My "Best Albums of 2010"

Usually I am not really into female singers nor country/folksy music. But this year has been an all around different year for me in my musical likings. So here is my top whatever, we'll see how many I end up with.

Anberlin - Dark is A Way Light is A Place

Broken Bells - self titled

The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards

The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

Jeff Richmond - 30 Rock Soundtrack

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - self titled

Kate Nash - My Best Friend is You

Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Sound of Sunshine

The National - High Violet

Over the Rhine - The Long Surrender

Ray Lamontagne & The Pariah Dogs - God Willing and The Creek Don't Rise

Lissie - Catching A Tiger

The Black Keys - Brothers

Florence + The Machine - Lungs : Not released in 2010 but made itself well known in the US and I've been obsessed with it.

And the only one that really matters. My favorite album of 2010: Elizabeth & The Catapult - The Other Side of Zero

Thought I would include some lyrics from one of the songs. This is called the Horse and The Missing Cart.

You don't wanna live by too many morals

Despite what your elders whispered in the cradle

Don't wanna write the end before the start

You don't wanna dwell on what is beyond you

Despite what your better virtues may tell you

You don't want to put the horse before the you know what,

You know what

Cuz it's best not to live by too many morals

Enjoy the first sip before you finish the bottle

Don't wanna lie in that bed before you've made it

And don't second guess something once you believe it

The world keeps on turning if you take it or leave it

Don't want to put the course before the heart

Because you don't want to write that finishing line

Before you recall that arc in your mind

Careful to not be so careful before you step outside

You don't want to paint that finishing touch

Until you recall what you're dreaming of

You don't want to preach yourself out

Out of too much life. Too much life

Cuz it's best not to dwell on some other man's fortunes

Another man's cravings, another girls portions

Don't want to bet that sum before the parts

Best not to fancy too many favors

The more you win now, the less you will later

Don't want to put that horse before the cart

And you don't want to whine before you're dragged under

Best to jump now and think on it after

It's best to be stupid and selfish while you're still young

Cuz you don't want to be so overly cautious

So fucking worried you're lost in the process

Best to forget yourself now, right at the start.

Because you don't want to write that finishing line

Before you recall that arc in your mind

Careful to not be so careful before you step outside

You don't want to paint that finishing touch

Until you recall what you're dreaming of

You don't want to preach yourself out

Out of too much life. Don't wanna preach yourself out

Out of too much life. Don't wanna preach yourself out.

K bye!

Go Butler!!!

I've been listening to The Swell Season's new album "Strict Joy". The title of the album is a little deceiving to me because it seems to be anything but joyful. Which just so happens to fit my mood recently. It's a great album and I love how Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova blend their voices together so well. I can feel every word they sing by the emotion in their voices.

Anyway, here are some of the lyrics that have really been getting to me:

I wanna sit you down and talk

I wanna pull back the veils and find out what it is I've done wrong

I wanna tear these curtains down

I want you to meet me somewhere tonight in this old tourist town

And we'll go

Low rising, 'cause we've gotta come up

We've gotta come up, low rising

'Cause there's no further for us to fall, low rising

'Cause I fear we've had enough and we're low rising

Oh, for the love of you

"Low Rising"

You were restless

I was somewhere less secure

So I went running to the road

And so now there's a long list of places I was

I quit my rambling and came home

'Cause maybe I was born to hold you in these arms

Maybe I was born to hold you in these arms

"In These Arms"

Just before the rain came down the sun came out at last

And as for all assumptions made and questions never asked

I know we're not where I promised you we'd be by now

But maybe it's a question of who'd want it anyhow

"The Rain"

There's a light inside us all

It only shines as bright as we are

And you've fallen down so low

I'm really worried for you

I'm really worried

And even on our worst days we were never quite like this, no

We've gone as far as we can go without crashing, no

At the heart of every fool is the hope you're stupid too

And there's this lingering

This lingering feeling that I'm missing something

I feel like I'm missing something

"High Horses"

What's the verb to kick it off

To take the time and walk away from it

I'm not playing

That'll never sit with us well

We're far too pious to get out of it

And we're on our way

Running away won't change anything

It only puts it off

Stand on the spot

Work out where you are and take it all from there

"I'm tired of fighting," she said

You words just rattle my head

All joy escapes in the dark and I can't make this make sense

Your words are lost to me now

I cannot take it, I'm out

I'm stuck here kidding myself

You're out there caring somewhere

"The Verb"

But this estranged organ in my chest still beats for you

It will not rest

So meet me in our secret place when the time has come

Rest your head in my lap and I'll beat you out of your own trap

And I'll show you how much you have missed truth

In time we will unite

But you've been every now and then on my mind

You're every now and then on my mind.

"I Have Loved you Wrong"

In time when you word was true

You gave your heart to the ones you knew

And at the dawn of every day there was a light that you gave to me

You gave yourself to a love that conquers

Give everything to a love that conquers

And then you came

And you came real close

You gave the heart what it wanted most

You took your time and you made it clear

Maybe time will erase some things

You ran away with a love that conquers

You ran away with a love that conquers

Too long in the shadows

Too long in the dust

Give yourself to a love that conquers

"Love That Conquers"

The End. K bye.

So Don't Think of Tomorrow Tonight.

It's been a while. So here's what I'm enjoying recently:

Netflix streaming on the Wii!!!

Neo-noir films.

Music: She and Him "Volume II"

Brand New "Daisy"

David Bazan "Curse Your Branches"

Fun. "Aim and Ignite"

Jon Foreman on Huffington Post

Running.

Simple Salads.

SNL Annuale Skit.

Making sure my yard looks as nice as Neighbor Jack's.

"Clutching Dust and Stars" by Laryn Kragt Bakker

Daffodils.

And did I mention Netflix streaming on Wii!!!!

2010.

It's almost February and I am just now going to post about resolutions.

It's a little strange because I was traveling on New Years Eve and then celebrated Christmas on January 4, so it didn't really seem like the new year. But now that I have had a few weeks to sink in to a new decade I've got some resolutions. (Mostly inspired by the article in Relevant Magazine.)

Here's my list:

1. I'm going to run the Pittsburgh half marathon in May and possibly the Indianapolis one in the fall. This may not seem like a big deal because I love to run, but I have been struggling with doing anything let alone getting out to the gym or running in the park. So I'm hoping this will give me a goal to look forward to.

2. Memorize a chapter of the bible, not sure which one yet.

3. Learn to pray in a new way.

4. Create.

5. Be more intentional about my relationships.

6. Do something that freaks me out. That was a Relevant suggestion and I think it's great. I'm considering flying to somewhere random because I've never flown and it really freaks me out. Or sky diving or something of that nature.

7. Donate or volunteer with a cause that I care about. I've really wanted to be part of Kiva but have never done it so that is a priority this year as well.

That's it, short and to the point. I suppose I could resolve to blog more, but I doubt that will happen. :)

They don't have to understand you... be still.

Things I'm in to lately:

Cereal - a mixture of corn chex, granola and raisins, practically every meal.

postsecretcommunity

not working out :)

Nonfat unsweetened vanilla rooibos tea lattes.

fantasy basketball

Music: Flyleaf, Mute Math - Armistice, Snow Patrol "Hands Open"

making my own clothes

the television show Fringe - JJ Abrams is a genius

Acedia & Me - Kathleen Norris

It feels like a brand new day. Open your eyes!

Uh oh, two days in a row!!! Now we're talkin'! Or blogging rather. Anyway. 

My friend Jess loves to take pictures. Recently her camera was broken and she needed to send it in to the manufacturer to get fixed. Then we went to the beach this past weekend and she took an absurd amount of pictures!! 

Here's one of them: 

In the car the next day I popped in the new Jars of Clay album and when the song "Two Hands" started playing I just kept thinking about standing there on that rock. Here are the lyrics: 

"I've been living out of sanity

I've been splitting hairs and blurring lines

I am a house that is divided 

In my heart and in my mind

I have a broken disposition 

I'm a liar who thirsts for the truth

And while I ache for faith to hold me

I need to feel the scars and see the proof

And if we just keep digging we can reach the foundation 

Of our souls

And if we just keep cutting all the chains from our hearts 

We'll lose control

And it feels like giving in

It feels like starting over

It feels like waking up, and you know it's coming

It feels like a brand new day

Open your eyes

I use one hand to pull you closer
The other to push you away
If I had two hands doing the same thing
Lifted high, lifted high"

I find in my life that I am continually in that struggle. On the rollercoaster of righteousness. Even with my best intentions I fall short. And I may not glorify God every day, in everything that I do, most times I long for just the opposite. But it is refreshing on those days where I am consumed by grace with both hands lifted high. 

Grace makes beauty out of ugly things.

It's been almost a year since my last post. Let's see if I remember how to do this. 

Watch this clip from Pretty Woman. We've seen this movie, we know what it's about. Vivian is a prostitute, Edward comes to L.A. and decides to hire a prostitute. That's how they meet. Surprise, surprise they fall for each other. But what we see through the movie is how Edward treats Vivian. She does not feel like she deserves anything better than what she is doing. She has accepted that all she will ever be is a prostitute. Edward comes along and changes that and by the end of the movie he treats her less and less like a prostitute and more like a woman. Through the course of the movie she goes from being a product to being a person. From being bought and sold to being loved and cherished. 

Can a fresh word be spoken about me? Can a new word be spoken about me? Or am I defined by what I've done? By who I've been involved with? By my failures, short comings, missteps? Do my sins determine who I am? Or can a fresh new word be spoken about me? 

Very often we carry all the words we hear with us. We become worthless, meaningless, stupid, useless, mediocre, fat, weird, insufficient, lazy, unworthy. We carry all of the bad experiences we have had with us. We personify ugliness, evil, destruction, disaster, hate, failure. Over and over we hear and recreate the things in our head. We begin to think maybe all these words are true, that they are all we will ever be. The things that have happened to us begin to own us. We desire for a fresh, new word to be spoken about us. 

In Matthew 9, A man comes to Jesus begging him to go see his daughter, who is supposedly already dead. While he's on his way: "A woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter, " he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. 

In the time of Jesus this woman would have been labeled unclean. No one would have wanted to be around her. She was looked down upon, ridiculed, made fun of, given dirty looks. She was not allowed to go into the temple, to worship God, because of her uncleanliness. She was an outcast. She had been pushed out of society, kicked to the edge, not welcome. 

Then she has the audacity to go up and try to touch Jesus. And of course Jesus responds in a way that no one else ever would have. He looks down at this woman. With all her filthiness and shame. He looks at her and calls her daughter. 

So may we come to see that the words we say are important. May we see that the way we talk to people matters. May we be able to reach into people's lives and speak rejuvenation. But may we also see that all those words we have heard, all those things we have felt are old and stale. Jesus longs to speak a fresh, new word about us. "Take heart, daughter."

Lemon out...

(Adapted from a Rob Bell sermon called "New Skirts".)