So, I am planning on doing a fair amount of reading while on the trail. I would definitely appreciate your suggestions. Here are a few titles so far, leave your thoughts in the comments:
The Bible – I have never read the whole thing, and I feel like as someone who believes that it holds ultimate truth, that feels a little unacceptable to me.
Anything by Evelyn Waugh
Anything by C.S. Lewis A New Kind of Christian by Brian McClaren Jesus Wants to Save the Christians by Rob Bell
The list is a work in progress, so I’ll be updating this as I go along. I might also be posting little book reports as well, that might be fun.
Well, I made it back from Boston and am back in Waco. I just had my first day of class in about five months, so that was kind of strange. And this is the first time I’ve been back in Waco for an extended period since pretty much last November, so that is kind of strange too. But it is really nice, I’ve had so much fun seeing everyone and catching up. And it’s nice not to have to be doing the whole “see you in a few months/never goodbye.” It’s almost novel to me right now to say “See you tomorrow!” On a different note, I am kind of concerned about losing the habits I picked up in Boston, such as reading constantly and making lots of music. I haven’t cracked a book in days now, and my guitars are sitting in my room, very lonely and confused. I hope I can keep up those hobbies as the semester progresses!
A few other things: I am converting my bicycle to fixed gear. There was a time when I would say “Fixies are stupid and dangerous.” And now I have one. So I guess that means I am also stupid and dangerous. It’s a pretty big project turns out, lots of little mesaurements to make and such. Hopefully it will be up and running by the weekend!
In my first class today, the professor asked me if I prefer “Robert,” at which point Christy and Molly both turned around with big puppy dog eyes, and I caved, and said, “You can call me Bob.” So, as far as Dr. Hanks and the rest of my Children’s Lit class is concerned, my name is “Bob.”
I found out a few weeks ago that my grandfather has cancer. He’s been doing radiation for a few days now, and will start chemo pretty soon. I am really nervous about it, because chemo is so rough. Also, my old choir director, who I was pretty close with, just had a brain tumor removed today. They found out about it last week, and he had surgery today. It looks like everything went well so far. Thoughts and prayers are appreciated.
And finally: I don’t know what’s going to happen to the blog right now. I am so busy doing stuff, and don’t have enough time to be witty and finely-painted and well-crafted and all that. So, if I post, I post. If I don’t, I don’t. And on that ambiguous note…
So, I know there are a fair amount of Bright Eyes haters our there (ahem, CW). And let’s face it, Conor Oberst’s voice is terrible a little rough around the edges. But I’ll be the first to tell you, that man knows how to write a good tune every now and then.
So, I am pretty much digging his new self-titled solo album (I know, I thought Bright Eyes was a solo project too). It’s got that great alt-country/folk/blues grit that I’ve learned to appreciate over the past few years (see: Wilco, Rocky Votolato, Mojave 3, Sufjan, Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, et cetera). If you haven’t checked it out yet, or were just thinking of writing it off as more of that “emo-folk-Bright-Eyes-crap,” well, check out the video below and then reconsider:
In other things I like right now, I just finished reading Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, which was hauntingly beautiful. Waugh is kind of like a British and Catholic version of F. Scott Fitzgerald, so that gets him pretty high marks on my list immediately.
He has a wonderful way of merging his Christian beliefs into writings without preaching, really blurring the line between sacred and secular. Which I think is not only beautiful, but very important as well. It’s kind of hard to explain why that appeals to me so much, but I think that the Christian artist shouldn’t see the world as off limits. Our spirituality is a really sticky thing, all wrapped up in this living that we do, and so art should reflect and express that. It’s like Coldplay’s new album. Even though it isn’t a “Christian” album, it certainly reflects important Christian beliefs and values. The last song has a beautiful line:
No I don’t want a battle from beginning to end
I don’t want a cycle of recycled revenge
I don’t want to follow death and all of his friends
In summary: Conor Oberst reminds me of a battered Fender Telecaste guitar, Evelyn Waugh is the man, and way to go Christ Martin for not boxing yourself in.
My name is Robert, this is my blog about my walk from Maine to Georgia on the Appalachian Trail. I am not afraid of bears, and since I have not seen Deliverance I am not afraid of that either. Read a post or two and leave a comment!
