It seems a lifetime (or two) has happened in the interim, but I used to write a weekly post entitled “7 Quick Takes Friday.” It was part of a link-up that Jennifer Fulweiler at Conversion Diary started years and years ago, and when her schedule became too busy for her to continue to host it, Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum took it up. I dropped off the link-up sometime in 2015 (and it does actually look like it’s still going) but as I mentioned a few weeks before I dropped off the 7QT bandwagon, Fridays have traditionally been a tough writing day for me. Because – well, quite frankly: Friday + adulting = tired.
I’ve thought (again) about going back to my random ramblings series, but I still (several years later) haven’t gotten those shifted over to Simple Felicity yet, so that seems possibly pointless – plus, I’m kind of a different person now than when I experimented with that series…
So perhaps it’s time for something new(ish). Let’s try this instead:
Much like my old series, it’ll be a collection of random things: books I’m reading, stuff I’m thinking about, and funny things on the internet. If it sounds fun to you, please go ahead and steal the title, write your own post, and link to it in the comments below – and if we ever get more than 10 links on a regular basis, I’ll spring for an Inlinkz account again and we’ll make it an official link up. (Also – no real commitment here. This is probably not going to be a weekly thing. I’m going to aim for once a month and see how it goes.) (Sidebar: I really wanted to put a winky emoji at the end of that last sentence, but my current blog template makes emojis blow up to the size of the whole screen, and I can’t figure out how to make it stop. If anyone with mad skillz has thoughts on that, I’d be indebted. Because emojis.)
Okay. Without further ado – here is the very first edition of seven things on a Saturday.
Y’all. There is an entire tumblr devoted to pictures of other animals sitting on capybaras. It’s (oddly enough) called Animals Sitting On Capybaras. This might be better than the Goats of Anarchy. Not by much. But possibly. Thoughts on this? #funthingsontheinternet
[socialpoll id=”2462781″]
It’s always worth continuing to reflect on friendship; this article on how difficult it is (or isn’t) to find an Aristotelian friend is fantastic. #stufftothinkabout
And speaking of friendship – this story about a couple of guys who “walked” the El Camino? OMG. It blew my mind. May we all, at some point in our lives, experience the gift of having – and being – this kind of friend: #stufftothinkabout
I’m not sure what happened – probably school? – but I used to be the kind of person who could only read one book at a time. This is apparently no longer true. Here’s what I’m in the middle of reading right now:
, by Brian McLaren
, by Anthony Doerr
, by Frances Mayes
, by Julie Klassen
, by John Pavlovitz
, by Joseph Campbell
, by Michelle GriepThey’re all great, but I’m pretty sure The Ladies of Ivy Cottage will be the one I actually finish this weekend. It’s the second book in a series called The Tales of Ivy Hill, and Julie Klassen is one of the few authors I follow fanatically, so I can pre-order her new books.
Have you read any of these books? What’s on your reading list this December? Please leave me a note in the comments; I pretty much always appreciate book recommendations. #booksworthreading
There have been a lot of really great things about moving to Brooklyn this year, but as we get deeper into Advent, temperatures are dropping, Christmas lights are starting to twinkle around the city, and I’m finding myself a bit nostalgic. Radio isn’t really something I listen to anymore; my commute is a combination of walking and subways, and while I know there are apps like iHeart Radio, that’s never really been my thing – I’m more of a Spotify and iTunes girl for music, and I spend most of my commutes reading on my Kindle or listening to podcasts, anyway; my tendency to sing along when listening to good music makes it less than a great idea for subway entertainment. But I find myself missing the radio station in Illinois that played Christmas music incessantly from Thanksgiving through December 25th (even if they did play The Christmas Shoes once an hour). I also miss my extensive collection of Christmas CDs. Christmas in Brooklyn is feeling decidedly non-Christmas-y so far (all my decorations are still in storage in Connecticut) – but I’m hoping to get out tomorrow to do some holiday shopping in the city, and a Christmas-scented candle is on my shopping list, so perhaps that will help a bit.
I’ve been building playlists in Spotify for musical variety, though, and a lot of my favorite go-to albums are online, too. The two albums I’ve found myself gravitating towards most so far this season are Michael Bublé’s Christmas (the Deluxe Special Edition, of course) and (oddly) Point of Grace’s A Christmas Story. #stufftothinkabout
Life in Brooklyn continues to be a bit of an adventure, but a lot of the things that felt so foreign when I first moved here have finally become commonplace. I’m better at meal-planning than I was when I first got here, and slowly but surely learning to cook well-balanced meals in one of the tiniest kitchen known to man. In the event that I ever have the good fortune to live in a building that has in-unit (or at least in-building) laundry again, I doubt I’ll be able to take it for granted again. Laundry is heavy, my friends – more so in the winter – and schlepping four loads of it through the snow is quite a workout. I still have an amazing talent for missing trains by 30 seconds, but I’m finally to the point where most of the time I know which one I want, and it’s been a few weeks since I got on going in the wrong direction. Food, clothing, and the ability to get to work in the morning – six months in, and I’ve finally mastered the basics. I consider that a win. #adventuresinBrooklyn
A friend dropped me a note a few weeks ago, and asked where I am on my faith journey these days. It’s a good question, and worth an update.
The short version is: I’m still on a journey. (That will likely always be true.)
I think I can safely say that I no longer identify as a mainline evangelical. That ship has sailed. But I’m still very much a Jesus-y person, in that I care a whole lot about what He thinks, and try to live my life in a way that honors who He is. I’m not sure I completely identify with any one line of thought about Christianity right now, tho I’m definitely finding resonance with a number of voices that have walked a similar road – not out of Christianity, but out of evangelicalism.
I’m still not all that sure about church – but I’ve found one that I like. It’s a four to five hour commitment to attend services on Sundays, because it’s in Tribeca, which is about an hour’s commute from my neighborhood in Brooklyn – but I’m thinking about moving into the city, to make it easier to be a part of community life outside of Sunday mornings. I discovered the hard way when I signed up for a small group this fall that I wasn’t ready to do it yet, but I’m showing up for church happy hours (yes, that’s actually a thing!), and getting to know a few people.
And in the meantime, I’m reading a lot (as previously noted), and listening to a handful of podcasts that I find helpful. If Christianity had gurus, I suppose Rob Bell would be mine; his weekly podcast has spoken a lot of truth and healing into my life over the past year, especially the episodes where his topic is “wisdom.” #faith
What’s on your mind this week? I’d love to hear your thoughts, please comment below, or better yet: post on your blog and link up below!
photo credit: freestocks.org on Unsplash
