#i appreciated it though <3 i love finding notes and underlined passages and such in books

[korusalka]

i love how somebody vibed so hard with Marina they chose a period romance of all things as their platform to plug one of her singles

[isingonly4myangel]

1-5 😁

I’m in love with this question list, thank you for for asking darling! 💖

1. Tell me about that imaginary bookshop you dream about running.

Ok, this got long, apologies in advance! So like The Last Bookstore (in LA) meets Bart’s Books (in Ojai) meets the Harbor from Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea? 

The feeling of never-ending miles of shelves and curiosities from the Harbor, and the sense of stepping into a space not quite part of the world you’re used to. I’m in love with little corridors off the beaten path and armchairs tucked into secluded corners. From The Last Bookstore, I’ll take the inspiration for art and architecture made from books. Their front counter looks like 4 feet of books stacked on top of each other, and for the life of me I can’t figure out quite how they’re all attached, because it looks like it should just topple over. Same thing goes for the book tunnel upstairs, which is both fascinating and super Instagram-able, which is why hipsters love the place. And above the staircase there’s a typewriter on a desk on the top landing, and it has pages spilling from it that are suspended in the air and curl partway down the stairs, so they’re the first thing you see when going up. And from Bart’s I’ll take the sense of coziness. It feels very peaceful and homey inside- which makes sense because it was actually a house with a central courtyard, and they just kind of removed most of the furniture, took off the doors, and put in bookshelves. Also I’m stealing their cats. 

Towards the front of my store are new books, current bestsellers, etc. But everywhere else it’s used and secondhand books. I find those much more intriguing than shelves of brand new books. For certain clients, the bookstore functions as a library, because I understand that even discounted secondhand books can be expensive, and I never want money to stand in the way of someone having access to books they want. Some parts of the store may have different types of music playing- current pop quietly in the front of the store for the people who just come in for that one new 50 Shades-adjacent book. But further back, hidden in corners and hallways, snippets of a waltz, a piano nocturne, a solo violin, soft jazz, something slightly haunting that you can’t identify all the instruments in. 

Tea, coffee, and cocoa are all available on request- free of charge, though donations are appreciated to help keep up the supply. There’s a little station towards the center of the store where guests can help themselves, and I make sure to do occasional rounds of the shop, checking for individuals curled in those secluded armchairs with the cats to keep them company, and I take orders. Beverages are served in mugs or cups that are somehow always matched to the book one is reading. No two mugs are alike- they’ve been donated and collected, accumulated over the years. Some of them are cracked or chipped slightly, but they are still happy to serve. Delicate china teacups and saucers for the Austen readers, unusually shaped mugs for stories like Alice in Wonderland, one printed with Calvin and Hobbes for the young man reading his way through our comic books. Later in the day, cocktails are offered in elegantly cut glasses to match, reserved for our guests of an appropriate age. 

Everyone who comes in finds something they were looking for, whether they knew it or not. The perfect book, the perfect picture, the perfect tea blend, the perfect poem. The store has a bit of a mind of its own, and sometimes it knows its guests even better than its owner does. 

2. Do you like reading aloud? Are you good at it?

Huge yes, I absolutely love it, especially if I’m excited about the book! I’d love to record audiobooks, too. I’m told I’m pretty good at it, too! 

3. How do you organize your bookshelves?

So my bookshelves at home lost any and all hope of organization years ago- they’re stuffed to the brim, and when I ran out of normal space I just kinda started stacking them horizontally in front of the books lined up vertically lmao. But the handful I took with me that are in my apartment now are organized by size- the hardback one to the far left, then the paperback one the same size, and they get smaller going to the right. I’m also using candles for book ends to keep them upright lol

4. Tell me about that one book that you can’t remember the title of and maybe you just made it up except you remember that one specific thing so clearly.

A necklace of beaded wishes is used to make an art model have to scratch his balls so badly that he has to leave the session? 😂

5. Do you write in the margins?

Never. Sometimes I underline or mark passages with a bracket, very lightly in pencil. If there’s a note I really want to write, I’ll attach a sticky note to the page and write on that! 

[bridgingthegapblog]

Chaplain Hacks

        My eleven-year-old daughter has fallen in love with “life-hack” videos. Found all over the internet, they show all sorts of useful shortcuts for life. Well, in this post I hope to share with you a (sorta) new chaplain-hack that I’ve (re)discovered.

               Many many years ago, in a seminary preaching class, the professor offered us a piece of advice. He suggested we create a rolodex or sorts, (or expanding file system) where we stored helpful references and illustrations we found. I ignored the advice…I couldn’t conceive of how I would organize something like that; but two recent events have persuaded me to change my mind.

               One, the many speaking engagements and memorial services I’ve been asked to speak at has left me scrounging for illustration material. You know, the short stories, quotes, or anecdotes that we pepper our talk with; to make it interesting and drive home our main point. The best teachers I’ve ever sat under used stories profusely.

               Two, I’ve been reading a lot of amazing and inspiring books lately. I’ve always been “that person” who writes in her books and leaves little side notes throughout the margins. While I’ve gathered an impressive Christian library, I’m coming to realize that when I need one of those notes, I don’t know where to look. For example, I know I’ve underlined and made note of many book passages that talk about faith. And when asked to speak at a memorial service, those would really come in handy…but who has time to riffle through all their old books to find the one gem?

               Whether it be a poem, short story, historical reference, quote…whatever, I’ve come to really wish I had taken my professors advice all those years ago. But it’s never too late! For me, I created a Word document and started creating headings in alphabetical order. Topics like: “Faith”, “Love”, “Service”, “Ministry of Presence” and “Forgiveness”. As I read or hear interesting illustrations I would like to use later, I paste them into the document. As it expands, I may need to use multiple documents for faster reference.

               I would like to leave you with three such illustrations that I’ve found that I wish every chaplain knew about. Maybe this will help you start your own such collection….but I really encourage you to start. You never know when your going to be asked to say the invocation at an event, or to conduct a wedding. Having illustrations that you like and relate to will help you be that much more prepared!

 1. At a funeral recently I heard the most amazing poem, “The Dash”. Here it is. 

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak at a funeral of a friend.  He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning...to the end. 

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears, but said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth and now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars..the house...the cash.  What matters is how we lived and loved and how we spend our dash. 

So think about this long and hard; are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left that still can be rearranged.

To be less quick to anger and show appreciation more, And love the people in our lives like we've never loved before. 

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile...Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read, with your life's actions to rehash, Would you be proud of the things they say about how you lived your dash?  (By Linda Ellis)

 2. My second illustration is a short story, though it’s too long to post here. Regardless of your specific calling, our main ministry as Chaplains is the ministry of presence. Being there. Listening. Understanding. Patience.

               The famed Russian writer, Anton Chekov wrote a short story called “The Lament”. In it, an elderly man named Iona has lost his son. As the driver of a carriage (taxi) in town, he looks for someone to open up to, to share his burden. Instead, no one has the time or love to spare. I don’t want to spoil the ending; but I’ve used this story to show the importance of being available; of being kind; of being present. In our day-to-day busyness we can miss the person who most needs us. The over-worked cashier, the haggard college student, the frustrated barista. They are each an opportunity to be present. This short story drives that home. 

               I am attaching the PDF of the story, but it can also be found easily online by searching for it. iTunes also has it in an audiobook version. I had my chaplains listen to the iTunes reading while following along with their own printed version. It’s very poignant and meaningful.

 3. Finally, I leave you with a quote that I found while reading one of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s books, Life Together. This book is about what Christian community and fellowship should look like. What struck me was how much his words ring true of chaplaincy. 

“The prisoner, the sick person, the Christian in exile sees in the companionship of a fellow Christian a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God. Visitor and visited in loneliness recognize in each the Christ who is present in the body.” 

               Essentially, we are Christs’ hands and feet!

 There you are, just three illustrations that I hope you will find useful starting your own collection. Tell us what one of your favorite illustrations is by commenting below. 

-Chaplain Leah B.

[diegosouzalions2018]

17 Superstars We'd Love to Recruit for Our best beginner keyboard piano

L. a. — Right up until now, it has been probable to look at “the Andrew Norman model” as if that were some settled thing. Numerous of this youthful composer’s important pieces — bearing active titles like “Engage in,” “Try” and “Swap” — have hurtled, from their opening minutes, with volleys of depth that rival the kinetic climaxes of other artists. And then, with that established, he can really check out town.

Given this Resourceful profile, the title of Mr. Norman’s latest orchestral get the job done, “Sustain,” hinted at an intriguing about-confront. Steadiness and stasis have not been his calling playing cards. And in a new job interview with Joshua Barone on the The big apple Periods, Mr. Norman described a want to “relearn my language” when satisfying this La Philharmonic co-commission.

Which was not idle converse. Saturday night time’s functionality by the Philharmonic and its songs director, Gustavo Dudamel, below at their Walt Disney Concert Corridor dwelling underlined just how willingly Mr. Norman has inverted his set up procedures. In place of quickly fostering a riot of competing rhythms and motifs, this composition promotions in repetitive product for very long stretches about its close to forty five-moment duration. Percussive interjections and unpredictable collisions of melody are definitely the exception, as opposed to the rule.

Throughout the opening minutes, the composer asks person strings to Participate in decide on tones from attractively mystic modes — and then maintain each for any spell. (This “maintain” is just one facet of the title.) The staggered strategy made the regular ascents and descents from the pitches feel a lot less like composer-directed themes and more like seesawing rules of mother nature, completely in stability. Initially, the result was sublime, Besides remaining a powerful realization of your ecological problems the composer specific in his program Take note. (Thoughts relating to environmental sustainability — and its all-also-possible opposite — give the title extra excess weight.)

Nevertheless, in the 1st third of “Maintain,” The shortage of Substantially rhythmic thrust sometimes threatened to make the work seem aimless. At a person stage, I found myself breathing a sigh of aid when an thrilling new dance for flute and vibraphone rose up through the very well-trod ground. (It absolutely was The very first time I’d at any time been anxious for the subsequent modify when Hearing Mr. Norman’s tunes.)

Nonetheless step by step, I arrived to like the implications of this pacing. While a lot of his earlier works are all about focusing on each new inconceivable aspect since it stomps to your fore, here, Mr. Norman’s complexity provides a lighter footprint. Given that the strings are painting with People prolonged tones, a lesser group of wind instruments may possibly divebomb in the frame, with no leading to a commotion. Minimalist motors can possess the trumpets, for just a couple of moments, with out scrambling the overall narrative.

Above the final 3rd of “Sustain,” this unusual merger between restraint and hyperactivity could hypnotize. When reading which the rating calls for two pianos, tuned a quarter-tone aside, you may perhaps reasonably count on some microtonal fireworks. Although the dissonances amongst the pianos are only at any time highlighted gently, at hinge factors when both equally are Obviously audible. At other junctures, the pianos appeared information to Permit their collective resonance slip mysteriously into the background. Even though the dynamic stage raises to an simple roar, You will find there's smoothness on the piece.

Bringing all this across requires an orchestra of appreciable dexterity (and endurance). The Los Angeles players appeared to savor the material, even though it didn't appear obviously virtuosic in nature. Mr. Dudamel succeeded in channeling the slyness of Mr. Norman’s creating, too. Using the transitions in also showy a way could possibly establish fatal to its General styles; wisely, Mr. Dudamel crafted into the passages of pandemonium with a gratifying steeliness of function.

Perhaps the musicians felt safe in these options, because of the inclusion of An additional piece on This system (which was to repeat on Sunday) that authorized them to strut a lot more ecstatically. The 1996 composition “LA Variants,” by the former La Philharmonic new music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, was built being a showcase for this orchestra, and it carries on to seem wonderful in its palms. The get the job done’s diversified instrumental shades are still Technicolor of their projected brilliance. The stability — even in thickly orchestrated passages — continue to provides a punchy vibrancy deserving of a encompass-seem theater blend. And its final minutes might have attained some rhythmic buoyancy under Mr. Dudamel’s view.

Considerably a lot less stunning was the orchestra’s excursion by means of Beethoven’s Op. fifty six (called the “Triple Concerto”). The piano, violin and cello soloists — all drawn from your Philharmonic’s normal cast — carried a brisk Electricity throughout the demanding operate. But they might also sound taxed during a few of its toughest slaloms. Mr. Dudamel pushed out some effervescent, courtly pulses, nevertheless this often necessitated speeding previous the perform’s most captivating harmonic turns.

While since it occurs, this orchestra has not planned or promoted its centennial season throughout the regular repertory. With over fifty commissions prepared for this year — and mini-festivals devoted each into the Harlem Renaissance also to the composers connected with the Fluxus movement — The l. a. Philharmonic is going massive on present day and modern products. In the course of this primary weekend of its time, the orchestra’s talent in functions published in the last 3 decades amounted to your thrilling omen for the approaching year.