viviakayblacksparrow

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Gimme a Sign!

From a homily prepared for Trinity College Chapel, March 13, 2019 on Luke 11.29-32 and Jonah 3.1-10

  “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common.”–Assyrain Tablet, 2800 BCE  

  Luke 11 is the chapter that includes Jesus teaching the Lord’s prayer, as well as “seek and ye shall find, ask and it shall…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Sheep among the wolves

Sheep among the wolves

  a homily prepared for Trinity College Chapel, Toronto, Ontario on Matthew 10. 16-26

  I think we need to start today’s homily not with theology, but with a bit of animal husbandry. I grew up in the country, familiar with farm residents like horses, milk-cows, cantankerous goats, rabbits, chickens, pigs, and yes, sheep.

Sheep are, if you’ve never met them, pretty delightful creatures. They’re…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, and my Grandma

Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, and my Grandma

   a homily preached at Trinity College Chapel on January 16, 2019 based on: Mark 1: 29-39

Growing up, I had three primary heroes: Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, and my Grandmother.

My grandmother was a marvellous Swede transported to the Southern United States. She swore like a sailor, chain-smoked nearly until the day she died, and prayed even harder than she did the first two. The other thing…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

When you go analog, you’re constantly (if you’re me) searching for planner perfection. Also, if you’re me, you thrive on short-term planners versus the pressure of an entire year. Also also, if you’re me, you regularly scroll through the interwebs looking for new and interesting planners.

Enter a sale at indigo.ca (still going on!) and a great deal on this little planner.

So, let’s get to it:

What I loved about this planner:

100 days long, undated.

high quality paper (very little bleed or even ghosting unless I used my juiciest fountain pens) and binding, lovely packaging. Pink! Lavender! (great colours)

an interesting section (see my flip-through video) pre-planner to reflect on some happiness goals.

another ending section to assess your experience of the planner.

interesting rubrics/wrap-ups weekly to gauge how the week went “week in 3 words,” stressed/relaxed scores, etc.

unlike zillions of other planners, it was an interesting exercise to focus on happiness/satisfaction versus PRODUCTIVITY.

motivational quotes on every daily page.

nice layout and design

Especially at this sale price, it’s a bargain compared to competitors (stay tuned for my reviews of them)

What I didn’t love:

you have to write super, super tiny on these daily pages. Frankly, I would have preferred 50 or 60 days with two pages for each day. I write pretty small, and even then I was having a difficult time fitting everything in. For example, this is a very not-busy week and a normal day off from work (with a lot of more private reflections photoshopped out) and this baby was jam-packed in weeks that were busier.

not enough room for a real workday schedule (I use a separate planner for work, trying to get that whole work/life balance thing down–but this wouldn’t seem to be a practical single planner for a person with a super busy professional life.)

The corners aren’t rounded. I know this is a small quibble, but being used to Rhodias and Moleskines and Scribbles That Matter (Oh My!) those things were pointy AF.

Doesn’t lay completely flat (realizing that for some this is a total dealbreaker.)

Daily “meal” and “exercise” section–they were too tiny to use for this purpose AND my recovering disordered eating self used that space for weather and put stickers over the trigger words.

  Now, the final verdict: 

Would I use this planner again?

Maybe. . .

I did buy two because of the great sales price. I’ve switched into a different system (THIS and THIS) if you’re curious–reviews once they’re finished. I might reach for one again, but it might be better as a daily gratitude journal/prompt journal than an actual planner. I particularly found the weekly reflection sections useful in keeping track of where my centre was in any given week, and found them fun to look back on (week in 3 words is definitely something I will keep doing in my newer planner, for example).

If you have a simpler life (one with fewer day-to-day changeups in your schedule and meetings/appointments) this might be plenty planner for you. For me, I need a lot more room for both to-do lists and a daily schedule.

I love the IDEA of this planner more than the execution. As much as I love A5 sized everything, this would have been a much more useful planner if it had been bigger–along the lines of a composition size/B5. I also think making fewer days fit in the planner and giving each day 2 pages (one for reflections and one for scheduling, maybe?) would drastically improve its usefulness.

  FULL DISCLOSURE: I wasn’t given any of these products to review, and I don’t get affiliate dollars if you click on my links.

If anybody wants to send some free planners or guided journals my way to review, tho–I wouldn’t say no. xoxoxo.

      Review: 100 Day Happiness Planner (with flipthroughs) When you go analog, you're constantly (if you're me) searching for planner perfection. Also, if you're me, you thrive on short-term planners versus the pressure of an entire year.

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Maybe Jesus Wants Us to Get Over Ourselves

Maybe Jesus Wants Us to Get Over Ourselves

The reading from Acts this evening concerns the establishment, and the joining of two differing communities.

The baptists, followers of John and the followers of the Way, early followers of Paul and Jesus.

Those baptized by water and repentance, and those baptized by the Holy Spirit. It’s quite a good job that Paul does, easily combining the new “Way” with the old John-followers. Although, he…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

What gets you through the night when magic won't

What gets you through the night when magic won’t

readings for the week are here and here, and: 

“Insomniac”–by Maya Angelou

  There are some nights when

sleep plays coy,

aloof and disdainful.

And all the wiles

that I employ to win

its service to my side

are useless as wounded pride,

and much more painful.

    This week, I have been afraid a lot.

The news cycle, which drives me to prayer quite a bit, has ramped up to almost unbearable this week…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Justice in the Smallest of Things

Justice in the Smallest of Things

  Readings are here, here, and here.

In the Psalm we read this evening, we are promised a God of revenge and justice. It’s a tempting vision of God. One that comes in a mighty cloud, wreaking havoc on those who persecute the innocent, “He saves them from the hand of him who is hating, and redeems them from the enemy.” Reading the news this past week, seeing images of children wailing without…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Saving What We Love -- the Gospel According to Rose Tico

Saving What We Love — the Gospel According to Rose Tico

  Readings for the service are here, here, and here.

I’m going to start today, where my own moral compass began. Although I was formed at my mother’s and grandmother’s knees at Lutheran sermons and in Sunday school, my true morality play, writ large on the screen when I was a mere 5 years old, was Star Wars.

  Good and Evil (with a side of liturgical greetings thrown in–who among the churched…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

It's the end of the world as we know it--and I feel fine

It’s the end of the world as we know it–and I feel fine

Readings for the week are here, here, and here.

“Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common.”–Assyrain Tablet, 2800 BCE  

The end of the world has been predicted by both scholars and crackpots practically since the beginning of the world. In the reading today, we encountered one of the most famous…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Six ways to plan when you're a mess

Six ways to plan when you’re a mess

The bullet journal community is full of lots of sunshine, glitter, and rainbows.

  Don’t get me wrong, I friggin’ love sunshine, glitter, and rainbows. I am also Bipolar II, which means that sometimes I am just getting by. I’ve been bujo-ing in one form or another for about two years now. I’ve adjusted, tweaked, re-adjusted, and re-tweaked. I’ve been on and off the horse, beaten myself up for not…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

We’re back on the notebook review train with one of the most popular inexpensive journal’s The Artist Loft dot grid journal.

These are available inexpensively at Michael’s (they retail for a mere 5$ in the states, and go for 9$ in Canada). They are what I would call a semi-hardcover and come in a wide variety of pretty colours. They’re also available in a larger size (similar to a Moleskine Cahier). First of all, I’m going to go with what for me is their biggest con. They’re frustratingly just-a-smidge wider than a standard A5 size. For some, this is going to be a bonus, a bit more room to write, wider margins to decorate. For me, who loves to stack a few notebooks in a traveler’s notebook, this is a drag. This notebook would probably be my go-to notebook for prompts and regular journalling if it was a standard A5, because it performed remarkably well in (drumroll please) the pen test:

  None of these inks bled at all– there was heavy ghosting with the Black Currant, but that ink in an EF nib seems to bleed in every journal I have other than a STM. Most of these barely ghosted at all. I was really impressed, especially considering the low cost of the book. The paper is also a true white, not a cream, which I enjoy because I like to use pastel inks and a wide variety of different fountain pen inks.

I also tested a variety of gel pens, my go-to non-fountain pens:

The paper also held up well to this assortment. The Ink Joy pens felt very wet on this page, and that showed when I flipped the page over:

But, I’m going to say it (mostly because I don’t understand the Leuchtturm cult because that paper has never seems pen-friendly /not ghosty/bleedy to me. If you want a solid notebook in that price range, the Scribbles That Matter and Rhodia notebooks run circles around the Leuchtturm in terms of paper quality. I just don’t understand the attraction, but people like what they like. This journal comparatively looks great for the price.

So, let’s get to long-story-short time:

PROS:

inexpensive and well made, feels and looks like a more expensive notebook

2 bookmarks, dot grid, lined, and blank available

wide range of cover colours

smooth paper that is light on ghosting with drier inks

blank section at the front for an index–but you will have to number or colour code your pages/sections

There’s a sort of blank “header” space at the top– a lot of people would probably call this a “con” but I actually love it as a space to write the date, do a doodle header, or throw on some washi. For me, it makes this part of the page look cleaner. I’m sure a lot of people would put it under “con” though.

  CONS:

For the love of the good green earth, why isn’t this a standard size?

Also, while we’re at it–why is this twice the price in Canada vs the States (I know why, but couldn’t this be a loss leader or some other bonus funtimes deal? I just want what I want)

No extras like page numbers, or pen testing pages. This is a notebook. It has pages in it.

The cover is sort of a weird “soft hardback” I’m sure if you were using this on the daily, it would develop wear and tear pretty quickly. I sort of enjoy the squishiness factor, but again, I put my notebooks inside of other notebooks, so what do I know?

NEXT up: my favourite cheap notebook (if I could only get used to one feature–which other people seem to adore) the endlessly customizable Arc notebooks from Staples.

Until then, be well and write some stuff. ❤

    Bargain Basics Notebook Review: Artist’s Loft We're back on the notebook review train with one of the most popular inexpensive journal's The Artist Loft dot grid journal.

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Mary: SJW

  Homily from The Corner, Feast of the Visitation, May 31: Readings here, here, and here.

There she is: everywhere. In icons, on jewelry, in tattoos, airbrushed on souped-up cars: Mary, The Blessed Mother, The Virgin, Theotokos (The God-bringer) The mother of God, Jesus’ Mom.

She’s the subject of more portraiture, poetry, and song than we can imagine. She’s revered, she’s prayed to, she still…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Putting down baggage and picking up love

Putting down baggage and picking up love

  One of the things I’ve reflected on as a weakness of the church’s Bible presentation model is the fact that it presents the bible in little amuse-bouche pieces–here are a few verses from here, and a few more verses from there. To the churched, who have heard them associated with one another for decades, they might make sense. Sometimes, though even one selected reading seems to contain…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Next up in the reviews of low-cost notebooks are ones that I’ve been tempted by many times.

I all-caps LOVE Costco. As soon as I got my car, I got a Costco membership. I could do an entire blog series about growing up in poverty and food scarcity and the healing balm that having a full and well-organized kitchen with yogurts and cans of black beans in little organized rows is. But, back to the subject at hand. Costco’s book section. They always have some sort of notebook there. Often, they have big ole’ hardcover notebook three packs. I’ve always been tempted. This time, drunk on birthday bliss and delirium from being at Costco on a Saturday, into the cart they went.

  That comes to 4.66$ (CAD) a piece, peoples. COSTCO. These are true hardcover, and they’re big, about 7×10 inches–so it’s about a B5, but not exactly a B5. Eyeballing it, I thought it was a standard composition size, but it isn’t. (sad beep). Anyways, on to the innards.

Canadian made, eh! I love this aspect of the notebook. This info makes it easier to investigate a bit further about this company which is also apparently the source for all my “I survived a Saturday afternoon trip to Costco, so I will treat myself with this little lettering craft kit box” gifts to myself.

The notebook has a few little perks that I didn’t expect from an under five bucks book. An elastic closure (which for me is a make-or-break in a daily carry notebook or really any notebook of any kind these days), a pocket in the back, and a ribbon bookmark. The pages (160 pages, not numbered) are lined–which I like for notetaking, and are a soft-on-the-eyes cream colour and not a bright white. The binding appears to be sewn, not glued and it lies flat with a bit of coaxing. My only quibble is that in some sections of the book, the lines don’t quite line up from one side of the book to the other side–a minor quibble at such a cheap book. So now, the ultimate test: how does this handsome gentleman hold up to inks?

I used the same pens and ink (I had room to throw one more fountain pen in the mix) and here are the results:

So, you see a minimal amount of ghosting, but only bleeding where I made the “I dare you to bleed, and pretty much know you will” squares. I am sold. I have been looking for notebooks as the voice is still telling me to go to seminary–and I’m about to go back to Costco and get a big stack of these. Because notes for class should be on paper and notebooks should feel all medieval and fancy. Or as fancy as Costco can give you.

These would also make a nice gift package with a Platinum Preppy for someone who was coveting your fancy-pants note taking stylee. I’m even thinking that in the fancier colours, full price might even be attractive.

So, the rundown:

PROS:

Definitely inexpensive

Lined (if that’s you jam)

Bigger than an A5 (could also be a con, as these aren’t wee)

held up to most pens well

Multipack

CONS:

Costco availability–on the website ONE notebook is twice the price (still a pretty good deal, tho)

This is a basic notebook: no index, no page numbers, no extras. Notebook.

Lined (if that’s not your jam)

Large size

My take: if you’re looking for a real live notebook, in which you take notes, go fill up on these before I beat you to Costco.

  Bargain Basics: Costco/Spiceboxbooks Notebooks Next up in the reviews of low-cost notebooks are ones that I've been tempted by many times.

[viviakayblacksparrow]

Bargain Basic Notebooks Review: Ikea Lankmoj

Bargain Basic Notebooks Review: Ikea Lankmoj

I am a lover of the Scribbles that Matter notebooks. They are well-made, fountain pen friendly, lusciously coloured notebooks. I’m also going through notebooks at a clip of one every 45-60 days right now. That’s fast. I have at least three notebooks on the go at any given moment, and right now it’s more like four or five. So with a bit of birthday money, I picked up a few of the bargain options…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

GOD IS GOD AND I AM NOT.

GOD IS GOD AND I AM NOT.

GOD IS GOD AND I AM NOT.

  It only flashes on the screen for a brief second during Beyonce’s video for “Don’t Hurt Yourself”–it did the same during her Lemonade tour. The flash of text is so brief that it is almost difficult to read the message, but there it is –in all caps white on a black background.

We live in a self-care, individuality obsessed society. “You got this!” GIFs scream at us.…

[viviakayblacksparrow]

If you build it, will they come?

If you build it, will they come?

So, a few months ago, I went away to the convent (get thee to a nunnery!) and had this crazy idea. An amazing thing happened while I was at the convent, but I have to go back in time a bit before I tell you about it.

I have a PhD. It sits in a frame in my house, and my dissertation sits on a shelf. I have a book deal for my dissertation, an editor that emails me about every six months or so with…