“My best guess is that he will indeed stand time’s test; and wind up on a shelf where only the best are kept; I think Harry will take his place with Alice, Huck, Frodo and Dorothy, and this is one series not just for the decade, but for the ages.” -Stephen King
(via miraze)
A Tier of Entertainment
I like watching television. I have no qualms about it. I enjoy the shows I love and will fight for them to the death. Well, maybe not that far, but I would fight for them and have in the past.
This semester I have missed many of my favorite shows and characters. I haven’t seen New Girl in months and only got through the first three episodes of Smash before I ran out of time to watch more.
One of the aspects of summer I am looking forward to is watching TV without repercussions. There is no guilt involved. If I watch TV it’s not because I am putting something off, it is for pure enjoyment. And isn’t that what television is for? It’s not meant to be an addiction or a distraction or even a marketing tool (even though it has been turned into all of these and more.) It is meant to be entertainment. Granted, in my book, most television is a lower form of entertainment, but that does not mean TV cannot be inspirational or enriching. Doctor Who and Sherlock are both more enriching than almost everything you will find on VH1 or MTV. The scripts are cleverly written and cause the viewer to feel intelligent when listening. Downton Abbey’s historical setting, costumes, and plot bring a higher quality of entertainment into play. Smash and Glee may not be the most “enriching” shows on TV, but their musical quality brings something more to the viewer beyond lewd humour and sexual innuendos.
But I’m not writing to defend the shows I watch, I am attempting (rather poorly I think) to make a point. There are different levels of television shows and those on the upper-most tier have something to offer beyond eye-catching special effects, stupid humour, hot male leads or flashy show numbers. There is heart in certain shows that cannot be missed, and that makes them of a better quality.
I am looking forward to catching up on the lives of characters who seem like old friends. I can picture the hours of leisure in store for me once this semester ends. And I will enjoy every minute of it.
When you sell a man a book you don’t sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.
Christopher Morley (via myquotelibrary)
So true, so powerful.
(via myquotelibrary)
They buy poetry like gang members
buy guns — for aperture, caliber,
heft and defense. They sit on the floor
in the stacks, thumbing through Keats
and Plath, Levine and Olds, four boys
in a bookstore, black glasses, brackish hair,
rumpled shirts from the bin at St. Vincent de Paul.
One slides a warped hardback
from the bottom shelf, the others
scoot over to check the dates,
the yellowed sheaves ride smooth
under their fingers.
One reads a stanza in a whisper,
another turns the page, and their heads
almost touch, temple to temple — toughs
in a huddle, barbarians before a hunt, kids
hiding in an alley while sirens spiral by.
When they finish reading one closes
the musty cover like the door
on Tutankhamen’s tomb. They are savage
for knowledge, for beauty and truth.
They crawl on their knees to find it.
Dorianne Laux, “Savages” (via fleurishes)
Beautiful.
5Packing by Faith
I started packing up my dorm room today. “Packing by faith,” as I call it since I really have no idea what I’m taking or what is staying. My first year of college is nearly over and I’m headed home. Home. Indianapolis, Indiana. The place where I lived for 19 full and wonderful years. I have cried, laughed and cursed in every room in that house. The walls are more familiar to me than my own skin. There isn’t an inch of it I don’t know by heart. And yet, it is not the only home to me.
Milligan College is also my home; the people here, my family. It seems amazing to me that people you have only known and a place where you have lived for only a year can mean as much to you as a place you lived nearly two decades before it. This place is beautiful to me. Every scene, smell and sound seems like a special gift from God to me. My friends are invaluable. They provide the daily support, love and encouragement I need to function properly.
And there’s Matt. He is my home. I could live anywhere, absolutely anywhere, and it would be home. Because I would be with him. He is my daily source of immeasurable joy and strength.
The key to all of this is that God is central to all of these people and places. That is why I feel at home with each one. Indianapolis is where I grew up in my faith, where I was taught it in the beginning. Milligan is where I have seen it tested and strengthened and where I have met people who encourage my faith and help me through the tough times. Matt has comforted and guided me in a way only possible with God’s strength. In all of these places and with these people God has been the sustainer. He has maintained my relationships, my grades, and my passion for theatre and humanities. He is my true home.
It doesn’t really matter where I go or who’s there as long as I take my God with me. He is the one who will bless me wherever I am with friendships and opportunities. So I will keep packing my suitcase by faith and follow where He leads.
