Born This Way

I heard through the grapevine that Lady Gaga's new album is out today, so I thought we'd start with some John Cusack: "People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

Also, today is my 11th Quick Takes on February 11th! Yeah! Totally happened.

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First exciting piece of business: a raffle contest! Truth and Life made an unabridged and dramatized version of the New Testament (RSV) with a stellar cast.

Here's their blurb:

The Truth & Life Dramatized audio Bible™ New Testament is endorsed with an Imprimatur from the Vatican and includes a foreword by Pope Benedict XVI. Voiced by internationally-renowned actors including: Neal McDonough, Kristen Bell, Sean Astin, Michael York, Blair Underwood, Malcolm McDowell, Stacy Keach, Brian Cox, Julia Ormond, John Rhys-Davies and many more. The Truth & Life audio New Testament is a first of its kind dramatized audio Bible from the RSV-CE translation and distributed by Zondervan.

From Chicago to Hollywood to New York and beyond... over 70 actors, 20 audio engineers in 10 studios over 3 continents contributed to the creation of this unique audio New Testament.

More than 100 media development experts and 10,000 production hours were needed to complete this ambitious project.

The complete audio New Testament is 22 hours shipped on 18 CDs.

Here's a peek into production:



Yeah, doesn't it sound amazing?! It is. I own it and have enjoyed listening to it so much that I bought it for my adviser's family for Christmas. They love it too. I've also lent it to B + Z, goodly Protestant friends of mine, who also love it. Hearing the Bible is so reminiscent of oral tradition and really touches another part of the intellect and senses.

So here's the raffle: comment on this post or e-mail me at julie (dot) cornerview (at) gmail (dot) com to enter your name to win your own dramatized NT.

That's it! Next week, I'll put all the names in a bowl and one lucky reader will get a free copy from Truth and Life!! I'll announce the winner next week and post a video of one of my siblings picking the name. I promise we'll make it entertaining.

For and on the record, I really do encourage support for this company and the work they do. This product is especially good for people on the go, who perhaps wish they had more time to read the Bible. Listening to it in the car or in the my room has really been powerful, and I am beyond grateful for this recording. Fingers crossed that they produce an Old Testament version next!!

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So last night, I was trying to get work done, and my dog was being so pitiful and trying to get my attention, that I finally gave in and played with her, throwing a tennis ball around the house. Well, not all ends well, as I told my sister...



Still, pretty funny and I needed new glasses anyways!

I went into the eye doctor today and played dress-up with the different frames. I was looking rectangle, classic tortoise shell frames but, alas! Most female frames are narrow and/ or have strange sides. Most of the unisex frames were boxy and masculine.

Then, just when I had found a classy pair from Coach that could come in tortoise shell, I found another pair. I can't even explain how neat they are. I'll post pictures soon. Stay tuned!

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Tonight I am flying into Atlanta, to spend the weekend with one of my best college friends and her family before she goes back to the North country for culinary school. She e-mailed me Wednesday and asked if I was interested in going to Andalusia on Saturday. I wrote back, "Is this a trick question? YES YES YES."

Andalusia was Flannery O'Connor's family's farm, where she lived a majority of her life. O'Connor is one of the most fantastic Southern American fiction writers of the 20th century and, a personal favorite.

"Henry James said the young woman of the future would know nothing of mystery or manner. He had no business to limit it to one sex," said O'Connor, the ever pithy. Her own book of essays, Mystery and Manners, is one of my favorites, as is The Habit of Being, her collection of letters. She became famous for her short stories and two novels. I don't have the space to do them justice here, but to say: read. Read it all. She makes it worth your time.

When my Modern American Southern Lit teacher went down to Midgeville, he wanted to pay his respects to O'Connor, so he asked a man where the graveyard was. The man replied, "Boy, you fixin' to die?"
 

It was if O'Connor provided the dialogue herself!

I cannot wait.

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When I first saw this, I got chills, then I got teary, then pure bliss. Then I watched it again! So good.

I went to World Youth Day in 2002 with my Dad and sister. We didn't have the best experience, but I saw John Paul II up close in his Popemobile! (and took a really bad picture- but still! Close enough to take one!) I can't go to Madrid this year, but I pray I'm able to go to one soon to see  Benedict XVI.



Great job, Grassroots Films! Any readers going or ever been? It's an experience not soon forgotten or dismissed.

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I received an e-mail from the Editor on Tuesday, asking for my section's articles by Friday, because she wants to get the Spring Issue into lay-out asap.

D'oh! I guess this is good time to tell y'all that I was under the impression that my section was due on March 1st. Oh impending Deadline of Doom, how I have missed you! I can proudly say that in under 24 hours, I wrote three book reviews and two blurbs. Fortunately, I had already read two of the three books before that little e-mail came my way.

Moral of the story:

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This makes my heart swoon and my spirit soar:



H/T to not a minx, a moron, or a parasite :)

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Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Bob Dylan (I am a HUGE fan for those who don't know) is playing at the Grammys this weekend with the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons, two other bands whom I have fallen in love with these past many, many months-- especially the Avett Brothers.

Check 'em out:

I mean seriously, they are divine:

Mumford and Sons are pretty kickin' too:

I know, live is always the best. You know that someone actually has talent by listening to them play acoustic. 

I heard Bob in concert the summer before my junior year of college and he sounded like death, but I was at a Bob Dylan concert, so I really didn't care. He sang 'All Along the Watchtower' and' Like a Rolling Stone.' There is now no excuses why I shan't die happy.

Happy Friday! See Conversion Diary for more.