The Horse and His Boy

I recently saw the trailer for Prince Caspian which comes out May 16th and pulled the full Chronicles of Narnia off my shelf last weekend to re-read it. Backstory on my copy of the Chronicles: Capitol Books is this amazing used bookstore in Eastern Market. You walk in and the guy is always like "fiction upstairs, nonfiction downstairs, poetry in the far back..." Then he'll insert something witty like "this is a recording, you are now free to roam." It has this old dusty book smell. You always have to watch where you're walking - one wrong step and you'll knock over a floor to ceiling pile of books. I'm telling you, book lovers paradise. So anyway the very first time I went in there was a illustrated hardback Chronicles of Narnia behind the counter and I just KNEW it was going to be mine. I never even leafed through it - it simply was MY copy that I didn't get to take home yet. Everytime I walked in I always looked to make sure no one had snatched it up. Sweeting and Muffin ended up being the snatchers and they gave it to me for Christmas last year. One of my best presents :)

Anyway so I pulled it off the shelf to re-read Prince Caspian and realized I never read Horse and His Boy which is the Chronicle after Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe and before Prince Caspian. I'm in the throws of Horse and His Boy right now. Other than the nostalgia that reading the Narnia series effectuates, I wonder why we as adults love to read or revisit fairytales. We love them so much more, perhaps, than even when we first read them as children.

C.S. Lewis thought about this too. He wrote the following dedication of Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe to his Godaughter Lucy:

My Dear Lucy,

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be

your affectionate Godfather,
C.S. Lewis

Sigh... The next time I check in, I will know if Shasta makes it to Archenland in time to warn that the Calormene army is coming to overtake them as a strategic entry point to invade Narnia if Cair Paravel doesn't give Queen Susan up to marry the evil, self-centered Rabadash. Until then!

Countdowns!

I have a fascination with countdown clocks. Actually, the overall concept of time is fascinating to me (one of many interests/concepts/ideas I share with both Patrick and TS Eliot haha). Here are some fun dates I'm looking forward to:

Bay Area for Memorial Day - 25 days, 21 hours, 36 minutes, 42 seconds

Madison for all things Fun - 59 days, 5 hours, 23 minutes, 35 seconds

Arkansas for SAS Reunion - 122 days, 16 hours, 29 minutes, 3 seconds

Unemployment! - 266 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes, 11 seconds

Weekend Weirdness

This weekend went SO FAST!

Stopped by Bobby's on Friday night. Weird story. This 40-something business casual dressed guy was literally dragging himself down the street fencepost by fencepost. He was standing/walking/dragging in this really bizarre angle. It was hard to tell if he was just very intoxicated or he actually was handicapped. Anyway Yale and Justin took charge (sexy) and stood on either side of him for support asking how they can help him, where did he live, what happened, was his back okay, etc. At first he said he got slipped something, but eventually we found out he was on other prescription meds and had been drinking wine that night. Also there was some discussion over how he had hurt his back when he was helping his friends move. It looked really really bad, though... not just some minor injury. I wonder if the mix of everything numbed him so much he didn't realize how bad it was? Anyway, ultimately Yale and Justin decided to call the ambulance and frankly I think that may have been a life saving decision for that guy. Humph. (Sidenote - another weird happening on Friday night - Sweeting almost got mugged by like 6 teenagers on drugs by Union Station were it not for the cops that came to his rescue. Aww... SWEETING!! I don't want anyone messing with Sweeting.)

Saturday started on a better note! Sweeting and I went to the Yelo Conference at Ebenezers. It was so cool! It was run by one of the pastors at Mosaic Church in Los Angeles who also works for Gallup. So interesting to hear and learn about your strengths and others strengths and how they interplay. The whole premise is about how we as a society focus on weaknesses and think our greatest area for growth is by focusing on improving those weaknesses. In fact, wouldn't we fulfill greater potential by cultivating and using our natural strengths? One of my favorite tidbits was that there is a one in 33 million chance that you will end up with the same top five strengths in the same order as another person. We're so unique. I can't get over it. It encouraged a LOT of discussion throughout the weekend after that. Had dinner with Patrick and Lauren at the house then went out to RFD to meet up with Shane, Carissa, Sweeting, and Muffin after that. Fun, relaxed night.

Sunday was Patrick and Carrie Extravaganza! We did everything I can think of to do on a rainy Sunday:
Brunch : Carlyle
Reading : On big fluffy red couch at Busboys and Poets
Movie : Baby Momma
Dinner : Whole Foods
TV : DH at Luis'

Awesome.

Strengths Discovery and Character Matrix Assessment

In preparation for the Yelo Conference at Ebenezers this weekend, I took a strengths and character assessment quiz. Here's what I came up with:

Top 5 Themes:

Intellection - characterized by intellectual activity; introspective and appreciative of intellectual discussions

Achiever - have a great deal of stamina and work hard; take great satisfaction from being busy and productive

Activator - can make things happen by turning thoughts into action; often impatient

Input - have a craving to know more; like to collect and archive all kinds of information (My co-workers and I got a kick out of this one!)

Self-Assurance - feel confident in their ability to manage their own lives; possess an inner compass that gives them confidence that their decisions are right

For the Character Matrix I asked Mom, Liz, and Patrick to take the test for me too so I could see how my scores stack up to others impressions of me. I'll have to wait for the conference to figure out exactly what the results mean, but for the time being here are the numbers:

Wisdom - Me: 31 Liz: 29 Mom: 32 Patrick: 29
Perserverance - Me: 34 Liz: 30 Mom: 39 Patrick: 31
Faithfulness - Me: 29 Liz: 33 Mom: 39 Patrick: 34
Courage - Me: 35 Liz: 31 Mom: 38 Patrick: 26
Integrity - Me: 31 Liz: 33 Mom: 38 Patrick: 35
Humility - Me: 27 Liz: 29 Mom: 35 Patrick: 29
Generosity - Me: 21 Liz: 28 Mom: 33 Patrick: 29
Wholeness- Me: 23 Liz: 24 Mom: 36 Patrick: 26
Gratitude - Me: 38 Liz: 32 Mom: 40 Patrick: 36

My favorite FAVORITE thing about this whole deal so far is how inflated my mom's numbers turned out. Like, Liz and my numbers are pretty much the same give or take a few points... but my Mom's are across the board higher. She thinks I'm so great haha! It's so cute! I love her so much!

Most interesting clock ever...

I literally sat watching the numbers tick around on this clock for awhile the other day. It's kind of emotional, actually. Anyway... click here and let me know what you think of it.

Dude!

Ebz in the news again!

Ben's Chili Bowl

So I finally finally went to Ben's Chili Bowl last weekend much to my heart and cholesterol's chagrin. Will I get stoned on the streets if I say I'm not sure it lives up to reputation? I mean, the place itself does... it has that old school diner historical feel to it, which I love. But I'm not like over the moon about the chili or the crappy napkins that don't hold up to wiping it off your hands once the chili drips off your chili dog. Gross. Anyway! Would I go again? Sure, if I happened upon the opportunity. Would I stand in line at 3am for 1.5 hours for it? Not a chance in the world.

These make me ache...

Real adventure - self-determined, self-motivated, often risky - forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind, and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black and white.

What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do - especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.

Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.

The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.

All the pathos and irony of leaving one's youth behind is implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler lears not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.

But things will happen to us so that we don't know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in.

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleansantest sensations in the world.

Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.

Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going.

I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.

Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.