The Mr. Darcy Dress Up Game

Best. Game. Evar.

It could also be termed the Let's-See-What-Adrien-Brody-Looks-Like-In-18th-Century-Garb Game. (You really can get a decent likeness; there's even a crooked nose option).

It's really called the Regency dress up game or something, but that's kind of boring.

Whatever you call It, here It is.
http://savivi.deviantart.com/art/Regency-Hero-Dress-Up-Doll-101669291

Autumn is here!

Drink a cup of tea by the
Early morning's light.
The smell of toast meets chilly air
As morning quells the night.

Running to the bus stop as
Raindrops light and small
Bedew bright red and orange and gold
The spectrum of the fall.

*sniffs air* Ah, fall is here! Who wants to come Hurrah in Harvest with me? The trees are shedding their coats of color, the goats are growing round, and hot chocolate is the order of the day!

Thank the Lord for his abundance in mercy and grace.

Here's a random in-class writing assignment I had the privilege of massacring last Wednesday. :)

The crimson of the leaf hails to the red of the curb. Together they battle Washington’s gray, a merry attack on monochrome.

Joining the war are the clouds. They spatter the battlefield—and passers-by—with the artillery of the sky.

As the scarlet partners stand their ground, students run for cover from the determined wet; disregarding the colorful allies. The leaf is trampled and torn, the curb losing hope. Neither can see the end of the battle. The clouds rumble forward like a herd of elephants, blasting at their earthbound foes.

Suddenly the tables turn as a new ally comes forth. It is the grass, and the trees and the green bursting forward to assist. They are unperturbed by the weariness of the leaf, by the despair of the curb. Rather than lose hope at the clouds, they simply burst forth in a blaze of verdure as the rain pours forth.

Now it is the clouds’ turn to surrender. The rain stops, and the blue sky peers out.

*sigh* English teacher liked it, I'm not sure what I think of it. :P Too eloquent, perhaps?

Oh, and I find out if my children's book wins this Wednesday, if any of you are wondering. Here's to God's providence! *raises apple juice*

My teachers are the nicest Un-Christians I've ever met. There's an amazing book called The Violin Maker (John Marchese), which anyone who ever thought about music, even once, should read. Our pastor is teaching a wonderful series called "Scared Spitless", and it's been so refreshing and...freeing? to explore God's grand compassion and provision for us.

I am absolutely freaked out about my book, and God still continues to be good.

God is good.

Life is good.

Dearest Friends, Romans, and Countrymen...

I am entering my first quarter as a student of Whatcom Community College, and am sadly not really looking forward to it...

If it enters your mind anytime this week, your prayers would be so muchly appreciated! (For my sanity and discretion amongst the varied and twisted worldviews, and for the professors and students who may be portraying them. Goodness, Truth and Beauty for the win! :D)

I love and miss you all dearly; please don't die from schoolwork overload! :) I hope all ye Torrey-ers are enjoying Foof!

Love,
Danielle

Sorry, I'm posting twice today...

But...

You Belong in the Silent Generation

You'd fit in best as a person born between 1925 and 1942. You are a person of high values and character. Family, your country, loyalty, and hard work all important to you. You are willing to do what's right, even when it's difficult.

What Generation Do You Belong In?

YES!! I've always wanted to live during that time period...:)

Oh, the violins!

Or the violence...or whatever. :)

My sister is soon to be taking violin lessons, so we have rented out a lovely little violin named Monique.

So...beautiful...

My ultimate goal is to play the cello, so I have been fiddling around (har har) with Monique to see how she feels. Since she's a rather nice violin, it's fairly easy to get a good tone (on open strings, anyways), and it's glorious to hear the potential for beautiful music. Stringed instruments seem to be among the most human-sounding of the musical world, when played well.

And I just taught myself the D Major scale, which makes me way prouder than necessary. :D Now I need to learn Country Road, for those of you who have seen Whisper of the Heart and know how awesome Seiji is. :)

College starts September 22nd! Now we get to learn the principles of evolution...hurrah...If you could remember to lift up a prayer for both boldness and love; I am afraid of strengthening the bad name people have given Christianity.

May Christ be with you always, dear friends.

*Drowns in Talent*

So, the realization just hit (feeling somewhat like being shoved in a freezer after basking in the sunlight; in honor of Gabriel and his lovely simile...:), that I have no talent of great import in the world and that, wherever I go, there will always be more talent and more grace and more amazingness in other people.

:D

Isn't that wonderful?! Think about how exciting the world is, now that I do not need to be the best person in it. There are so many wonderful things to do; so many masterful artists to learn from and so many ridiculously talented people to appreciate.

*smacks self into agreement*

Ah, Perfectionism!

It's like trying to write a good stories while reading the Bible or Jane Eyre or T.S. Eliot or Harry Potter or Chicken Jane, and wondering, "Why on earth write a good story when there are such GREAT stories?" and it feels so utterly hopeless that you edit your pages into oblivion. Or like learning a piece by some nondescript composer that nobody knows about, when your brilliant friends are struggling through divine classics that are close-if-not-actually-at the virtuosic level...

Or trying to draw. At all. Without even looking at Rembrandt, or Degas, or Monet...(aw, I love Monet!). Cause if you look at Monet, when you're trying to draw, it's basically the equivalent of being shoved into an iceberg after living in California.

*sigh*

What is the point of this post? That's a very, very good question. Maybe it's...

The more you learn, the more you grow, and (oddly enough) the more humble you become. At least, that's how it should be, I think. I fail more often than not in remembering and applying this.

Plus, if we were all the best, we wouldn't have any motivation to learn, would we? (Well, none of us could ever be the best, since God has handily taken that position. Heck, he made that position! He IS that position!)

Anyways. I've been learning about the woes of pride and perfectionism, and about the grace of God and the necessity of humility.

In other news, I ate Milton's wheat toast with cream cheese and marionberry jam for breakfast, and I miss you guys. :D

Layout in the sun...

And you'll probably get burned! Har. Har.

Voila! Eet ees a new layout! What dost thou thinketh?

Funny Peoples...

The only way to describe us (my family and I) + new friends the Joneses is H-A-M...

Observe...except that, you don't have to, since these aren't exactly the most beautiful pictures of us, but by the time we're twenty we'll be ridiculously gorgeous, I'm sure...






(Yeah, that one was a little creepy...:S)

This is Headless Ben with oversized Chinchilla ball...:)


Mika looks oh-so-stylish in a beret, don't you think?

Anyways. There's a random bunch of tidbits for you! Now that you are seriously disturbed, go read Gabriel or Mary Kate's blog and be soothed by the sensibility of their wise words. :D

I am afraid.

So, recently I've been thinking about the five main things I'd like to do before I die.

(Item 0. Use the words "I", "me", and "myself" much, much less!)

Hah, yeah...Anyways, it's not as morbid of a subject as it might sound. In fact, it greatly assists in the arranging of priorities, the discovering of fears, the learning of things about oneself and such.

1. Get married and have...4-10 kids. :)
I'm afraid of never being loved in such a way.
2. Write something good and get it published.
I'm afraid of rejection by Editors and the General Populace.
3. Work as a missionary somewhere for 6 mo.-2 yrs. or so.
I'm afraid of failure.
4. Learn how to love life and how to love people for who they are; not for what I wish it was, or who I wish they were.
I am afraid of the emotional risk that accompanies loving anything truly and deeply.
5. Learn how to love God.
I am really, truly afraid of what He will ask me to do!

And no matter how much I "steel" myself against these fears (which basically means the more I ignore them), they will always find a way past the barrier unless I give them wholly to God.

Heh, if you can't beat them, join God!

Perhaps it is a lifelong journey, to realize more fears and give them up to God again and again and again. Perhaps it is a lifelong journey, to realize the holy ambitions placed in our hearts by God's own hand, and to pray for His Head, Heart, and Hand again and again and again.

Life is such an sad and joyful, complex and simple, devastating and renewing process! Life through death and death for new life; dead to the world's ways and alive in Christ.

Isn't it amazing how many paradoxes pop up? We learn to be content in God's plans and His providence, and then He stirs in us a restless desire for heavenly things. He urges us to lose everything and find everything in Him. We are unique individuals living as one Body in Christ. We are crucified with Him in order to live again.

We crucify our fears in order to live in His peace.

It's all so confusing until you find out that it makes perfect sense!! AAAHHH!!!

So, I don't know what college I'm going to, I don't know who I will marry if I ever do, I don't know how to perfectly live out what I believe and I don't understand why God can't just make me perfect now...

But I do know that God's one heck of a lot smarter than me and knows where all this is going. :)

What are five things you want to do before you die? (They can be silly too, by the way! I want to eat all the most expensive things at the most expensive restaurant the day I'm given a week or whatever to live...:) What are your fears, hopes, holy ambitions? What do you love about life?

(Wow, that was long! If you made it through, thank you and hopefully the next post will be more concise!)

Love,
Danielle