7 Quick Takes: autumn in Austin, hilarious dog videos, words I wrote -- and didn't write -- this week and more!
Autumn has arrived in Austin, thanks be to God!
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| lovely mums from a sweet woman |
October
by Robert FrostO hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
To-morrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
To-morrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know;
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away;
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes' sake along the wall.
Words I wrote online this week:
- The roads that break us at Catapult* magazine: A report from the convoluted infrastructure of Austin, TX for the Wheels issue. Also, a frank confession of my issue with road rage.
- How classic literature fosters spiritual formation at Think Christian: If we’re honest, we’ve known intrinsically that reading good literature is a good idea. Now, thanks to research conducted by Emanuele Castano and David Comer Kidd, we can add quantifiable data to gut instinct. It turns out reading literature, specifically classic literary fiction, increases our capacity to empathize with others.
- For my brother Todd on his birthday: a poem in which I recall our vagabond days wearing hand-me-down clothes and hiding in church nursery cribs.
Ummmm.....no tiny stories bonus features this week because it never happened. Yep, just one week after declaring my intention for this series to be taken seriously, I just skipped a week. Well, in my defense, I've been working three jobs this month. Plus, the whole mom and wife gig so something had to give, right?
This week I'm cooking up a fun Halloween-themed edition of tiny stories, so get off my case already! (oh, you're not upset? your world didn't stop because I slacked off here at the blog? well, okay, then.)
Good words online from other people this week:
- George MacDonald and the "meaning" of your art at Diary of an Arts Pastor: Words both clear and beautiful from MacDonald for all of us who wish to be true imaginers. "Not what he pleases, but what he can. If he be not a true man, he will draw evil out of the best; we need not mind how he treats any work of art! If he be a true man, he will imagine true things: what matter whether I meant them or not?..."
- Here's A Leaked Trailer for Paramount's Troubled Epic Noah at Defamer: Woah...
- Now We Are Five by David Sedaris at the New Yorker: David Sedaris wrote an essay in The New Yorker about his sister Tiffany, and her recent passing.
- Obamacare: It's In Trouble, But the Fat Lady Hasn't Sung Yet by Kevin Drum at Mother Jones: I find this conversation fascinating. The complicated process for ideas to become concrete, workable functions totally fascinates me.
- God in Gotham: 16 Christians Making a Difference in New York City by Jonathan Merritt at Religion News Service: "...the Big Apple is experiencing a surprising kind of change—the religious kind—as more Christian communities and leaders are taking root and flourishing there."
- Amazing Miniature Scenes Shot With Model Cars, Forced Perspective and a $250 P&S at PetaPixel: "Mixing up miniature cars, detail items and buildings into a scene whose backdrop is the real world, [Michael Paul Smith] shoots the gorgeous miniature vistas of the town he has created and named “Elgin Park” — and he does it all with a cheap point-and-shoot." You've got to look to get it. It's very, very cool.
- By the way, I enjoy weekly link posts. One of my favorites -- the one I got this cool model car photograph link -- is the weekly {bits & pieces} post at Like Mother, Like Daughter.
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A beauty and grace-filled weekend for us all, dear ones.
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