suziebeezieland

violet is home with us now. hooray!

the duties of parents: #4

We have been discussing J.C. Ryle's little book, The Duties of Parents.  Today we're looking at duty #4:

Train with this thought continually before your eyes -- that the soul of your child is the first thing to be considered.

I think nothing can make such a big difference in our parenting than keeping this in mind. Luke 6:45 says "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Our children's actions and everything that comes out of their mouths shows us what is in their hearts. We want to focus our parenting on leading these little hearts toward Jesus rather than simply controlling our children's outward behavior. 

Ryle writes:

Soul love is the soul of all love.  To pet and pamper and indulge your child, as if this world was all he had to look to, and this life the only season for happiness -- to do this is not true love, but cruelty.  It is treating him like ... [he] has but one world to look to, and nothing after death.  It is hiding from him that grand truth, which he ought to be made to learn from his very infancy -- that the chief end of his life is the salvation of his soul.

A true Christian must be no slave to fashion if he would train his child for heaven. He must not be content to do things merely because they are the custom of the world; to teach them and instruct them in certain ways, merely because it is usual; to allow them to read books of questionable sort, merely because everybody else reads them; to let them form habits of the day. He must train with an eye to his children's souls ... The time is short, the fashion of this world passeth away.  He that has trained his children for heaven, rather than for earth, for God, rather than for man -- he is the parent that will be called wise at last.

Here are three Bible verses that I like to keep in mind to give me courage and fortitude regarding this particular parental duty, even when I feel like (as our Joann mentioned in a comment earlier) that I'm swimming upstream:

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. (Proverbs 16:22)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

Next Wednesday we'll look at parental duty #5. :)

violet again

Claire and I went over to the pet store Tuesday after school to play with Violet.  She'll be coming home with us today or tomorrow, but it's hard to wait! :)  (The pet store holds puppies for a week or ten days after they get them in to take them to the vet and make sure they're not sick before they send them home with people.)

We sat on the floor in this alcove playroom area and she entertained us for about half an hour.

I promise this will not turn into the All-Puppy-All-the-Time Blog, but oh my goodness, did you ever?

the duties of parents: #3

We have been looking at J.C. Ryle's book The Duties of Parents.

Here is Duty #3:

Train your children with an abiding persuasion on your mind that much depends on you.

That is to say, take your job as a parent very seriously, because a whole lot is riding on it. :) Listen to this good, big chunk of common sense and Biblical truth:

We depend, in a vast nature, on those who bring us up.  We get from them a color, a taste, a bias which clings to us more or less all our lives.  We catch the language of our nurses and mothers, and learn to speak it almost insensibly, and unquestionably we catch something in their manners, ways, and mind at the same time.  Time will show, I suspect, how much we all owe to the early impressions, and how many things in us may be traced up to seeds sown in the days of our very infancy, by those who were about us...

And all this is one of God's merciful arrangements.  He gives your children a mind that will receive impressions like moist clay.  He gives them a disposition at the starting-point of life to believe what you tell them, and to take for granted what you advise them, and to trust your word rather than a stranger's.  He gives you, in short, a golden opportunity of doing them good.  See that the opportunity be not neglected, and thrown away.  Once let slip, it is gone forever...

I know that you cannot convert your child.  I know well that they who are born again are born, not of the will of man, but of God.  But I know also that God says expressly, "Train up a child in the way he should go," and that He never laid a command on a man which He would not give man grace to perform.  And I know, too, that our duty is not to stand still and dispute, but to go forward and obey. It is just in the going forth that God will meet us.  The path of obedience is the way in which He gives the blessing.

I'll just let us all chew on these words this week, because even if this advice does hark from circa 1888, it's pretty clear. :)

sherlock

It's me, Suzanne, your resident suziebeezieland Anglophile, all excited about Sherlock, the new Masterpiece Mystery! series about Sherlock Holmes, set in modern times. We won't get it here in L.A. on KCET until this coming Thursday (although it started yesterday elsewhere) so I can't personally recommend it yet, but I'm excited. :) I know our Missy K. is a Mystery! fan. Are any of the rest of you? It has been my favorite and my best since I was in high school.  Although I don't watch all the series they air, because sometimes the more modern ones are too dark for me.  (Inspector Morse and its spin-off, Inspector Lewis, are my all-time favorites. And of course Poirot and Miss Marple.)

But I'm hoping this one will be good.  It was the hit of the summer in England, and there is a good article about it here in The Telegraph.  I don't know much, although I can tell you that Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock Holmes, does not appear to be related to my favorite designer, Jane Cumberbatch, although I could be wrong.  (I'm sure someone will let me know if I am.)  Martin Freeman, who plays Dr. Watson, some of you might recognize from the original British version of The Office. He's just been tapped to play Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's embattled The Hobbit, which also, oddly, will feature our beloved Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield (thanks for the heads-up on that, Jennie!) which really, with Richard's height and sharp features I'm not seeing, but the wonders of technology and all that, I guess.

I'd best wrap this post right up, because look how my brain rambles around.  

But also, puppy! Puppy! Puppy! Puppy! We're getting a puppy!

:)

violet

Hi! I wanted you to meet Violet. :) She is a two-and-a-half month old Cavachon puppy. We bought her yesterday.

Did we plan to buy a puppy when we woke up Saturday morning? No. No, we did not.  But life is short, and sometimes you just have to do things like walk into a pet store to buy cat food, and leave with a new puppy.

She will be coming to live with us this week, after she finishes getting all her shots from the vet.  

Yay! :)

Love, Mrs. Dr. Doolittle

sour cream apple bread

I went to my friend Carolyn's house for breakfast this week, and she had made some apple bread, and it was DELICIOUS! And she sent a few slices home for Claire and Bob, and they thought it was DELICIOUS! So we decided to bake some apple bread this afternoon, because it is DELICIOUS.  :)

I thought about calling Carolyn to get her recipe, but that seemed kind of rude since I haven't ever called her before just to chat.  I know she wouldn't mind, but I didn't want my first phone call ever to her to be asking for something. Know what I mean? But I remembered she had said it had sour cream in it.  

So I looked online and found this Praline-Apple Bread recipe at Southern Living.  I left out the pecans and left off the glaze, and added a teaspoon of cinnamon because I just wanted it to taste apple-y and cinnamon-y but not nutty or glaze-y. I used Honeycrisp apples because they are so delicious and I was wondering how they would work in a recipe. They cooked up well! 

I also notice that I did not chop the apple into "fine pieces" like you're supposed to. I did more "big huge chunks."  And I used two cups instead of one-and-a-half.

You know, let me just go ahead and give you the recipe as I made the bread, because how are you supposed to keep track of all those changes?

Sour Cream Apple Bread

1 (8-oz.) container sour cream
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 t. cinnamon
2 cups peeled, chopped apples (I used Honeycrisp; the original recipe calls for Granny Smith)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Beat sour cream and next 3 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until blended.

3. Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients. Add to sour cream mixture, beating just until blended. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loaf pan.

4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, shielding with aluminum foil after 50 minutes to prevent excessive browning. (Whoopsy. I forgot to do this foil part.  But it turned out fine.) Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack.

Note: To freeze, cool bread completely; wrap in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.

the duties of parents: #2

On Wednesday we discussed the first duty of parents in J.C. Ryle's booklet The Duties of Parents, which is to train our children in the way they should go, and not the way they would go. (You can always catch up with any of these The Duties of Parents posts by clicking "Current Series" under "Categories" in the sidebar at right.)

Here is duty #2:

Train up your child with all tenderness, affection, and patience.

Ryle writes:

Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct.  Kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, patience, forbearance, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys -- these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily -- these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to his heart.

I just loved that paragraph! Especially the phrases "a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys."  

Ryle is careful to say "I do not mean that you are to spoil him," but states clearly that we must love our children and let them see this love.  Of course we all believe this, but I think it's one of those things you can never hear too much. :)

He writes:

Now children's minds are cast in much the same mold as our own. Sternness and severity of manner chill them and throw them back.  It shuts up their hearts, and you will weary yourself to find the door. But let them only see that you love and have an affectionate feeling towards them -- that you are really desirous to make them happy, and do them good -- that if you punish them, it is intended for their profit, and that .... you would give your heart's blood to nourish their souls; let them see this, I say ...

He reminds us that kids need gentleness.  He also reminds us that we "must not expect all things at once" and that "we must remember what children are, and teach them as they are able to bear."   He also notes that "nothing will compensate for the absence of this tenderness and love."  He says that if your child frequently sees you "out of temper," you will soon "cease to have his respect."

This might seem irrelevant, because I guess that in the modern day, as a whole, we probably lean more towards over-indulgence than over-strictness with our kids.  

But I think it's very relevant.  I think parents who are consistently too lenient with their kids get so frustrated with these same kids that they then swing wildly in the other direction in reaction to their own under-parenting.

This kind of wild-pendulum-parenting isn't how God wants us to parent our children, but we can always look at His own love for us as a model of parent-to-child love.  He is steady, steady, steady, steady. :)  I love Psalm 36:7:

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Or Psalm 31:21:

Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was in a besieged city.

I always think, what a neat opportunity, to show steadfast love to our children, even when they are in a "besieged city". 

And look at Psalm 86:15:

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Ryle urges:

Try hard to keep a hold on your child's affections. It is a dangerous thing to make your children afraid of you ... Fear puts an end to openness of manner; fear leads to concealments; fear sows the seeds of much hypocrisy, and leads to many a lie.  There is a mine of truth in the Apostle's words to the Colossians: "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged" (Col 3:21)." 

Next Wednesday, we'll look at parental duty #3. :)

painting & organizing the craft room (in progress)

. . . in which I discover that although I love bowls of green apples, I do not want green apples on my walls.

Blech. 

This green is now covered with one coat of Plan B (to be followed by one more coat of Plan B), which is a safe-yet-pleasing (to me) paint color choice which I will reveal to you once I'm all done.  

Some time in 2013.

the duties of parents: #1

What does this old guy here have to say to a bunch of twenty-first century moms about raising their kids?

Plenty, as it turns out! I know. I was surprised, too. :)

This is a photo of J.C. (John Charles) Ryle, who lived from 1818 to 1900.  He was educated at Eton and Christ Church in Oxford, and played cricket for Oxford.  His degree was in Modern Greats, and he was headed toward a career in politics before heading, instead, toward ordained ministry.

He was a parish vicar for 38 years, became the leader of the evangelical party of the Church of England, and at age 64 became the first bishop of Liverpool.  (His second son, Herbert Edward Ryle, went to Cambridge as a classical scholar, and also became a C. of E. bishop. Herbert was also Queen Victoria's Honorary Chaplain.)

J.C. Ryle was known for being a very straightforward preacher, and is best known for his plain yet very lively writings on different Christian themes.  He was also known for being gracious and warm in his personal relations, and always had the goal in his Christian ministry of encouraging strong and serious Christian living.

In his little book (a treatise, really) called The Duties of Parents, J.C. outlines and discusses seventeen different duties of Christian parents.

Here is Duty #1:

First, then, if you would train your children rightly, train them in the way they should go, and not in the way they would.

The underlying Biblical truth behind this parental duty that Ryle gives us is that left to their own devices, children will make foolish, sinful decisions. Proverbs 22:15 says "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child," and Proverbs 29:15 says "A child left to himself brings shame to his mother."  

Dealing wisely with our children means that we don't let them call all the shots and be left to the guidance of their own wills.

Ryle exhorts:

... for pity's sake, give him not up to his own wayward tastes and inclination ... You do not let him decide what he shall eat ... Be consistent, and deal with his mind in the like manner. Train him in the way that is scriptural and right, and not in the way he fancies.

And then Ryle says:

If you cannot make up your mind to this first principle of Christian training, it is useless for you to read any further.

And that's true. :)

painting & organizing the craft room (before pics)

I make the most colossal messes sometimes when I'm trying to get organized.  

I finally got around to emptying much of the craftroom yesterday (at least enough to squeeze in there and paint), and then went to Home Depot and picked up a few paint samples.  The room has been a color called "Drop of Blue" that Martha Stewart used to sell at K-Mart years ago, but I've been wanting to switch to a fresh yellowy-green color.  This is not a good photo (the wall is light blue ... can you tell? no, you cannot ... wait ... here), but here are my three swatches.

I'm pretty sure that for the walls I'm going with the color on the far left (Glidden's "Granny Smith Apple"), although I might use the color in the middle (Glidden's "Green Leaf")  and even the muted color on the right (Glidden's "Soothing Green Tea") for some accessories. 

I'd like to paint something with Martha Stewart's "Lagoon," too.  You can see them all together here, on swatches.

But when I go back to Home Depot, I might check out some of the light blues, also. I'm not sure.  

I want it to be fresh, and I'm worried that our recent cloudy/raininess is influencing my color sense too much. Most of the year, this craftroom is completely blasted with western sun.

I may head over to Benjamin Moore to check out some of the Pottery Barn Kids colors, too. It depends on how I'm doing for time today. 

Isn't it nice that I'm so decisive? :D

We haven't painted the craftroom in about six years, and the existing paint is pretty grubby-looking in places.  I'm rearranging the furniture so that we can squeeze a twin-sized bed in there and a couple comfy chairs for t.v.-watching.  

I also have to paint the ceiling (I'm going to go do that this morning as soon as I finish talking to you and have gulped down my coffee), because several years ago we had a water leak in there and there is a patch where the ceiling was repaired that we've just ignored.  I got ceiling paint that goes on pink and dries bright white, so you can see what you're doing as you paint.  So handy.

The craftroom tends to be our anything-remotely-crafty-or-officey dumping ground, and is in the most dire need of a purge and reorganization.  I just decided to go for it yesterday, because we're not having anyone over this week, and I think I can get it all done in a week. 

And all this stuff isn't even from the craftroom closets ... they're still full. Yikes! :P

adventures in parenting

About a year ago, one of our suziebeezieland women wrote and asked if I'd consider doing some posts on the topic of "purposeful parenting."  I hesitated at the time for the same reasons I always hesitate to give advice on parenting: I have not yet raised a child!  And quite frankly, what do I know? Very little. Claire is seven, and in progress.  :)

In the past few months, however, it has become clear to me that while I am not qualified, in any way, to give anyone advice about parenting, I can confidently direct you to God's own wisdom with certainty that you'll be in good hands there!  

So with that in mind, I'm going to start a 17-part series here in suziebeezieland based on J.C. Ryle's slim little volume from 1888 (yes! 1888!) called The Duties of Parents.  

I believe you will be amazed at how much the precepts he sets out in this book speak to us today, because they are in line with Biblical truth.  There is no formula, plan, pithy saying, sum, magic potion, or recipe for raising Godly children, but there is Biblical, time-tested wisdom for parents that comes from God's own knowledge of the heart of a child, and we all have much to learn.

Stay tuned! :)

"fret not yourself; it tends only to evil"

There is a very good series going on lately over at Girltalk called "A Mother's Trust."  

They are addressing many of our mothering issues related to fear.

Go here, scroll to the bottom, and read the posts from the bottom up.  (There are seven posts so far. The women at Girltalk always keep their posts very concise. I love that.)

Yesterday's post, entitled No Grace for "What If?" was an especially good reminder to me of God's abundant grace in my REAL life. :)

I know this series will be a blessing to some of you.

xxoo

rainy day curls

Last week when Bob was gone, Claire and I decided it was a good morning to try curling her hair with a curling iron before school. Somehow we had never done this before.  Ever. 

I made little ringlets all over her head and fluffed them out with my fingers when they'd cooled a bit.  It dawned on me a few minutes into it that if it turned out bad, we wouldn't have time to fix it and get her to school in time.

Of course, I didn't say this out loud.  She wanted to see what she looked like after each. individual. curl. and it was taking forever, so finally I had to just tell her to trust me and wait.  

Trust me.  It is going to be so, so cute!

It was one of those famous mom bluffs, because as I was saying it, I realized that if I did the same thing to my hair on such a rainy day, I'd have a wild aura of frizz above my head, like a cartoon girl who has stuck her finger in a light socket and seen a ghost, both at the same time.  

But it DID turn out so cute! (Phew!) I think the style probably stayed in all of an hour ... as I said, it was raining, and her hair is fine and wants to be straight even without the rain ... but my credibility is intact (yay) despite Mom's Overly-Confident-Based-on-Nothing-at-All Hair Salon.

our linda b.'s good-tasting + easy chili

About five autumns ago, our Linda B. (who is one of the very few people in my life who has never once steered me wrong with her movie, book, or food recommendations) brought copies of the following recipe to our Thursday morning women's Bible study, printed on bright yellow paper. She called it something like "good-smelling and easy chili" ... several of us will testify that it is also good tasting. I know some of you may have special secret and complicated family chili recipes, but you might also want this quick-and-easy one that doesn't need tending in your repertoire.

I have only recently misplaced my original copy, because I make it so often that the recipe is always out somewhere. (You'd think I would have memorized it by now, but no.) So I called my sister to get it to share with you (and to save here for me!), because it's also a staple in her cool-weather dinner rotation. We're not actually consistently having cool weather in southern California yet, but we've both rolled out this dish already this month, because it's so easy and our families love it.

All "cans" called for are your basic 14.5 oz. size, or whatever that size is.

I always double this recipe. :)

1/2 lb. ground beef, browned
1 can chili beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, drained
seasoned salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste

Throw these items in a crockpot together, and heat on low all day, or until warmed through. Serve with cornbread and toppings (shallots, cheese, sour cream) if desired.

ps Don't use seasoned salt if you can't eat MSG.

yay, katy!

Congratulation, our Katy, on winning The Avett Brothers: Live Volume 3.  If you email your address to me, I'll get that shipped to you right away!  Hooray! Whoo hoo!

(I used the Random Integer Generator at Random.org to choose one number between 1 and 10.)(Ten of you entered.)(Katy was third down.)(Just in case any of you are wondering.)

the three musketeers

{photo from pride + prejudice 2005 blogspot}

Have you heard about the new Three Musketeers movie coming up? It's due out in about a year, and it's going to be 3D. 

Matthew MacFadyen is going to be Athos, and some other people are going to be some other characters.

:)

Athos is the very secretive Musketeer, older than the rest, who drinks too much and is bitter about women. For example, here is some advice he gives D'Artagnan:

I say that love is a lottery, in which he who wins gains death! You are very fortunate to have lost, believe me, my dear d’Artagnan; and if I have any advice to give you, it is to lose always!

If you're interested in reading the book before you see the movie, you can read it on Project Gutenberg for free, or it's available for 99 cents as a Kindle book, or you can get a Dover Thrift Edition for $5.00 (although I don't know if it's unabridged or not), and then there is the Penguin classic for $15.78.

(I really like Richard Pevear, who was the translator for the Penguin edition.  He and Larissa Volokhonsky translated the copies of Anna Karenina and War and Peace and Crime and Punishment that I have. So I'm assuming I'd like him doing translation on his own.)

I have read The Three Musketeers before, but I'm pretty sure it was abridged, and it was a long time ago. I do remember that I liked Athos, though. :)

So, this is my plan. My plan is to read the unabridged Three Musketeers starting at the new year.  (I have to finish The Count of Monte Cristo first, and since I can't seem to read more than ten minutes at a time before I fall asleep, it will take awhile.)  

I know that January seems a long way away, but of course it actually isn't. And I was thinking maybe if any of you want to read it, too, we could talk about it here.

Think about it and let me know at your leisure. :)

I'm going to read it, anyway, no matter what, but if any of you want to join me, that would be fun.

Then when the movie comes out this time next year, we can talk about that, too.

{photo from jane austen today}

this and that

Do you ever have that feeling that you can hear yourself changing right while you listen? I always have trouble reconciling who I am now with who I was when I was, say, twenty, but sometimes I can't even believe I was that girl last week.  It's a weird sensation, like being a carrot, or a sunflower, or maybe some basil, on a really sunny day. It's not the sort of thing you expect when you're older.

Life happens in such odd leaps and bounds.

I've taken to blocking out hours or days on my calendar with big X's and scribbling "Writing" across the box, to make sure that I don't see an empty white space and fill it up with something else.  I have to be disciplined because I like to spend time with people I like, and I have never liked anyone (who wasn't my family) as much as I like the friends I have now. 

But I want to finish my book before much longer, and a real sense of urgency has set in.  And I get excited to be with my characters in that world. I love them and I love it. Every day, I feel anxious to see what they do and say.  And the other night, I woke up at 3:47 in the morning because I had thought of a title for my book while I was sleeping. It hasn't had a title -- or even a decent working title -- for two years (I just called it "The Lucy Novel"), and I thought of one, and then when I woke up the next morning I still liked it, and I still like it now.  We'll see.

I do have a stunningly good set of coffee shops in which to write, thanks to my awesome brother-in-law.  I write here at the house a lot, too, but I get too distracted.

Stay tuned, because honestly, I think you will love this novel. I don't mean that at all in a stuck-up way -- you know I don't mean it that way -- it's just that even to me, it's a surprise and a joy to see what the characters do, and I don't really feel like I'm the one doing the writing sometimes. They just do stuff! On their own! It's really weird.  I used to hear authors say things like that about the characters and think they were being coy, but I guess they weren't. Because characters do seem to have a life of their own.  I spent a whole month this summer trying to matchmake a couple in my novel whom I had always intended to have together, and I finally gave up because I realized they JUST DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER THAT WAY.  And since I've gone with what they want, instead, it's so much better.  

So we'll see. 

My next big not-writing creative project around here is to tackle the craftroom. It's such a mess. I'm going to purge, organize, paint, and move furniture around.  I want to skip straight to "paint" and "move furniture around," because I hate "purge" and "organize."  And when Bob was gone to Indiana on business last week, I was cleaning the small bathroom that's connected to the craftroom (I've never shown it to you) and I got this bee in my bonnet to remove the old, dirty and disgusting shower surround with door that is-was attached to the tub.  I say "is-was" because the top rail and two side rails came off very easily, as did the door, but the bottom track seems to be stuck to the tub with something akin to Liquid Nails.  I got half of it off, but the other half just doesn't want to budge.  I took some pretty decent hunks out of the tub enamel trying to get the bottom track off, so I think we will have to get the tub reglazed.  We needed to do this anyway (she rationalizes) because the tub is off-white and the sink and toilet are white, and also it's old and yucky, but nice heavy iron, so it doesn't need replacing. Just sprucing up.  Once I get that track off. Sometime.

I will take lots of photos of the craftroom project, which I really will get going on here soon. Tomorrow. Or Monday.  Not tomorrow, because it's Sunday, and not Monday, because I'm going to Disneyland. But soon.  Maybe Tuesday.

And our garden is so disgusting ... I am so embarrassed because the front porch has seven pots of dead flowers on it, and has had for weeks.  I mean, completely dead and brown, and the mailman must think we are the Addams Family, because I haven't planted new or removed the dead. For weeks. I need another me, to do all this stuff. And Bob is going to San Antonio on business again soon, and so I think, "Oh, I'll do tons of projects then," but when he was in Indiana, I didn't really do all that much.  Claire and I baked quite a few things and then ate them.  That was fun.

Are you taking any classes or workshops or anything? What do you take/are you taking? I'm taking New Testament Greek again.  I took it a long time ago, some of you might remember, and this is the first year it has been offered again at my church since then.  I go on Wednesday nights, except I've missed the past two weeks.  I had forgotten how challenging it is, but I like it because it uses the side of the brain I don't usually do much with.  (That side that some people use for Sudoku and whatnot, except that I hate Sudoku.  But Greek is cool.)

I've been trying to be more organized about my prayer life lately. I had been awhile back, but then it got messy and haphazard over the summer, so I'm reigning it back in since school has started.  I have friends with some serious burdens, and I think that I should feel a passion to pray for them that is equal to or greater than the passion that I have to go have coffee with them and have fun.  Does that make sense?  I've been making big lists and just laying these things at God's feet, all these worries and thankfulnesses I have for my friends and family.  

I was thinking the other day that I need to pray for my enemies more, too. And then I thought, I don't really have any enemies.  I mean, I know one or two girls online who can't stand me, but they don't even know me in real life, and also, I like them okay, so that makes it hard to actually be enemies.    

And we can all think of people who would probably be our enemies if we knew them, but since we don't, they're not.  I don't feel a need to have a list of "potential enemies" going on.  I do have some difficult people in my life, but I hesitate to kick them up to "enemy" status in my mind, because that seems a bit extreme.  It seems like "enemy" means you actively wish someone harm or something.  Maybe I'm overthinking this, and I do have enemies. I don't know.  

If I am your enemy, feel free to let me know, so that I can plan accordingly.

So then I got to wondering if the fact that I don't have any enemies means that I'm not doing my job.  If I were sharing the Gospel clearly and lovingly with as many people as God would have me share it with, wouldn't I have more enemies?  I don't mean that I would be obnoxious, I just mean that God's word is offensive if you're set against Him, and it can cause great enmity between people.  So then I decided to start praying that God would show me opportunities to tell people about Him more directly ... not with the goal of making enemies, but just because thinking about enemies made me realize maybe I'm not bold enough with the Good News, or maybe not bold enough about voicing my personal convictions, or not bold enough in working on my own personal holiness.  

I got pretty worn out with that whole train of thought.  But it was good to think about.  

What else? I'm trying to read The Count of Monte Cristo. I'm having trouble, not because I dislike it (it's wonderful so far), but because (a) I keep falling asleep when I read it, and (b) it is so big that if I am holding it when I fall asleep, it falls on me and hurts me. I'm not kidding. I almost gave myself a black eye with The Count of Monte Cristo the other night in bed.  I was holding it over my head and I got tired and let go, and it fell straight down and I moved my head right before it could take me out cold.  

What's going on with you?

an avett brothers primer, part 3:becoming a music-owning fan

So far in our Avett Brothers Primer series you have seen the Avett Brothers and you have heard the Avett Brothers. Now I think you need to hold them. :)

If you are a regular, commenting visitor to suziebeezieland (i.e., I've heard of you before), you are eligible to sign up here for a drawing in which one of you will win The Avett Brothers: Live Volume 3, which was just released on October 5.  If you win, the CD will come to your house, and you can look at it, listen to it, and hold it. :)

Live Volume 3 was recorded last year at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the band's homecoming concert.  (The band is based out of Concord.)  Bojangles Coliseum is where Seth and Scott saw their first rock concert when they were younger, so that was fun for them. :)

Signups for the drawing will close this Monday (October 11) at 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

So sign up here! In comments! Yay! You might win! Whoo hoo!

an avett brothers primer, part 2:a basic working knowledge of their body of work thus far

We are covering three different topics in our Avett Brothers Primer series here in suziebeezieland. :)  We have already discussed Correct Identification of Scott and Seth.  Here is our second topic:

A Basic Working Knowledge of their Body of Work Thus Far :)

Listening to one Avett Brothers song and trying to decide what their sound is like from that one song is probably like trying to decide what weather is like based on one season, or what your Hallowe'en candy haul is like based on one piece, or what zoos are like based on one monkey.  

You could listen to the four songs I've chosen from their first four albums below, for example, and feel pretty certain that you're firmly in bluegrass territory, but then you'll hit Mignonette and go "Oh, hold on. Wait. What was that?" 

So here is a little chronological survey of their music so far, and a few thoughts on some of the songs. 

I've included bits of some critical reviews so you can see the critics warm up to them as their sound matures -- although I love Paste, because they warmed up to the Avetts right away and have always loved them. 

They wrote in 2006:

[The Avett Brothers'] unique sound—a blend of punk- and hard-rock intensity, old-time country, folk and blues, calypso, top-notch songwriting and ragged-but-true harmonies, all delivered with Johnny Cash sincerity and bolstered by an unequivocal work ethic and madman live show—is finally gaining an audience. It seems every time the Avetts play, crowds buzz. Next time they’re in town, the audience doubles, and everyone suddenly knows all the lyrics.

So by the time Rolling Stone got around to naming them their "Artist to Watch" of 2009, the already sizeable fan base (and the entire state of North Carolina) just rolled their eyes and said "well, duh." (Rolling Stone hasn't been on the edge for a long time now, I don't think -- they can't compete with real-time buzz on the Internet, and it's this grass-roots, word-of-mouth enthusiasm on blogs and social networks that have done such a great job of spreading Avett Fever.

Not everybody loves them: Stephen Deusner at Pitchfork, for example, seems pretty comfortably hunkered down in his determination to be critical of the Avett Brothers' cheerfulness, critical of their "messiness," and then (what?) critical of Rick Rubin for polishing them up a bit and making them less messy on I And Love And You.  

At least he's consistent.   

But when people do like the Avett Brothers, they rave. 

When critics or fans start gushing about the Avett Brothers, at some point they praise their honesty.  It's a defining characteristic of their songs: they sing about real stuff that has happened to them, and what it made them think and how it made them feel.  They don't keep you at arm's length to preserve their own coolness.  Take the crushed bewilderment, for instance, in the first stanza of Pretty Girl from Cedar Lane:

I had a moment, when I thought I might be wrong
But Ashley how could it be
I waited on the rooftop, all night long
But you weren't coming for me
And now I'm sitting here like a mixed up little kid
You said you wanted me but you never did

If I had to tell you why I like them so much, I would include in my animated and enthusiastic ten-hour speech that it's this wearing-their-hearts-on-their-sleeves that is appealing, but only because they're intelligent enough not to use cliches when they're talking about these hearts, so it never dissolves into empty, manipulative sentimentality. You know they bounced back and moved onto Pretty-Girl-from-Somewhere-Else. 

And they whoop and holler and break banjo strings all over the place, so their sincerity never wanders into the realm of so-earnest-as-to-seem-girly.  :)

The Avett Brothers (EP) (January 1, 2000)

This is a six-song, out-of-print EP, and a chance to hear some raw, unadulterated Avett Brothers. They're out-of-tune and there really aren't any production values :) but you can see the bedrock they'll build on later: beautiful harmony and some good instincts about songwriting and storytelling.

I find Let Myself Live somewhat painful to listen to, although I know some hard-core fans who swear it's their favorite, because it's so pure and raw. I myself am okay with less purity but better sound later on in their career. :) Although I don't know ... the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me.

Live at the Double Door Inn (January 1, 2002)

Here is a nice intro to the boys' harmony (although this contains the highly nasal, traditional bluegrass version of harmony, which I can only take a small amount of), banjo playing, and "Pretty Girl from" series of songs. 

Country Was (January 1, 2002)

When I tried to get Country Was a couple years ago, it was out of print and unavailable, and I finally found it floating around randomly on the Internet. Once it was available on iTunes I went back and bought it properly :) and I see it's also available on Amazon. 

November Blue is my favorite Avett Brothers song (specifically the Country Was version), and probably always will be.  I recognize with my head that their later work is better, but my heart leaps around at this song, probably because there is nothing to compete with their beautiful harmony or the jagged edge to their voices.  The Avett Brothers have often remarked that their musicianship needs work, but I have never enjoyed anything artistic if it is too polished. I like things kind of rustic, where you can see the mark of the maker. So this song really works for me. :)  I've hooked you up with the video of this a few times before. 

A Carolina Jubilee (August 19, 2003)

Listen to the traditional banjo work and close harmonies in Pretty Girl from Annapolis, and remember this sound when we get down to Talk on Indolence.  Some traditional bluegrass folks got their feathers pretty ruffled when the Avetts won "Duo/Group of the Year" in 2007.  But the next year Alison Krauss and Robert Plant won it for "Raising Sand," and that wasn't traditional, either, so I guess the crabby folks needed to just get over it, because the times, they are a changin'.

Mignonette (July 27, 2004)

When you talk to people who have been listening to the Avett Brothers for a long time, they'll usually start talking to you about Mignonette. They'll look off to the distance, somewhere over your shoulder, and get a little misty.  Mignonette seems to be where a lot of folks first heard them and got emotionally attached. :)

The usual acoustic instruments are applied here (banjo, git-fiddle, string bass, cello, etc.) but they’re used to their maximum effectiveness beneath unforgettable melodies and a raw, energetic production the best rock records would envy (the amplification of the vocals alone can make your hair stand on end). (Paste Magazine)

"Mignonette," the follow-up to last year's acclaimed "A Carolina Jubilee," takes it name from an English yacht that sank in a storm off the coast of Africa in 1884. Cannibalistic seamen and a too-honest-for-his-own-good captain go along with the story, which has inspired the Avett Brothers to carry the "overall theme of truth" throughout the album.  With or without that little bit of background information, listen to "Mignonette" and you'll hear the band's gift for emotionally honest songs that are often humorous and touching at the same time. (Country Standard Time)

Lazy men find an easy way 
Easy work for easy pay 
I’m not listening; there ain’t no such a thing as that

I could stand right underneath the window of your room
Throwing rocks -- I've done it before
And I would love to find a reason to dazzle you with lies
But I don't have the energy no more

Live, Volume 2 (May 17, 2005)

I Killed Sally's Lover was originally released on A Carolina Jubilee, but I like this live version better. It's a good example of the boys when they're raucous, which is what everyone loves in concert so much. The song seems rooted in old wild-and-wooly country music -- we feel like the protagonist is singing to us from the mid-1800s (except for the mention of a vehicle) -- so the boys get away with what they're actually singing, which is pretty ... wild-and-wooly.  :) You're obviously sitting in a saloon surrounded by cowboys and outlaws as you listen.

Four Thieves Gone: The Robinsville Sessions (February 6, 2006)

Four Thieves Gone is sure to please the adventurous music fan looking for something new under the sun -- and don't let those banjos and acoustic guitars fool ya … this is much more than just another pickin' party. This is organic, honest, powerful, and at times, graceful music that is filled with punk growlings and soaring harmonies, and enough really catchy, melody-driven pop tunes to keep you coming back time and time again. (Americana Roots)

You can just imagine what Talk on Indolence did to the people who bought this album after hearing that the Avett Brothers were "a bluegrass band with a lot of banjo."  Poor things. :)

And I gave to you my ugly brown coat
You made it pretty when you put it on

The Gleam (EP) (September 19, 2006)

If I could go back
That's the first thing I would do
I swear that I would
Do my best to follow through
Come up with a master plan
A homerun hit, a winning stand

(If It's the Beaches is the song that makes girls who have been tolerating their boyfriends' enthusiastic love of the Avett Brothers decide that they, themselves, love the Avett Brothers.)

Emotionalism (May 15, 2007)

I think these reviews for Emotionalism absolutely hit the nail on the head in explaining the Avett Brothers' talent and appeal.

The Avett Brothers don’t create music for the “I’m late to work. I’m gonna grab a Nutragrain bar” crowd. They make music for the few people who still make oatmeal in the morning and prefer open windows to noisy air conditioners. None of those old-fashioned things describe me. But after a few more months with Emotionalism, they might. (Absolutepunk.net)

The Avett Brothers—still unjaded after half a decade in the music business—do their best to combat modern-day hipster detachment and pseudo-coolness with Emotionalism’s simple, poetic story-songs and bittersweet, introspective laments. The album—down to the title itself—is a celebration of unselfconscious passion. (Paste Magazine)

Theoretically it should be a complete mess, but in reality, you’ll be hard pressed to hear something so joyful and unique all year ... (Stylus)

I never get tired of their close harmony. :)

Die Die Die is the song that made me think "The Beatles, but with banjos."  :)

The Second Gleam (July 22, 2007)

The Second Gleam is my favorite Avett Brothers album. I didn't discover them until the summer of 2008, so this (and Emotionalism) is where I came in ... this is what I spent the first few months listening to over and over and digesting before I then went back and gobbled up everything they'd ever sung. 

The guys leave the band out in this EP and focus on their vocals, and you can hear how much their melodies and harmonies have grown since we listened to Let Myself Live earlier. :)

The Avett Brothers have slowly carved out their own unique place in the music world; not quite folk, not quite country, not quite bluegrass or rock, it is that ability to slither through those labels that gives their music its power.  Without being boxed in and mislabeled, the focus can fully rest on the deep introspective lyrics the Brothers craft, and the stories they sing and relate. The Second Gleam is packed with these stories ... (Honest Tune)

I remember crying over you 
And I don't mean like a couple of tears and then I'm blue 
I’m talkin’ about collapsing and screaming at the moon

Always remember there was nothing worth sharing 
Like the love that let us share our name

 I and Love and You (September 29, 2009)

This was the Avetts' major record label debut. It came out last fall, and was produced by Rick Rubins. Suddenly, people were all a-flutter. The Avett Brothers were a Starbucks pick-of-the-week, and friends who had ignored you for years when you raved about them came to tell you about this awesome new band they'd found called The Avett Brothers.  :)  For me, the best review (among many, many raving reviews) about this album is Paste's, who loved them all along. 

It’s hard to let go. Of a girlfriend. Of an old hound dog. Of a tattered pair of jeans. And maybe most gut-wrenchingly of all, it’s hard to let go of your favorite heretofore unheralded band. ... This is the plight of the Avett Brothers fan: He must keep a stiff upper lip as his heroes trek off into the great unknown mainstream. ... Having conquered every Saturday night music hall and holler between Asheville and Portland, they have made a record that is not just a stab at the mainstream—it’s a harpoon through its sternum ... The Avetts could’ve made some kind of caterwauling record full of flaming banjoes, hootenannies, and throaty hollers that encapsulates their reputation-making live show. In fact, that would’ve been a ... sensible move as far as introductions go. Howdy, we’re the Avett Brothers. We’re gonna hillbilly-rock you like you’ve never been hillbilly-rocked before. Instead they’ve constructed something beautiful. An album that’s not merely loaded with ballads, it’s almost wall-to-wall epic ballads. Pianos trickle before the storm, strings ball up their fists, swells and waves of sound wash over the Avetts’ sorghum-sweet harmonies. And this is just in the first song, a goose-bump engorging title-track that could by itself inspire a legion of new fans ... Their lyrics are tough yet vulnerable, insightful yet homespun, manly yet emotional. The kind of thing that makes the girls giddy and the boys envious. (Paste Magazine)

Live Volume 3 (October 5, 2010)

Live Volume 3 just came out yesterday, and we will talk about it in our final installment of An Avett Brothers Primer. :) Stay tuned!