Umm… clearly, you should submit here. Clearly.

http://shop.notesandgracenotes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=11.

Psalm 45: 1 My heart overflows with a good theme;

I address my verses to the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

After watching a beautiful memorial service for a beloved friend and daughter, Kalila Marie Borden, I was blessed to hear this song by Steven Curtis Chapman (written in memory of the loss of his little girl, Maria Sue).  As a writer it sucks to not have the words to express sympathy and sorrow. However, every now and then, I am blessed with a song, prayer, poem, or story that someone else has written that perfectly captures what I wish I could share with family and friends who have experienced loss, especially of children.

The song I wish I could have written: Heaven is the Face

The part in pink in the lyrics below is what I pray for all of you… you know who you are.

Heaven is the face of a little girl
With dark brown eyes
That disappear when she smiles.
Heaven is the place
Where she calls my name
Says, “Daddy please come play with me for awhile.”

Chorus:

God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more,
But God, You know, that this is what I’m aching for.
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door.
So right now…

Heaven is the sound of her breathing deep,
Lying on my chest, falling fast asleep while I sing.
And Heaven is the weight of her in my arms,
Being there to keep her safe from harm while she dreams

And God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more,
But God, You know, that this is what I’m longing for
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door.

Bridge:

But in my mind’s eye I can see a place
Where Your glory fills every empty space.
All the cancer is gone,
Every mouth is fed,
And there’s no one left in the orphans’ bed.
Every lonely heart finds their one true love,
And there’s no more goodbye,
And no more not enough,
And there’s no more enemy (no more).

Heaven is a sweet, maple syrup kiss
And a thousand other little things I miss with her gone.
Heaven is the place where she takes my hand
And leads me to You,
And we both run into Your arms.

Oh God, I know, it’s so much more than I can dream.
It’s far beyond anything I can conceive.
So God, You know, I’m trusting You until I see
Heaven in the face of my little girl,
Heaven in the face of my little girl.

So, I recently added a link to my friend’s blog (see sidebar) Ahab’s Quest, and I have to admit that I am more than slightly jealous. This could potentially lead to some competitive blogging in the near future.

Beware

And it isn’t even class day! Sorry about the sound quality.

3 more to go.

So, in lieu of getting my PhD in creative writing this year, I am, instead, taking classes through Exchanged Life ministries for lay counseling. Therefore, it is time for my “after class blog posts” which have become as traditional as my “before theology class and/or creative writing workshop day” slurpy runs. I could never sleep on those nights anyway, so a sugar high always seemed appropriate.

This time, I have decided to include within my posts, a song that sums up what I have learned.

With no further ado:

… a whole lot of student essays.

But, I am thinking about incorporating lunar bombings into my latest short story.

In other news: It’s time to start applying to graduate school. Joy!

Long time, no blog! Probably… because I have been in Alaska on a cruise ship. Favorite Alaska port? Skagway. With Juneau and Sitka coming in at a close second. Followed, of course, by Ketchikan. Glacier Bay was also gorgeous, although no getting off the ship there! =)

I am feeling a bit behind in my reading because of working all summer, but I tried. Below is a list of books I read during my Alaskan Adventures of 2009, as well as some quotes that really spoke to me as I was reading.  Enjoy!

1. Pretty in Pink (Princess Diaries Series)–I worked with kids, what can I say?

2. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel–LOVED it!

3. The Body Artist by Don DeLillo–aMAzing!

4. A Man Without a Country by Kurt V.–Who doesn’t love Mr. V?

5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury–Possibly my favorite book all summer.

6. The Shack by Wm. Paul Young–Changed my mind. This was my favorite and not for any literary reasons. Purely because I needed to read it.

7. White Noise by Don DeLillo–Not as good as the first one I read, but still quotable.

8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling–I hadn’t finished the series. And here… you will begin to see a pattern.

9. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

11. The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz–Love his language. Want to read more!

12. Life of Pi by Yann Martel–Wouldn’t suggest this one be read on a cruise ship.

13. Bagombo Snuff Box (Short Stories) by Kurt Vonnegut–Read through this one throughout the summer. Finished it up during my last week.

And some quotes…

“The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per squire inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more ‘literary’ you are. That’s my definition, anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.” Bradbury, p. 111

“The world system is what it is. Institutions, systems, ideologies, and all the vain, futile efforts of humanity that go with them are every where, and interaction with all of it is unavoidable. But I can give you freedom to overcome any system of power in which you find yourself, be it religious, economic, social, or political. You will grow in the freedom to be inside or outside all kinds of systems and to move freely between and among them. Together, you and I can be in and not of it.” The Shack, 183.

“I sometimes think that good readers are poets as singular, and as awesome, as great authors themselves.” Borges.

“What people in Exodus fear most immediately is that those in positions of authority will long since have fled, leaving us in charge of our own lives” (Don DeLillo).

“I am only a visiting lecturer. I theorize, I take walks, I admire the trees and houses. I have my students, my rented room, my TV set. I pick out a word here, an image there. I admire the lawns, the porches. What a wonderful thing a porch is. How did I life without a porch to sit on, up till now? I speculate, I reflect, I take constant notes. I am here to think, to see… I won’t let up.” (Don DeLillo).

“The very best thing you can be in life is a teacher, provided that you are crazy in love with what you teach, and that your classes consist of eighteen students or fewer. Classes of eighteen students or fewer are a family, and feel and act like one.” Thank you, Kurt Vonnegut!

“Never try to understand the students. They hate it. The would much rather be tragically misunderstood.” J.K. Rowling. Ironically, I can remember feeling this way as a student. High school, of course.

“Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house; then the King will desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, bow down to Him” Psalms 45:10-11.

“O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to your name; For you have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” Isaiah 25:1.

“What is it with Dictators and Writers anyway?” Diaz.

“Long story short. Upon learning of the dissertation, El Jefe first tried to buy the thing and when that failed he dispatched his chief Zuazgul to NYC and within days Galindez got gagged, bagged, and dragged to La Capital, and legend has it when he came out of his choloroform nap, he found himself naked, dangling from his feet over a cauldron of boiling oil, El Jefe standing nearby with a copy of the offending dissertation in hand. (And you thought your committee was rough.)” Diaz =) LOL!

“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.” Martel.

“He was very kind. He served me tea and biscuits in a tea set that tinkled and rattled at every touch; he treated me like a grown up; and he told me a story. Or rather, since Christians are so fond of capital letters, a Story.” Martel.

So, I just finished reading D.B.’s “The School”, and not only is it absolutely perfectly depressing, it’s also perfectly written, especially the ending when Barthelme starts playing with language. Here is a taste for you:

“One day, we had a discussion in class. They asked me, where did they go? The trees, the salamander, the tropical fish, Edgar, the poppas and mommas, Matthew and Tony, where did they go? And I said, I don’t know, I don’t know. And they said, who knows? and I said, nobody knows. And they said, is death that which gives meaning to life? And I said no, life is that which gives meaning to life. Then they said, but isn’t death, considered as a fundamental datum, the means by which the taken-for-granted mundanity of the everyday may be transcended in the direction of –
I said, yes, maybe.
They said, we don’t like it.
I said, that’s sound.
They said, it’s a bloody shame!
I said, it is.
They said, will you make love now with Helen (our teaching assistant) so that we can see how it is done? We know you like Helen.
I do like Helen but I said that I would not.
We’ve heard so much about it, they said, but we’ve never seen it.
I said I would be fired and that it was never, or almost never, done as a demonstration. Helen looked out the window.
They said, please, please make love with Helen, we require an assertion of value, we are frightened.”

Beautiful, right?

The writing, the words.

Because I am in love with Dan Wickett, I have been stalking his site for a while. I also read the following recommendations and you should, too!:

Brady Udall “A Story”

Matt Bell “An Index of How Our Family was Killed”

Elizabeth Ellen “Samuel L. Jackson is Not a Good Name for a Rabbit”