h e a r t strings

Hell and silence

2012-02-01T16:10:00.001-08:00

Imagine Dragons EP : "Continued Silence"
Interscope Records2-14-2012
Couldn't come fast enough.

2012-01-26T11:33:00.001-08:00

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

insightful

2012-01-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

i read these words in an *INCREDIBLE book I just finished (Unwind by Neal Shusterman) and couldn't help but capture them for future reflection and wisdom.

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"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us...Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

-Albert Einstein
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*it's incredible in plot, character development, and layers/depth/girth. I will caution that content-wise, it is mature and tuff at times...but brilliant nonetheless....

The Signs We Carry

2011-10-29T09:54:00.001-07:00

I'm not one to listen to Hilary Weeks very often, but this song and beautiful new music video was inspiring to me! What a true message; there is hope, there is purpose, there is life, there is direction. There is light.

Mosiah 24:14

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

Joseph B. Wirthlin: "Live in Thanksgiving Daily" (2001)

2011-06-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

"The Roman orator Cicero claimed a certain quality was 'not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.' It is a quality I have found in every happy person I know. It is a quality that instantly makes a person more likable and more at peace. Where there is an abundance of this virtue, there is happiness. Where there is an absence of this virtue, there is often sadness, resentment, and futility.

The virtue I am speaking of is gratitude."

yes please, oh please, choose gratitude alg.
[thank you, whit, for reminding me of that today]

The Sacrament, Repentance, et. al.

2011-06-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

OVE bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning

If I lack'd anything.

'A guest,' I answer'd, 'worthy to be here:'

Love said, 'You shall be he.'

'I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,

I cannot look on Thee.'

Love took my hand and smiling did reply,

'Who made the eyes but I?'

'Truth, Lord; but I have marr'd them: let my shame

Go where it doth deserve.'

'And know you not,' says Love, 'Who bore the blame?'

'My dear, then I will serve.'

'You must sit down,' says Love, 'and taste my meat.'

So I did sit and eat.

-George Herbert (1593-1692) "Love"

GRAIN CUT

2011-02-26T21:43:00.000-08:00

de la même grain. j'ai une coeur d'été mais je vais prendre du printemps.

je n'ai pas pleuré des larmes de mon âme cet hiver;
ils sont gelés

dans mes mains.

vous voyez-- c'est pourquoi ils sont si doux.

[walden pond]

bienheureux les artisans de paix
bienheureux les artisans de paix

bienheureux les artisans de paix. 

beauty full.

2010-12-14T12:03:00.000-08:00

truth and beauty.

2010-11-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

C O L O R A D A! November 5-7th
helicopter's landing: FUTILE DEVICES

A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.

~donna roberts

reclaimed

2010-11-16T00:22:00.001-08:00

O, to be reclaimed by Christ's atonement and healing grace.

THAT is real.
THAT is powerful.
THIS is truth.

Feeling immense gratitude for true friendship today.

experiences

2010-10-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

This is a poem I rewrote to teach students how to use poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, allusion, imagery, alliteration, etc. It's titled "Middle Man" but after further consideration, I would like to submit the change of title to be "Faulty Management"...

"Middle Man"/"Faulty Management"

fist to stomach: air GASPING air
arm wrenched backwards--
i'm the tag-team guy for both sides,
blood oozing from my torn heart
questions trapped, rolling, pinching my throat

Does honesty ever really pay off?
i'm broke.

"They" craft pleasant sounding promises of relief,
occasionally throwing water into my parched mouth (never a moment too soon)
but.
Waiting chills my heavy bones, my outstretched hands
ever-eager for an HonestAbe Payday.

and
i flounder,
stutter-stepping
checking the rule book
(since when were daggers allowed in a fist fight?)
i'm honestly
F
a
l
l
i
n
g

(when)
Do I get
my starry night, my 15 minutes, my streaming black A6 Audi?

i'm flat on my back, fighting darkness.

Secrets, secrets.
I'm told to "sew my mouth shut" after swallowing a golden key.
I tell them it would be easier to floss with barbed wire--

How can I lie to my mother?

I fight more, feeling like a displaced bulldog.
Lies, lies.
Betrayal: a constant buzzbuzzBEE caught in my brain.
Is it easier to lie to my father?
Because he betrayed me?

I collapse in the truth, the fresh honesty of it all washing over me.

I throw in the towel, resolved.
Pain swells and swells and swells and breaks.
Courage- Oh yes. Valiant Courage mingled with anxious waiting, angry stray tears, adamant belief in that payday;
I will not lie.

They can find a new Middle Man.

consider the sweet, tender children

2009-10-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

My favorite part of this semester so far,

besides figuring out how things mean, ENG 365
is the call to serve as an FHE leader (mom).
Our family is so rad. And i never use the word rad. But they are just that cool.
It has been one of the most unprecedented blessings of my college career to be a part of Family
GARZEAN.

Because here's the truth: this semester is SUPER s t r e t c h i n g for me in more than one way. Oft-times I feel like i'm just running from place to place and hoping my efforts will suffice.
It is stunning, the sustaining tender mercies; I don't know if I would recognize them were I not so stretched. So huzzah: gratitude.
But I digress.

Have you ever met Edifying Goodness?
That is who I get to spend time with every monday night this semester. These people who exemplify Christlike attributes and love to laugh and do cool things. They're life-brighteners, these people. Family pictures are in the near future
and i simply cannot wait to post them here as
a bonified heartstring.
the word bonified is coming up as fake.

he will heal those who trust him,

a

Virginia Plate

2009-10-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Today via an Oregon Corolla, I sat in an open
gravel-mixed-with-weeds pseudo parking lot.

The view: specific; COSTCO letters shining bold underneath the crisp sun.
My meal: delicious; chicken bake- $3.99 collegiate budget style.

A familiar heart sat next to me, eating her own hot(notcold)dog.
The Churro was shared.

It seemed like the red "CALL SAID# IF LOST" picnic basket was there too.
But Washington claimed that one a long time ago, didn't it?
Custom musique played for every list'ning folk.

Edifying moment...
t h e way to begin this blog.