to be. It's now how I want to be the rest of my life."

And friends, I'm sorry for all this aggregating these past few weeks. All of my original thoughts are being poured --literally poured-- into other things at the moment and I've taken a more appreciative role on this little corner of the web. Never fear! I can't stay in this onlooker's position for long. You know me.

Stay dangerous,

Gray

Spanish, blog posts about goodbyes, fairytale cliches.... you get the idea

Here's another knockout post by blogger Liz... and I haven't even had time to scan her other recent posts, but they look even more promising.

Do you know that feeling when you discover a little written piece of something and you don't have time to read it just then, but you get this little thrill... this little ripple of anticipation as you envision yourself delving into later?

I'm writing part of my final project for Spanish III right now... it's a play [una obra =)] titled "True Love" [Amor Verdadero], about a fairytale prince who awakens a princess from her death-like sleep with a kiss. He discovers, however, upon the return of her consciousness, that she is very indignant about having been kissed and would rather have remained unconscious.

I wrote a short story in English similar to this at some point in junior high. It feels fluffy and fun to revisit the idea. I can't believe how witty I thought it was at the time. Hehe.

I'm getting tired of inserting accent marks into my composition. I'm at the college library and I'm longing for my convertible Spanish keyboard back at home.

Went dancing last night. First time in a while. Since when did some of my friends get so good at leading? I tend to take over if I feel my partner doesn't know what he's doing... how pleasant to discover that he wouldn't let me! Makes me sparkle to think about it.

Also, to tie back to my link from Liz.... plans for working in Spain are looming up ahead....

Did you die today? Don' know 'bout you, but I sure didn't die today...

Well, the apocalypse isn't here [oh, we talked about during Spanish class yesterday also, but I won't go into details]. Kind of a bummer, really. I would have so much material for a new novel if I saw the world end.

Here's an awesome video from two schweet girls that you can only wish you knew.



Dang. I love you guys.

[aren't you jealous? Don't you wish you knew them in real life too?]

Blushing is a good thing.

Yesterday was odd.

I walked into Spanish class at nine, a few minutes before the arrival of out professor, and one particularly savory character [ahem] --who I'll call student no. 1-- was tricking very-shy-devotee-of-Christian-screamo, student no. 2, into reading aloud various terms and phrases with very sexual subject matter in Spanish. Because he was reading them aloud, student no. 2 was a little slower to translate the phrases of the rest of us.

Or maybe everyone in the class wasn't picking up as quickly as I was, aside from the girl who sits next to me, who shares many of my values and is super great at everything foreign languages and humanities. We made faces at each other and ducked. I say that not everyone must have gotten it, because next, hipster-missions-freak-skinny-jeans-and-beanie-slash-never-speaks-a-word student no. 3 walked over, along with still-oblivious student no. 2, to read the Spanish document from over student no. 1's shoulder.

It got more awkward when student no. 1 started reading the translations aloud in English.

So there he was, shouting obcene phrases across the Spanish classroom and there I was, a girl [and it's impossible to run from that fact when he's shrieking all this out with a lot of laughter], embarrassed that he's even saying these things out loud. I'm going to stop talking about him right now.

Students 2 and 3 blush and dash back to their seats. Keep in mind, these are both incredibly quiet boys [I've wondered if no. 3 knows how to talk before], but I also happen to know that they have their own standards.

"We didn't need to hear that, Alex," they say.

Wow. Count, everybody. HOW MANY words was that? Seven, if you count the didn't contraction as one word. I was proud of them. That was impressive.

I honestly would have preferred it if someone would have punched him, but you take what you can get. I would have done it myself except that I didn't really want to touch him. He was so flamboyant, so casual, so confident. And my professor walked in.

Weird incident the second: in Chem lab, one student told me he thought I was 25. Twenty five? As in, years old? This is odd for two reasons: a] that's seven years older than I am and b] that's four years older than he is.

Weird incident the third: as I was walking toward the shuttle to take me home, an elderly Korean man brushed past me, saying out loud, "Beautiful." Odd. Just... odd.

Weird incident the fourth: I went to a movie with some chums. A delightful miscommunication ensued in which I spent a quarter-tank of gas needlessly driving to friends' house needlessly. Then turned around and drove to the theatre in a seperate car [which wasn't as fun, obviously] because someone didn't have room in their car? And someone didn't want someone to drive in the back seat? And the movie was at 10pm. And ended late. I'm trashed and still confused.

So anyway. Yesterday was odd.

But going back to weird incident the first, and thus the main point of this post:

I'm so glad there are boys who know how to blush. And I'm so glad that they're not just among my friends. I'm so glad that they're to be found at community college as well.

Pretty

Here it is. The poem "Pretty," performed by its creator, Katie Makkai.

I've heard the message all my life and always have claimed to agree with it, yet why does it pierce so potently still?

[Please note: the poet briefly uses obscenity to illustrate her point... which is so pressing that you should watch it anyway]

If not, no matter.

If someone understands, good. If not, then no matter. Go right on doing what you love.

-Lois Hurst

A new favorite quote found by Libby over at A Trail of Thoughts.