From the Word

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
      “Prepare the way of the LORD;
      Make straight in the desert
      A highway for our God.
      Every valley shall be exalted
      And every mountain and hill brought low;
      The crooked places shall be made straight
      And the rough places smooth;

The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
      And all flesh shall see it together;
      For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

The voice said, “Cry out!”
      And he said, “What shall I cry?”

 

“All flesh is grass,
      And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
       The grass withers, the flower fades,
      Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
      Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,
      But the word of our God stands forever.”

O Zion,
      You who bring good tidings,
      Get up into the high mountain;
      O Jerusalem,
      You who bring good tidings,
      Lift up your voice with strength,
      Lift it up, be not afraid;
      Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

~ Isaiah 40:3-9~

A Guest Post, Sort of

Wednesday I was a little concerned for myself when, having circled several times within a used bookstore containing hundreds of books on every subject imaginable, I felt attachment for not a single one therein, and wondered whether I must be gravely ill. My mother directed my attention to a corner I had not observed, and pulled a hefty volume from the shelf--The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. I was smitten at once.

Since this blog is diminishing in quality and there are times I want to take it out and shoot it, I thought I would instead post the words of someone much wiser, and articulate. Here are a few selections from the book. I'm a bit out of it this evening, and in typing them out I have made quite humorous errors. If any have slipped my notice, blame it on my delirium.

Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.

Call not that riches which may be lost; virtue is our true wealth, and the true reward of its possessor. It cannot be lost; it will not abandon us unless life itself first leaves us. As for property and material wealth, these you should ever hold in fear; full often they leave their possessor in ignominy, mocked at for having lost possession of them.

Where the descent is easier there the ascent is more difficult.

He who does not value life does not deserve it.

Every wrong shall be set right.

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.

Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?

Neither promise yourself things nor do things if you see that when deprived of them they will cause you material suffering.

The natural desire of good men is knowledge.

The words freeze in your mouth and you will make ice on Mount Etna.
     Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind.

Love conquers everything.

Truth brings it here to pass that falsehood afflicts the lying tongues.

Whoso curbs not lustful desires puts himself on a level with the beasts.
     You can have neither a greater nor a less dominion than that over yourself.

In life beauty perishes and does not endure.

Obstacles cannot bend me.
Every obstacle yields to effort.
Not to leave the furrow.
He who fixes his course by a star changes not.

Sweet Sixteen, eh?

Sixteen years ago, my mom experienced episodes of staggering abdominal pain. In the middle of the night my father rushed her to the hospital, where a team of doctors and nurses closely monitored her as the pain reached a zenith.

A little while later, I was born.

Birthdays typically celebrate the child's being born, but I think we should take a minute to congratulate the mothers for the giving of birth.

So congratulations, Mother Dearest, for surviving the ordeal of childbirth. Twice.

I really don't understand what's supposed to be so special about turning sixteen. But then, maybe it's because I don't drive.

I certainly don't feel sixteen, at any rate. But then, maybe it's because I don't drive.

It all seems to come back to that point. If I start driving, will I see life in a different light?

I'd probably hold it more dearly.

For me, the most special thing about turning sixteen is that it's the fifth anniversary of pony ownership.

Meet Gracie, my wittle pony wony.

For contrast, see summer coat.

 Also, today marks the fourth anniversary of miniature horse ownership.

Gabriel, who would more aptly be called Lucifer.


The actually anniversary, I believe, is October 21 or 22. Possibly 23. But today marks the promise of mini horseness to come.

This was the little Gabe I first fell in love with. He certainly put on a convincing angelic act.

January 27 shall mark the third anniversary of big horse ownership.

Miss Lucy.

A Little Love

The lovely Faith has kindly given me the lovely Liebster Blog Award. Love you, Faith!

It has a few rules:

• Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
• Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Copy and paste the award on your blog.
• Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
• And most of all – have bloggity-blog fun!

Thanks, Faith!

I have, ahem, tweaked the the rules just a bit. The reason this post is so delayed, you see, (for Faith nominated me last month) was that I was having such a hard time picking just five of the wonderful bloggers I follow to award. Such would be an agonizing decision, and certainly not bloggity-blog fun, as the rules demand of me.

Instead, I hereby nominate you. Yes, you there! It probably sounds lazy of me, but it's actually a lot harder to come up with a good reason I'm doing it this way.

On another note, there was a gorgeous rainbow today.

And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

~Genesis 9:12-16~

Gift Givers and Recipients

Apple cider and Reese's really don't go together.

Now that we have gotten that important bit of information out of the way, on with the post. I have a bit of a headache (thanks to Tylenol and tea it is waning) so I don't really feel like looking at a computer screen. Ergo I resort to e-ink! This post is brought to you by my Kindle. We shall see how this goes, since it gives me a warning that Blogger is not compatible with this browser.

I've been meaning to blog more, but various matters need tending to and have absorbed my time. And, okay, I confess I just haven't felt much like writing. But I do have good news, for we have gotten a new wireless router, and it actually works and doesn't kick us offline every time we watch video or upload pictures, so you may get to see more photos.

I am not really fond of how those last two paragraphs turned out and I would rewrite them, but it is just too hard typing on this thing.

Now for the test. I shall see if inserting video works from the Kindle. Drumroll, please.

...

Well, I guess I can't know for sure! The cursor jumps a certain distance when directed by the five way controller thing, and I can't get it to hover over the video insertion button. This poses a problem.

Instead, maybe I'll just tell you  about a guy named Delius. I was reading one night and a nice song playing on the classical channel caught my attention - his Florida Suite.

I looked him up on Ye All-Telling Wikipedia. Delius was  the son of a merchant but had no interest in doing the same, and somehow ended up in Florida manging an orange grove (whether of his own volition or of his father's coercion is unclear). He paid little heed to his managerial duties, however, and instead pursued composing.

I was fascinated by his story, until I read on to his unfaithful marriage and strings of affairs. It makes me wonder, why does God give such gifts to staunch atheists?

I suppose it's up to those who receive the gifts whether they praise the gift Giver or turn around and spit in His face...

Why Can't I Come Up With Good Titles Lately?

Olivia, shamefully, has really not felt much like blogging lately. In fact, she was going to skip Geeky Friday this week. But then she felt guilty, and decided to at least throw something at you.

Also, she today discovered iTunes U, which is really kind of cool. There are tons of free lectures!

Psh, titles are lame! Oh, wait...

I haven't been posting much lately. And it's funny that I'm saying that because I'm still posting loads more than I used to, it's just that the post-a-day era has come to an end, at least for now.

That's because energy comes in extremely limited quantities for me, so I've learned I need to spend every moment I'm able doing something constructive. Not that blogging isn't constructive, it's just lower on the list of priorities.

...My, it sounds as if I'm about to say I'm quitting blogging! Which, I assure you, I am not. I'm not even taking a hiatus. I'm just going to have to start posting when I'm tired. (Which ends up happening a lot anyway...)

You know, the above three paragraphs were really kind of pointless. But I'm going to leave to them, so I'm not so picky about my posts, and if I'm not so picky about my posts maybe I'll post more.

And post the things I need to post.

Like Musical Monday yesterday?

Oh, I remembered and had internet access and everything. I was just tired. So tired, in fact, I fell asleep at nine, which is the earliest I've gone to bed since early childhood, and slept for twelve hours, which is the longest I've slept in... forever?

I should do that more often.

You know, I've realized getting appropriate amounts of sleep and food really helps. I guess that's a good thing, but it kind of stinks, too, because now I actually feel obligated to sleep eight hours (actually, nine for teenagers... ugh) and eat three meals a day. Grr. This is most inconvenient! Nine hours of sleep! Three meals a day! What a chore!

Ahem. So anyway, I went to bed as soon as I got home yesterday, which is why I did not post.

You know, I was going to post a belated video, but Brother is falling asleep, so I'd have to go in the other room to get the headphones so I can find a suitable recording of the piece, and things will get done faster if I skip all that. In fact, if you have any suggestions for future Musical Mondays, that would be wonderful!

Sigh. This post is going on and on rather pointlessly. I'm not awake enough to write a good post and not tired enough to carelessly write a silly tired post. This is just a stuffy, dry tired post. I'll try to end your misery as soon as possible.

Much too long ago to just now be posting about, Aloha tagged me with the Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks, Aloha!

Da Rulez:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5 deserving blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them!

Step 1.1: Thanks again!

Step 1.2: Fulfilled above.

Step 2:

a. I'm sitting on an exercise ball.

b. It took me about ten times to spell exercise just now before I had to stoop to asking spellcheck. I really am tired.

c. I wear my socks inside-out. Seams aren't kind to my cuticles.

d. Absentmindedly I just filled in this bullet as, "Seams aren't kind..." and then caught myself.

e. I tend to trail off in mid

f. This evening my mother and I were discussing how many bad books get published because there are many undiscriminating readers out there. I made the comparison to paper towels: Companies will make cheap, thin paper towels that don't really do anything because they know people will buy them anyway because they're cheap. My father cut in, "Where did you come up with that analogy?" 'Cause I'm weird like that. And my father buys cheap paper towels.

g. Last fact. Believe me, this is harder than it looks, because you realize just how uninteresting you are. Well, that's probably just me. Um... I like coconut.

Step 3: Here's where I'm breaking da rulez. Instead, I hereby bestow this award upon any of my fine readers reading this post. In fact, not only do I bestow this award upon you, I demand you to receive it. Because if you don't post about it, no cookies for you!

Step 4: Congratulations! Or a cookieless state. It's your choice.

I have much more to post, including another award, but it's getting late and I have other matters to tend to, and this post is getting much too long besides.

I look forward to your post! Or no cookies for you...

I Have Sat Here For Several Minutes Pondering Titles. So Here's One.

A. My. It's Friday and I haven't posted since Tuesday, when I left you with promises of many posts to come?

But knowing me, that's really not surprising.

B. Blogger. Is. Driving. Me. Insane. I try to respond to your comments, and it eats me! So. This is what I tried to write in response to the comments on my last post.

Mercy--It's a masterpiece! That's what!
Specifically, a scrap of fabric folded in half and sewn in straight lines over and over and over.
Thomas--Thing. Only thing.
What is it called, anyway? I guess I'd know if I actually looked at the thing.
There I go again. Thing. Thing, thing, thing, thing.

Of course, I couldn't leave you wondering what I'd say in response, because everything I write is so profound.

Like thing. Bask in awe of the poeticness.

C. I had a lovely afternoon admiring the underbelly of a tree. I picnicked in the woods in my backyard and did a bit of schoolwork. (The many wonderful things about homeschooling!)  Littlest Horsie nibbled on my blanket. Squirrels chattered at me. Fire ants found their way up my pants.

From the outside, luckily.

D. The first time I wrote this paragraph, I made such a horrible error I fear I shall never forgive myself. I don't trust myself grammatically to go on at this hour. But it's Friday, and I have a duty to provide geekiness to my readers... although most won't see it earlier than Saturday.

E. I'm stalling.

F. The longer I keep you waiting, the more time I have to find something for Geeky Friday. 'Cause I forgot to plan ahead this week.

G. Why is it that I forget the many other things I have to do when I am idle, and suddenly they come back to me when I'm in the middle of something?

H. When I pause, I have to sing through the alphabet again to remember what letter comes next.

I. I've always found it amusing that the alphabet spells "Hi!".

J. Perhaps I should actually go look for something to post now.

K. Aha!

L. Khan Academy is awesome.

M. I could easily spend all day watching his videos.

N. In fact, I might spend the rest of the night doing that.

O. It's Friday night, after all.

P. The night of nerdiness.

Q. Now I feel obligated to finished the alphabet, even though I really have nothing left to say.

R. Waking to Bach is a lovely thing. I've set my alarm to play his organ music at seven-thirty each morning. (I'd set it earlier if I managed to get to bed at a human hour.) If ever you need a boost in the mornings, I prescribe Bach. 

S. I have no idea what movie my father is watching right now, but it looks... really rather horrible.

T. I'm rather tired tonight, so it will be amusing tomorrow to see what typos I didn't catch before posting.

Translation: Please don't burn me at the stake if you find an error, because I'll do it myself.

U. It's a strange letter.

V. I need to read. Eh. You know something's wrong when I'm not looking forward to reading.

W. This information is all quite useless and nothing you were really interested in knowing, save for K.

X. Xylophones.

Y. Yaks.

Z. Zebras!

Next time won't you sing with me?

A Marvelous Masterpiece

Olivia should be posting one of the two awards she's been tagged in recently or uploading pretty mountain pictures or writing about a serious topic because her blog's been disolving into fluff lately.

Instead, she's going to show you the first thing she ever sewed.

See how perfectly aligned her backstitching is and how beautifully she followed the pencil lines her teacher drew?

*coughnotcough*

But one day, she'll be able to look at that little scrap of fabric and marvel at how she's improved.

Or not.

Olivia could ramble on about several things, like how she pulled that muscle in her side eleven weeks ago and it still hasn't healed even with all her carefulness, but she'll have to save such ranting for another time for she promised her mother she would read tonight.

It's the first book she has ever, ever, in her life been forced to read.

The next will probably be the driver's manual. Thing.

It was nice knowing you.

(Announced)

*whispers* This post is just to prove I really did remember Musical Monday, just in the nick of time, before going to bed, in case going on YouTube to find this week's to-be-announced selection angers our router. It is really quite petty, our router.


This post will be edited upon successful video-insertion.

Edit: And here you go!

There are a number of posts I need to get around to writing, including an award from Faith and pictures of the mountains and a post exhibiting some of my new masterpieces which is probably only amusing to me, all of which will hopefully happen sometime this week, if I find the time.

From the Word

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

~Philippians 1:21~


image source