reign of love

So excited am I.

As no one I'm sure will recall, seeing a Coldplay concert is #7 on my list: 30 Before 30.

And tonight, at the age of 28, I can cross it off my list.

I remember Andrew going to see them when they were in Toronto last - a week before We began, and while I was in Britain listening to "Fix You" and "Kingdom Come" on repeat...just dreaming of seeing them live.

I feel my time, my time has come.

Reign of love
I can’t let go
To the sea I offer
This heavy load

Locusts will
Lift me up
I’m just a prisoner
In a reign of love

Locusts will
Let us stop
I wish I’d spoken
To the reign of love

Reign of love
By the church, we’re waiting
Reign of love
My knees go praying

How I wish
I’d spoken up
Or we’d be carried
In the reign of love.

- Coldplay

#104: girls with bangs

If you see a white woman and you are trying to figure out if she liked or just merely tolerated by white people, the best thing you can do is to get a quick look at her haircut. It is a known fact that white people love women who wear their hair with bangs that hang straight down.

A number of very popular white women have worn this hairstyle including Joni Mitchell, Jane Birkin, Jenny Lewis and every girl ever photographed by Vice Magazine or the Cobrasnake. (Note: it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with these two things as they are both beloved by cool white people. Follow up note: these same things are hated by cooler white people).

Many people associate this type of haircut with children and people looking for the most efficient way to get hair out of their eyes. But for white people, this simple haircut makes a bold declaration by saying that the wearer is artistic, deep, and has probably dated a guy in a band that you like. Of course, as with many things loved by white people, simple often means expensive and these haircuts usually cost upwards of $100.

It is essential that you know that this haircut is more than a mere fashion statement, it is an important cultural marking. Throughout the world, many cultures feature ceremonies to announce that a girl has become a woman. For white people, the haircut-with-bangs is an important symbol that a female has completed her transformation from a nerdy girl to a cool woman. In fact, if you went to high school with a nerdy white girl who moved to a big city, there is a good chance she will show up to your high school reunion with one of these haircuts.

When you are introduced to a group of white people, it’s a good idea to befriend the girl with the bangs. She’s probably the most popular.

(yoinked from Stuff White People Like...thanks, Jon Long!)

the vision

This version of The Vision, slightly altered but still amazing, was put together by Dave Carrol's team at Freedom House, Brantford.

"young husband"

june 12, 2008

we are so new
floundering
in the blinking dawn
of our oneness
standing on shaky legs

your nighttime sighs,
still foreign,
lull me
as does the shape
of your roman head
on pillow

my body is shy
i'm tickled by your love
unsure
of how to have or hold you
or what to do

these days, so new
perfect
our verdant bed
cacophonous, symphonic
orchestral tuning


What is there to know?
All this is what it is
You and me alone
Sheer simplicity
- Kings of Convenience ("Know How")

navy blue

"I'm so glad you're here, Anne. If you weren't I should be blue...very blue...almost navy blue. Dreams and make-believes are all very well in the daytime and the sunshine, but when dark and storm come they fail to satisfy. One wants real things then."

- Miss Lavendar Smith, Anne of Avonlea

springfield

1 + 1 = 1

A co-worker asked me if things were different now that I was married.

I replied, "Well, I wake up to a man sleeping beside me, for one."

Not many people pretend to understand that Andrew and I hadn't lived together before we were married. Fewer believe that we hadn't slept together. So, yes, there are a few changes now that we're married; more (and more commonplace) than most of my co-workers could imagine.

1. Sometimes the bathroom smells of cologne.
2. Sometimes the kitchen smells of bleach.
3. There are boxers in the laundry.
4. I'm always well-fed.
5. Even at lunch the next day.
6. If a clap of thunder wakes me from my sleep I feel a hand on my arm letting me know it's OK.

While researching the first year of marriage I came across some of the reasons why, however, there are perhaps fewer changes than my co-workers would expect. Considering our first date consisted of us delving into deep heart issues, our second date had us both in tears, within the first six months we had discussed birth control and over the course of our two-and-a-half relationship we had mastered the completion of a teacher's college education, an extensive road trip, a period of unemployment, two Freshwinds, the birth of a 24/7 week of prayer, the birth of a live worship CD, a parental hospitalization, a pastoral resignation, fourteen (or is it fifteen?) weddings (four of which we stood for), the amalgamation of our cell groups, and leading the youth of an internationally renowned church, I figure we had covered more than most couples do in the first year of marriage. We had laughed together, cried together, prayed together, fought together, traveled together, plotted together, driven together, walked together and breathed the same air for long enough that marriage was a pretty easy step, all things considered. Being that we had grown into best friends somewhere along the way there haven't been many differences in my life since we've been married.

Except, of course, for the fact that I wake up to a man sleeping beside me.