Tickling

Joining in with Ann Kroeker and her curiosity journal for the week. Her tags are reading, playing, learning, reacting and writing, and I think those work just fine for me too. I'll add loving to the list as well. Because, well, if you know me at all, you know I love pretty much everything.

Reading: I don't think it's a secret that after four semesters of Shakespeare in college and a World Literature class taught by someone who talked more about guns, girls, and Bob Dylan, than about any literature at all, I was happy to land in love with modern lit. But I've gotta tell you, it's rare to find a good story told by a good storyteller. I don't know if I've found the latter in them, but the Hunger Games are a great story for sure.

Playing: The roommates are a bunch of coffee connoisseurs and I won't complain. Between one working at The Man and bringing home a fresh pound of goodness every week and one's love for Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from Buon Giorno, our bellies have never been happier and our coffee breath has never been worse.

Also: I smuggled a bag of Cortland apples home from New York in my carry-on. I figured there was no chance of TSAs from Rochester giving me any problem about that. New Yorkers understand that you can't get no apple like a NY Apple. We are down to the final two in the fruit bowl. My soul is sad. Feel free to send apples. 

Learning: I am learning so much about love these days. No. I'm not in love. But I hope that what I'm learning will be useful someday if that happens. I just mean that I am learning about what love is, real, true, deep love. It is so much more than love languages or that beastly 'guarding your heart' that Christians are so prone to bandy about. It is about emptying self, all of self, losing your identity for the sake of Christ and everyone else, and not looking back.

Reacting: On that note, I'm reacting to a series of blog posts that were posted recently on a blog I typically like. The fact that I typically enjoy what she writes, causes me hesitation to really denounce what is being said. But the general consensus is that guys and girls can't be friends ever. I've found the opposite to be so true in my life that I wonder if it has more to do with personality or level of faith, and less to do with hard and fast rules. In any case, I'm reacting strongly to this, while at the same time, trying to systematically consider every guy friend I have in my mind and prayerfully adjust if I need to. Love to hear your thoughts on that. (I may post a link to the blogs at some point, but not yet. )

Writing: More and more I feel the need to self-edit what I write here on this blog and I think that is largely because I've lost the original vision for this page. Is it a journal, a way to record the deepest things in me? Is it a forum, a place to voice opinions and wait for the response? Is it a creative outlet, a way to exercise the jumbling, tumbling words falling out of my heart? The truth is, I don't know, and I feel that I owe it to me and you to know.

Loving: My brother.