Spring Cleaning, Good Reads, and Good Sound-Bytes

Sitting in Bridwell and not looking at facebook is hard. I have made all of the headway I can on my OT paper for the time being. I will be dreaming of sheep, shepherds, valleys, and quiet waters... know the passage yet? Hint: read yesterday's post.

Spring Cleaning! Yippeee! Sort of...
I tell you a mystery (several, actually):

1. How does one single woman accumulate so many pairs of socks? Where do they all come from?
2. How does the kitchen floor get so dirty in the matter of one week?
3. Do apartments not have money to buy good paint so that when cleaning an unknown substance off the wall, the paint does not come off instead of the substance?
4. Where did that carpet stain come from?! Better yet, what is it??
5. Dust bunnies are not as cute as real bunnies.
6. Is that a roach leg? I think it's a twig. *picks it up* OH LORD IT'S A ROACH LEG!
7. Hmmm, do I really need this box containing 120 tracts? Better yet, who DOES need it? And why do I still have these?
8. Why did I attach shelves to the wall? This was a horrible idea.
9. How can I clean the freezer if the cleaning products freeze on contact?
10. How did these leaves get into my closet?

Good Reads
As if I don't have enough required reading to do... and yeah, these are mostly religious.

1. Speaking of Sin by Barbara Brown Taylor. It has revolutionized my way of thinking in a challenging but positive way.
2. Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola. (in progress) If the title doesn't grab your attention, the content will. It will make you think before you start condemning people for not saying "Merry Christmas."
3. Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst; love it. I think for anyone struggling with craving anything (not just food), this is about as close as you can come to a gentle kick in the pants. I can see where this applies to my relationships, my finances, all sorts of stuff. 
4. The Curse of the Good Girl by Rachel Simmons; I think any young woman/parent/person who works with youth needs to read this. It discusses how we as middle-class white folk raise our daughters to become good girls: shallow, shifty, unsettled, but seemingly perfect instead of "real girls" who make mistakes but know how to take the bull by the horns. This was a pivotal read for me last year.
5. Plastic Jesus by Eric Sandras; (in progress) Sandras takes fake spirituality by the horns in an easy-to-read but hard to digest book that calls all of us "Amurkans" to stop and evaluate what we do in our pretty church buildings every Sunday.
6. Buck-Naked Faith by Eric Sandras; (in progress) I really like this Eric Sandras fellow and don't know why I haven't heard of him before. He has good things to say about issues of morality without sounding like a complete tool, which I appreciate. Anyway, this book has been a great read so far in discussing why we hide behind so many layers and dualistic personalities as Christians.

Good Sound-Bytes
Some music I have been appreciating recently.

1. Selah: if you like Southern Gospel and the feel of the more current Christian artists (more in the folk/acoustic genre), you will like them. They have an earthy vocal tone that when combined with piano creates this really intriguing musical texture that somehow suits the sentimentality of the music. They are kind of awesome.
2. Mindy Gledhill: always a favorite. I have written on her before, but check out her album "Anchor". She's kind of like Regina Spektor and Nichole Nordeman in one voice. She started off as a contemporary Mormon artist on EFY cds but as since branched into more easy listening.
3. Taylor Swift: Yeah, I know, lame, but I love her. "Speak Now" got me into her stuff and somehow I now own 3 of her albums. She's adorable and has amazing hair, which never hurts!
4. Robbie Seay Band: My favorite album is "Give Yourself Away"; they are like rock meets indie meets acoustic. Plus, they are Texas-grown Houston boys so you can't beat that!

So there ya go... Happy Monday!