my favorite Christmas song

O holy night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine
Oh night divine

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming
Here come the wise men from Orient land
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger
In all our trials born to be our friend.

Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Fall Literature Review

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. Buy it. Very entertaining, heartening story of what seemed to be an impossible convert to the Christian faith. The end of the book gets a little trod down in thematic chapters, but the first half to three-quarters is the fascinating story of her life.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Beware for very outright new-age ("put it out there in the universe and see what it gives you back") themes. I've been meaning to read this for a long time now. It was a good story, but definitely a comfy little couch of worldiness.

Big Fish by Dan Wallace. Movie's better.

Peace Like A River by Lief Enger. Some highly readable storytelling. I couldn't put it down for the first half. The plot gets a little heavy, but definitely a recommendable work. It reads like a river.

Plan B by Anne Lamott. Thought I would love this, but found it a bit too opinionated and the prose a bit too aware of itself.

Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard. Takes herself a little too seriously. That old adage of the writers who live in a solitary cabin overlooking the bay, stare moodily and work on their "craft?" I think we found a live one... I have enjoyed other works by her - The Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and the monumental An American Childhood. Still can't find my socks from that one.

Persuasion by Jane Austen. Chalk it up to a melancholy mood but I read it. It's no P&P but it is tolerable I suppose.


ehh? all this nonrequired reading in the third semester of my graduate career? i just love my library card.

early tremors of a future resource webpage

some of my favorite websites. i'm tired of having lots of scraps of paper with websites all over my desk. eventually i want to have a site to refer people to instead of messing around.

Brain Connection: Pop Brain Science and much much more!
http://www.brainconnection.com/

Physicians for Social Responsibility: Environmental pollutants and the effects on the sperm counts (etc.) of young males
http://www.psr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home

Zero to Three: Normal and atypical development patterns
http://zerotothree.org/

Sigh...Bruce Perry. My hero...seriously.
http://www.trauma-pages.com/

Strengthening families report.
http://www.cssp.org/uploadFiles/handbook.pdf


a humble beginning, i hope.