Blogthings - What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Blogthings - What Kind of Coffee Are You?: "

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

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an autobiography in trivia

Name – Amy
Occupation – Claims Team Leader (supervisor) for an insurance company
Hobbies – sleeping, reading, writing, knitting, photography
Area of Expertise – insurance, iPods, random crafty things
Weaknesses – I can program anything but the VCR. And, yes, there are others, but I don’t want to frighten anyone.
Favorite Fiction Book – To Kill a Mockingbird, Charlotte’s Web
Favorite Non-Fiction Book – Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, Ragamuffin Gospel
Favorite Authors – Anne Lamott, Brennan Manning, Augusten Burroughs, Bailey White, Ken Gire, Harper Lee, Eudora Welty, Frederick Buechner
Favorite Style of Music – acoustic/folk/alt-country
Favorite Musicians – David Wilcox, Kate Campbell, U2, Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Andrew Peterson
Favorite Visual Artists – Ruth Bernhard, Makoto Fujimura
Favorite color - orange
Favorite flower - Gerber daisy
Favorite time of day – after work
Favorite shoes – Dansko Sport Clogs
Favorite season - fall
Favorite place to be – the beach on the Gulf Coast
Favorite quote(s)…..
#1The best apprenticeship for a creative person is to become like Christ.For like Him, we must enflesh our words in such a way that they reach people where they live.Like Him, our voices must be full of grace and truth.Like Him, we must resist the temptation to deflect from our calling, regardless how stark the wilderness, or how seductive the food offered us.Like Him, we must not be afraid to touch subjects that are shunned by others.Like Him, we must speak the words that in some way raise what in dead in all of us, heal what is sick, calm what is storming.Like Him, we must try in out own work to give rest to the part of the soul that is weary, food to the part that is hungry, drink to the part that is thirsty.And like Him, if our work is to be reborn in the hearts of others, we must experience something of His struggle in Gethsemane, something of His suffering on Calvary, and something of His stay in the grave. Ken Gire, 11/8/1996
#2"...you don't always have to chop with the sword of truth. You can point with it, too."-Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Favorite Hymns – Come Thou Fount, On Jordon’s Stormy Banks, Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise
Favorite words – bliss, redemptive, creative, dark, melancholic, plethora, davenport, trashy, community, ethereal, definitely
Least favorite words – sanitary, nodule, legalistic, pus, irregardless, copasetic, chunky, nougat, thong, i-beam, terminal, capable, doctrine
Greatest Fear(s) – breaking my teeth, small rodents
Last great book read – Art & Soul: Signposts for Christians in the Arts
Last great movie seen – The Squid and the Whale
Favorite Movie – Dead Poets Society
Random Childhood Memory – Peeing on stage during practice for the 1st Grade Christmas Play because I was scared to ask if I could go to the bathroom. I was terrified of the noise public toilets make upon flushing.
First car - 81 Ford Escort, nicknamed ‘The Lawnmower’
Personality Type - INFJ
Pet Peeve – gum smacking
Favorite cuisine – Italian
Favorite Board Game – Scrabble. Scattegories runs a close second.
Favorite Dessert – Hot Apple Pie ala mode.
Unhealthy Obsessions – web surfing, grande non-fat latte with no foam and one sweet ‘n low
Aversions – retractable blades - like box openers, snow
Long Term Goals/Dreams – buy a house, write a book, be published, MFA in Creative Writing or Photography, find Mr. Right.
Other random tidbits:
- I once hitched a ride from Atlanta to Birmingham with a truck driver after my car broke down.
- I have ridden an elephant. And a camel.
- I am doing a photo series using Plastic Action-Figure Jesus as the subject.
- I have completed a half-marathon.
- I have my favorite coffee (Southern Pecan Crème) shipped to me from Birmingham every month.
- I have a strange addiction to Moleskine journals & brown felt-tip pens.
- I never leave home without my iPod, cell phone, journal, a book, and usually a camera.

Syriana

Just home from Syriana . Disappointing. Confusing.The shaky camera shots drove me crazy. And I was never able to engage with any of the characters. I was expecting a bit more from Stephen Gaghan. Bummer.

Quick Thoughts on 3 Reads From 2005

As memoir and essay are my two favorite genres, I really enjoyed Magical Thinking, as well as Augusten Burroughs' other books. I enjoy his style - great details, real and honest, albeit a bit crass, but not so naval-gazing that you get bored.

The Namesake , by Jhumpa Lahari, was one of my favorite reads for 2005. I've been trying to choose my top 5 books from 2005, and have been disappointed that when I look back at what I read over the year, there are only a few of what I would consider great reads. The Namesake was very well written and Lahari does a great job of illuminating the tension between cultures and different generations. Look for a review of it here, and on Writers Read in the very near future.

As to Fondling Your Muse, I wish I had that two hours of my life back. Although there are parts of it that are funny, I found it short on substance and heavy on sarcasm. OK for a mindless read, but if you are hoping for a motivating book on the writing craft, look elsewhere.

2006 Reading Goal

Since I met my reading goal in 2005, I figure it's time to raise the bar a bit. I'm shooting for completing an even 40 in 2006.

Books I Read in 2005 (no particular order)

- The Merry Recluse, Caroline Knapp
- The Soul Tells a Story, Vinita Hampton Wright
- The Namesake , Jhumpa Lahari
- The Ha-Ha, Dave King
- My Faith So Far, Patton Dodd
- The Writing Life, Ellen Gilchrist
- Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller
- Girl Meets God, Lauren Winner
- Praise Habit, David Crowder
- Thriving as an Artist in the Church, Rory Noland
- A Sacred Sorrow, Michael Card
- Holding Out for a Hero: A New Spin on Hebrews, Lisa Harper
- Reaching for the Invisible God, Philip Yancey
- Three Short Stops in the Minor Prophets, Lisa Harper
- Experiential Storytelling, Mark Miller
- To Be Told, Dan Allender
- When I Don’t Desire God, John Piper
- My Friend Leonard, James Frey
- Dry, Augusten Burroughs
- Magical Thinking, Augusten Burroughs
- Flashbang: How I Got Over Myself, Mark Steele
- Collected Poems of Madeleine L’Engle
- God’s Grandeur and Other Poems, Gerard Manley Hopkins
- Mama Said, Martha Houston Reid Hammond
- The Official Guide to Christmas in the South, David C. Barnett
- Being Dead is No Excuse : The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral, Gayden Metcalfe
- Fondling Your Muse, John Warner
- The Ragamuffin Gospel Visual Edition, Brennan Manning
- Starting From Scratch, Rita Mae Brown
- Journal to the Self, Kathleen Adams
- Polaroid Transfers: A Complete Visual Guide to Creating Image and Emulsion Transfers, Kathleen Carr
- Polaroid Manipulations: A Complete Visual Guide to Creating SX-70, Transfer, and Digital Prints, Kathleen Carr
- Photo-Imaging: A Complete Guide to Alternative Processes, Jill Enfield
- The Polaroid Book, Barbara Hitchcock
- Real Simple Solutions: Tricks, Wisdom, and Easy Ideas to Simplfy Everyday, Editors of Real Simple Magazine
- Sammy’s Hill, Kristen Gore

A Fresh Start

I set this blog up some time ago, thinking that it seemed easier to use than the one I was using somewhat sporadically, and then it just sat here. What better time than the new year to start a new blog?

Don't really have a plan as to how often I'll post, or what I will post, other than book reviews - that was my intent with other one, and random schmada, so we'll see what transpires here.

The last few years I have set a goal of reading 3 books a month, and this is the first year that I have made it - and only by the skin of my teeth! I'm sure there are probably a few books that I forgot to log when I finished them, but my count for 2005 was 36. I'll post the list in my next entry.