six random things

Christianne tagged me, so I can't very well refuse! Most of you have seen this meme going around and if you haven't the title of the post pretty well explains it all. So without further ado, here are six random things about Kirsten ...

# 1: I once ate a robin’s egg. Confusing it for Easter candy was easy as a 5-6 year old. I found a nest in the backyard with that pretty blue egg just begging to be consumed (or so I thought). Sadly, it was not chocolate filled and that crunch outside was not very sweet. I came to Mom with yolk running down my face and remnants of blue eggshell in my hand. Poor mama bird: some kid ate her baby.

# 2: I generally enjoy cleaning. Getting the bathroom to sparkle doesn’t bother me. Hand-washing dishes tends to mellow me out. And the queen mother of all household chores in my book is laundry. Laundry rules!! I love folding towels & washcloths and putting clean sheets on my bed (oh, clean sheet day is sweet!!). But in heaven’s name, do NOT under any circumstances ask me to dust. Ick. Just … DON’T DO IT, and we’ll all be better off, okay?

# 3: I check my 401K balance obsessively. As in almost every day. This is a long-term investment people. But I get very, very happy when I see the little green arrows going up and very, very cranky when I see the little red arrows going down. Needless to say, the past 6 months have been rough on me.

# 4: I played the piano & the viola growing up. I started piano lessons when I was 7 and on the viola when I was 10. I played viola through high school & even sat first chair for a few years until a whiplash injury dethroned me. Whenever I was playing viola, there was one habit of concentration that I never could control, try as I might: I curled my upper lip like Elvis whenever I played. I imagine there are still orchestra concert videos displaying the evidence (along with the rather attractive green bow-tie/cummerbund ensemble we were required to wear for performances).

# 5: I’m addicted to green beans. I’ve eaten them with/for dinner several times a week for many years now & I never get bored with them. Nope, not once. I easily go through 5-6 pounds a week. I also eat two apples a day, without fail.

# 6: You could be reading Heidi’s blog right now. Yep, my parents nearly named me “Heidi”. It was about to be official until an aunt said it sounded like a stripper name when paired with my last name. After that, my parents could not (in good conscience) name me Heidi, so here you have Kirsten.

Tag, you're it!!:
23 Degrees
Danny
Caleb
Kaari
Carl

sharing the love

When I first began blogging in November of 2006, it was only after a couple months of blog voyeurism. I was constantly peeping in anonymously at the blogs of a few college friends, silently admiring their ability to share and express in so public a sphere. It only occurred to me a couple months later that I could start my own. When I finally started lattes & rainy days [after a day or two of agonizing over what my blog should be titled and then over whether I had anything blogworthy to publish], it was primarily as a way of reconnecting with those friends from college, hearing about weddings, seeing pictures of their growing babies, being reintroduced to them in their everydays, and welcoming them into my own.

And now it has become something so much fuller and more rewarding than I ever expected it to be; I have reconnected with old friends and formed new connections that are soul-deep and life-transforming. I have been stunned by the perceptions and insights of those who, whether or not they've met me, somehow get me, know me from the inside out. It is utterly disarming to be confronted with the reality that someone else has shared your doubts, fears, questions, and not only doesn't judge you or look down on you for it, but offers ways of looking at at the whole sweep of things that you hadn't thought of before. These are people who offer themselves with transparency and honesty, and in doing so, gift me a gift unlike any other. In short, these are people that give me a glimpse at the face of God.

Little things [like blogs] in the hands of a great big God ... this is nothing I have created, but something that has been handed to me, this amazing gift I treat with great care as something precious that I don't want to break.

There are so many I can think of who I could recognize and who would be deserving of such recognition; much of my blogroll, in fact. But if I consider who I've leaned on most, who has provided more support than I'd dare ask for, who act as a mirror for me, who have unabashedly offered me the gifts of themselves, who offer me a glimpse at the face of God, and encompass all those things described above, then the answer is obvious: I am passing the love on to Christianne and Terri: never were more kindred spirits found. Both fast friends, writers and artists, tender-hearted and humorous, honest, beautiful women who manage to understand me when all I offer is a confused spew of words usually followed up by "you know?" or something equally intelligent. These are two people for whom I weep with gratitude, who have come alongside when I needed it most, who add fuel to my fire.

Others who most definitely make my day (and fit all those descriptions as described in the second paragraph):
23 Degrees: Insightful, humorous, honest. So perceptive and encouraging, often giving me the gift of words where my own have failed me.
Nathan: As raw and real a person as you'll ever meet; honest, terribly insightful, and one heck of a writer.
Carl: Always ready with a thoughtful word and frequently lightens my day with his humor.

I am delighted to know you all!

P.S. Have you noticed that it's less than 2 weeks until I go to Florida to visit Christianne?!!?

Booklove

Recently, 23 Degrees asked me what I thought was an insightful question, so I am using this post to answer and to invite others to do the same. In a comment responding to a recent post about how much I love my books, how those ordered shelves lined and heavy with books me feel happy and at home, he asked:

So...what are your top ten titles? Top three authors? Which books have you read more than twice?

I know I am in good company when I say that this is not an easy question to answer. Narrowing my collection down to a few vital titles and authors has not been a simple task. So here, my friends, is my best attempt at answering this question. I invite anyone reading to post their own response and leave a comment here when you do!!


Top Ten Titles
In no particular order, these are books that -- for a variety of reasons -- I cannot forget. They are an indelible part of me; I continue find it remarkable that I find myself on these pages and that no matter how many times I open them, I find something new. It is tempting to write about the unique impression each left on me, but this would require an essay for each!

• The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
• East of Eden, John Steinbeck
• Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller
• Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
• Middlemarch, George Eliot
• Life is a Miracle, Wendell Berry
• Backlash, Susan Faludi
• A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
• A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis

Top Three Authors
This was by far the hardest to narrow down! But when I think of authors who challenge me and teach me the most, these three take the cake.

• Jane Austen
• C. S. Lewis
• William Shakespeare

Books I've Read Twice (Or More)
Sadly, this list is not comprehensive. But as I peruse my shelves, these are ones that I remember so clearly turning toward again and again.

• The Boat Who Wouldn't Float, Farley Mowat
• Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
• Persuasion, Jane Austen
• The Narnia Series, C. S. Lewis
• Till We Have Faces, C. S. Lewis
• A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
• The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
• Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich
• In the Name of Jesus, Henri Nouwen
• Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor
• The Outlander Series, Diana Gabaldon
• Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller
• The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard
• Wicked, Gregory Maguire
• Ahab's Wife, Sena Jeter Naslund

So, readers ... it is your turn now. Consider yourself tagged. What are the books you love, the books that have shaped you, the books that have become a part of your soul? I am deeply curious ...