Monday, January 23, 2012

christ, always and forever

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger
.
--a portion from "St. Patrick's Breastplate," which may be found here

I was first turned onto St. Patrick's Breastplate by Madeleine L'Engle's use of it in A Switftly Tilting Planet; later, she mentioned it in one of her devotional books, and I looked it up for myself. As long as I've known it, I've loved the stanza quoted above. How can I see Christ in everything and everyone surrounding me? How can I find Christ in each person I meet, both friend and stranger? 

Pax
.....

childhood's end

I don't think I ever seriously expected to live this long. (Not because I have a tragic, life-threatening disease or anything. I think I assumed that some magical adventure would sweep me away to Narnia or Neverland or Middle Earth, where I would become the adult I was really meant to be while ruling the world. Or die heroically. Whatever.)

I've just never pictured myself as an adult. Really, my inner vision of myself has never aged past the age of thirteen--fifteen, on a good day. (Does it make it any better if I say I was mature for my age? I'm pretty sure I was, then.)

21. The final frontier of adolescence.

At 18, one is technically--legally--an adult, but no one actually expects you to behave like one. At 21, everything changes. All that is legal, I may do and suffer the consequences thereof.

Drink? Check.
Smoke? Check.
Rent a car? Check.
Buy a house and work a job and pay taxes? Check, check, check.

When, at slumber parties, my friends and I would map our lives--demarcating the boundaries of our future selves with the impudence of little popes--and I was always married by 21.

I am not who I expected to be.
I am neither the vague copy of my mother and sisters I told myself to become, nor the cool adult I secretly wanted to be. (I guess it's just not as easy to become a time-travelling spy as the movies make it seem.) I'm somewhere in between, both more and less than I expected.

But all is well
and all is well
and, thanks to the grace and love of my lord,
all will be well.

Pax
.....

Song of the week: "Blackbird" (originally by the Beatles)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

salsafied chicken

Dudes, I have found the chicken recipe to end all chicken recipes. It is delicious and super easy (as long as you know how to stir-fry), and I feel the need to share it with the world.

Salsafied Chicken

Serves: 2
Time: Eh...half an hour? 

1. Make sketchy rice.
    A. Combine 1 cup rice with 2 cups water and a packet or two of Chicken Top Ramen
         flavoring in a small saucepan.
    B. Bring to a boil
    C. Cover and reduce heat to low; cook until water is absorbed by rice.
    Start this before you do anything else, and it will probably be done by the time you finish.
2. Saute a diced small onion (or half of a large one) in some olive oil, with a spoonful of
     minced garlic, until the onion is beginning to turn transparent.
3. While the onions are sauteing, cut up enough chicken for two people--for me and a friend,
     a breast will typically do the trick. You can either cut up some veggies (whatever floats
     your boat) or, as I do, use one of the frozen stir-fry veggie packs from the grocery store
     and skip this step.
4. Add chicken to onion and garlic, and cook until the outside is white.
5. At this point, add some chili seasoning, cut up veggies, an ample portion of salsa, and
    just enough chicken broth so you have a bit of a runny mess. (Pictures of this /will/ go
    up at some point in time.)
6. Cook until chicken is done. By now, the rice will hopefully be done; pour chicken and
    sauce over rice and serve! (I typically leave them separate and let people figure out how
    much chicken/sauce they want with their rice.)

So...I'm a broke college student and a really lazy chef.
It's still totes delicious.

Pax
.....

Friday, January 20, 2012

teenaged bangs

My bangs are at that long, gawky phase where the ones in the center can make it into a ponytail, but the ones at the side don't. It's kind of like hair adolescence. (Hairlescence?)

This bothers me. I feel like a villain in one of those crappy action movies where you can tell the good guys and the bad guys apart on sight because the good guys are the one with good hair. MY HAIR IS FORCING ME TO BE EVIL.

That is all.

Pax
.....

Thursday, January 19, 2012

is feminism dead?

I was reading a post on hookingupsmart.com in which the author proposed that radical feminism, as we know it, is dead, citing a decrease in google searches for the word feminism as proof of the movement's demise. While the post was interesting in and of itself, I found the discussion in the comments section particularly fascinating.

As I perused the comments, I was struck by their use of the word feminism. Other than some lone voices that claimed that feminism was not in fact dead, the majority of the commenters--who appear to primarily be well-informed individuals with a strong interest in social justice--appeared to define the word as whatever they hate about women today. I've seen the word used this way before--in chauvinist, patriarchal propaganda.

I find it interesting that a movement I had thought of as a fringe movement has had such an effect on our culture.

Also, it depresses me that people still obsess about the fate of women in America. Don't they have better things to do, like developing methods for detecting malaria, or even obsessing about the fate of women in third world countries? The only way the modern American woman can raise the profile of modern American women is to show herself the equal of any man. Don't bother arguing--it's time to do.

Pax
.....

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

sign if you like the internet.

Seriously, SOPA and PIPA are bad, bad news for the internet. I'm all for copyright holders getting their dues, but these bills are much too vaguely worded to not be used irresponsibly.

So sign the petition.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Also, write letters, send emails, call your senators. If we don't want this to pass, we need to take action in a meaningful way.

Pax
.....

Monday, January 16, 2012

style guide: matsumoto tomo

I've been a huge fan of manga since I was fourteen or fifteen, especially the shoujo genre. I don't read as much as I used to, but I was flipping through one of my favorites and started thinking about the fabulous style of these characters. Yes, 90% of shoujo involves girls in either a sailor uniform or the tomboy uniform of jeans and a t-shirt, but some mangakas have an inerrant sense of cool that is reflected in the wardrobe of their characters. One of these is Matsumoto Tomo, of Beauty is the Beast and Kiss. I mean, check out Kurogawa Misa's outfit on the cover of Chapter Two of Beauty is the Beast:


The short-sleeved jacket/long-sleeved shirt combo gives that cool 80s vibe, and the scarf is fantastic. 

Or what about the youthful, polka-dotted shirt Eimi is wearing in Chapter 5? 


It has a childlike quality that is untempered by self-awareness. I think that's one of the things I really love about shoujo--many of the mangakas have managed to maintain a sweet, youthful feel that many Americans associate with the 1950s; there is still a purity associated with adolescence, and the kisses are simultaneously awkward and deeply meaningful. It's the same sort of feeling that I get when reading about the relationships between Meg and Calvin, or Vicky and Adam Eddington, in Madeleine L'Engle's books. These characters are somehow both younger and more rational, more grown up, than those in many of the stories we tell ourselves today, in movies and books and webcomics. It's rather lovely to see.

Not that Matsumoto Tomo doesn't address more mature themes (as well as mature style) in Kiss and other works; I just appreciate these pockets of simplicity.

Pax
.....