Written on my heart

You gotta spend some time, Love.
You gotta spend some time with me.
And I know that you'll find, love
I will possess your heart.
You gotta spend some time, Love.
You gotta spend some time with me.
And I know that you'll find, love
I will possess your heart.

I heard this song on the radio today and it made me think about reading the bible. I’m pretty sure that Death Cab for Cutie didn’t have that intention when they recorded this song. (Is that judgmental? Maybe that’s exactly what they intended) I’ve been thinking about change and growth lately and specifically how my relationship with God has changed.

One of the main reasons I’ve changed is that I’ve been spending a lot more time with God and His word. Between reading on my own, Sunday school, bible study and sermons, my time learning has increased exponentially. Which has led to more and more changes within me. I’m not perfect, nowhere near it. I’m not even a good person most of the time. But I’m different than who I was. I respond to things differently. I feel different emotions than before. God is changing who I am and it’s pretty cool to see.

Snow!

(also, I need to put away my lawn furniture)

Breakfast of champions

Caffeine and chocolate!

Guilty pleasures

I was going to make a list of some of my guilty TV pleasures, but then I realized I have very little shame about the things that I like to watch. I actually take great pride in the fact that I’ve watched cheesy sci-fi shows and random comedies. That horrible Lorenzo Lamas series? Watched it. Jon and Kate Plus 8? Watched it. Not only do I watch these things…I then seek out other people on the internet and form friendships around our mutual appreciation of these shows. Friendship is magic! (which I’ve also watched!)

Despite my shameless TV watching, I do have guilty pleasures. My main one is my love of movie novelizations. I can’t get enough of them! Maybe it’s my author background that longs to know the motivation behind what’s on the screen. Maybe it’s my curiosity that always wants to know as much as I can about everything. I don’t know the exact reasoning, but I really love reading movie novelizations. In my bag right now I’m carrying around the Pacific Rim novelization and I’m enjoying it so much!

Early mornings and making new friends

How beautiful is that scene? The rising sun, the green trees, the mist…actually, that’s not mist. That’s the exhaust from a wall of dryers at my local laundromat. It’s still really pretty!

I love going to the laundromat. There’s a sense of vulnerability inherent in the act of having your clothes spinning in full view of others. People are either very guarded or completely open and either way, you can learn so much about them. It’s a prime space for people watching, and an even better avenue for making new friends!

My first load isn’t even out of the washing machine and I’ve already talked about bug phobias with Lupe, discussed Harry’s cowboy hat and horses and learned that Jon’s new baby doesn’t like the smell of the dryer. Yay for new experiences!

I used to think that the solution to road rage or inconsiderate drivers would be to force everyone to have one of those "How is my Driving?" stickers. You see them on trucks and other company vehicles and they have a phone number where you can call and complain or compliment the driver of the vehicle. I was sure that if everyone had that on the back of their car they would surely drive differently. They would drive with the idea that they would be held accountable for their actions. I thought that people would be less likely to be rude if the other drivers on the road were able to hold them accountable for their behavior.

These days, I'm not so sure that this concept would work and it's all because of Facebook. The old internet adage "don't read the comments" exists for a reason. People, when given anonymity and a voice, will say things they'd never say face to face. You just knew never to scroll down and read the comments or you'd be inundated with racist, sexist, hateful and just plain dumb comments, all spewed by faceless accounts.

Then Facebook happened and sites started to partner with it so that your Facebook login started to be your login on other sites as well. You'd think that the instant accountability of having your name attached to your comment would cause people to rethink what they were going to say...but it didn't. Now instead of just having all these horrible comments, you had all of these horrible comments attached to people's names and photos. Comments about how a woman walking in the wrong part of town deserved to be raped, made by a man who's profile picture is of him and his granddaughters. Comments about how welfare recipients should be killed for the greater good by a woman who's Facebook profile says she teaches at an elementary school. Comments that are hateful and cruel made by people who don't care that their face and name are attached.

It makes me wonder if the 'how's my driving' stickers would work anymore. Would people behave better if there was accountability? Or, in this Facebook world, does accountability not change anything?