2005 in Review

I don't know if you're interested, but these were my favorite books, movies, and cds that I happened across in 2005 (I'll add some Amazon links later).

Books
1. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson (a landslide favorite)
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling (best book in the series)
3. Upholding Mystery: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Poetry – ed. David Impastato
4. Ragman and Other Cries of Faith - Walter Wangerin
5. Hannah Coulter - Wendell Berry
6. The Complete Poems - Robert Frost

Movies
1. Star Wars (I watched all of them for the first time this summer.)
2. Life of Brian (up there with Holy Grail)
3. Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
4. A Very Long Engagement
5. Rules of the Game
6. The Corpse Bride

CDs
1. The Collection - Jennifer Knapp
2. Careless Love - Madeleine Peroux
3. Tambourine - Tift Merritt
4. Dreamland - Madeleine Peroux
5. Oh, Inverted World - The Shins
6. Wave of Mutilation - The Pixies

The Cranes Win!!! The Cranes Win!!!

One of my fantasy football teams, the Cranes, has officially won its league championship. It was an awesome victory. The team started off strong with three very tight wins, and then, they went into a slump, dropping three games in a row. They rebounded, however, to play their best football at the end of the year, and we ended up in first place (barely) going into the playoff tournament. We won both games there in landslides. Next year, the Cranes will get to compete in a winners league.

My other team, the Martyrs ok. We lost the first three games, but then, it looked as though the team would resurrect itself when we went on a streak, winning five games in a row. But it wasn’t true. The Martyrs were really pretty dead. They got fifth in the league, not quite good enough to get into the tournament. They did will the last game of the consolation tournament, but alas, it was too late. I’m sure they’ll rise again next year.

Today, I moved my stuff back to Abilene. I’m going to be there for about four months. I’ll be teaching online for Tech (and maybe part-time at Cisco) next semester, but mainly, I plan to sit around my ugly (but cozy) apartment and do next-to-nothing. I’m tired.

It’s funny, though, how I feel about that place (Abilene). I don’t know why, but I’ve always felt really in place in Abilene. That feeling was immediate when I first moved there at the beginning of my freshman year, and now it feels like I’m going back home, albeit for a short time.

In Lubbock, on the other hand, I never felt at home. I remember a time last September when I was walking to the English building on the Tech campus, and in a semi-sublime moment, I was hit with a realization of myself in the place and time. I’m not really sure how to explain that feeling of being in a place and feeling it as opposed to being in a place but not feeling it. Still, I don’t think I’m alone on that (read Walker Percy). Anyway, there was only that one moment last September when I felt myself as a living being in Lubbock, and it took a year for that moment to happen. And it was fleeting. In Abilene, however, (as well as Menard) I tend to feel my presence continually. I don’t have anything against Lubbock; I was really pretty happy during my stay there. Still, I won’t particularly miss the place (though I will miss some people); I barely felt like I was there.

I guess I’m not headed anywhere in this post. It was just a little bit strange leaving Lubbock today and moving back to Abilene. I’ve not lived in a whole lot of places, and I guess because of that, I’ve not thought much about my relationship with those places I’ve lived. I guess that’s something to think about as I try to figure out where I’ll be next fall.

Sleep.

Last night, I went to bed at 11:30.

The significance: 11:30 is before 12:00, and I can't think of a time when I went to bed before 12:00 in the last year-and-a-half. And I didn't go to bed to read or do homework or anything else either. I went to bed to sleep. It was strange.

I was too excited about it to sleep. I'll have to try it again sometime.

Tagged

10 Favorites:

Favorite Season: Fall
Favorite Sport: Baseball
Favorite Time: 11:07
Favorite Month: October
Favorite Actor: Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Grant
Favorite Actress: Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslett
Favorite Ice Cream: Vanilla
Favorite Food: Mom’s, Chicken Fried Steak
Favorite Drink: Coke
Favorite Places: Menard, TX; Garner State Park; Hawaii

9 Currents:

Current Feeling: Relaxed
Current O/S: I don’t know; I think it’s older than me
Current Windows Open: 1 Internet Explorer, 1 Microsoft Word
Current Drink: None
Current Time: 7:50
Current Mobile(s) Used: my stinky cell phone
Current Show on TV: Football – Atlanta Falcons v. Chicago Bears
Current Thought: Stupid Cowboys
Current Clothing: old jeans, old t-shirt, cap, santa claus boxers

8 Firsts:

First Nick: I had an uncle named Nick.
First Kiss: First year of college (not much happening in Menard)
First Crush: Fourth grade – I think it was one of the Kuykendall twins
First Computer: This one.
First Vehicle I drove: 1994 Geo Storm, blue
First Job: Babysitting the Schmidt brats, no one else would take the job
First Pet: tiny mutt named Tuffy. Still not sure if it was suicide or homicide that got him.
First Shave(men)/hairstyle(women): 7th grade, should have probably been in the 6th.

7 Lasts:

Last Chai (Tea): Never
Last Movie: Rent (highly recommended)
Last Time I Drove: This morning to church/
Last Time Shaved(men)/Beauty parlour visit(women): This morning.
Last Web Site Visited: My fantasy sports teampage (looks like the Cranes going for the championship!!!)
Last Software Installed: Been a long time, since my normal computer has been dead for a while.
Last Pill I Had: ibuprofen for a headache.

6 Have You Evers:

Have You Ever Broken the Law: Law Shmaw
Have You Ever Been Drunk: Nope
Have You Ever Climbed a Tree: Yeah.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: No.
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire or Bomb Blast: Yes
Have You Ever Broken AnyoneÂ’s Heart: Don’t ask me.

5 Things:

Things You Can Hear Right Now: An annoying commercial, myself typing, cat’s fighting
Things on Your Computer Table: 23 books, a computer, an empty glass, a roll of tissue, some computer games, miscellanious papers, cds, pencils, a pen, a chess board, two globes, a jar of change, a raccoon paperweight, a fan, a Bible, a spyglass (I don’t use it), some whiteout, some chapstick (that has to be at least 10 years old-I remember it in junior high), a model ship
Things on Your Bed: Sheets, remote control, 2 plankets, a quillow, 2 pillows, a box of kleenex, 2 cats, a book
Things You Ate Today: German sausage w/ tortillas and mock applebutter, pickled okra (to see if I still hated them—I do), three cokes (those count), an olive, three cookies, a salad (it took me five tries to spell that right, that shows how often I eat salad),
Things in Mind: the Stupid Cowboys, the even stupider and more desparate president that’s talking right now and keeping me from watching “The Family Guy” (see previous post)

4 Places You Have Been Today:

1. the house
2. church
3. Pic-N-Pac (the local convenience store)
4. the garage

3 People You Can Tell [Almost] Anything To:

1. Mom & Dad
2. Kalyn
3. Will

2 Choices:
Black or White: Black
Hot or Cold: Hot

1 Thing You Want To Do Before You Die:
I dunno. Stuff.

And individuals I wanna tag:
I think that most of the people who read my blog are taking a break from their blogs. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing these answers from Emily, Emily, Will, Keisha, Kayla, and Kevin.

Nice Feeling

Yeah, today I was watching tv, and I saw a commercial for "The Family Guy," and I thought, "That looks funny. I want to watch that."

Usually, that thought comes with some other knowledge. Usually, I think, "That looks funny. I want to watch that. But as soon as I finish eating [which is normally the only time I watch tv], I have to go write a paper (or read a novel, or read 50 pages of poetry, or read some critical articles, or do research, or grade papers, or do some lesson planning, or etc.)." In short, in the past year-and-a-half, I have often seen things I want to watch on tv, and I haven't gotten to watch any of them.

But then I saw that commercial today, and I realized, "Wow." "Wow, I can see that. It comes on at 8:00. I don't have homework to be working on at 8:00. I won't have homework for a long time." That's a nice feeling. Now, I just have to remember to watch the show.

Done.

I just finished my last paper and turned it in. That is quite likely my last literary paper I'll ever write. I don't think I'll really miss them all that much.

Now, it is time to start getting ready to go back home.

And out into the much-more-real-and-often-more-pleasant world. Sort of.

And pray for Tookie Williams, too.

Please pray for these fellows, the four men from the Christian Peacemaker Teams held captive in Iraq, and for their families. I find their faithfulness unbelievably inspiring.