January Sevens

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Well, January’s almost over, and the perfect time of year for list-making is about to disappear too. Besides joining the Resolution Revolution and giving a For the Record Year-End Report, I’ve basically steered clear of the lists this season. But now that the window’s almost closed, I feel an urgency to partake! Or maybe I just feel like posting something and don’t have enough time to do a full-blown post. Either way, let the listage begin!

But first, some ground rules:

* I chose 7 because I kept coming up with lists of 7 accidentally. 8 would’ve made more sense, I guess, since it’s 2008, but oh, well.

* I’m shooting for 3 proper lists and 1 bonus one here for two reasons: 1. I can’t think of 7 lists to write and that would make the most sense. 2. The only rationale I can come up with for not doing 7 is to doing 4, because 7 times 3 equals 21, plus 1 bonus equals 22. It’s the 22nd of January! Get it?

* I’ll cover TV, Music, and Books in general as opposed to just this past year or this upcoming year, and I won’t be discussing them in-depth here because: 1. I don’t have time to, 2. I’ve never made such lists on the blog before, so it makes sense to cover a broad spectrum (My About page does list some general favorites, but the subtle differences in list titles here are actually important.), 3. Those topics definitely vie for the top topics on For the Record, so it seems logical to just out and out say some of my all-time favorites, and 4. I just want to.

* I’ve talked about each of these books, series, albums, or mixes somewhere on For the Record. And I’m sure I will again. If you want to know more about them, perusing the blog and visiting Wikipedia should help. Some of my fellow bloggers have written about them as well; I could probably point you in their directions. If you want to know why I like them or why they’re important to me, feel free to ask. I just might be inclined to answer. But I’ll tell you upfront that I probably won’t be willing to disclose my reasons for each and every one on the world-wide, public Record.

* These lists are not in a proper order. They’re just lists, not rankings.

Now, on with the lists!

7 Television Shows I Wouldn’t Want to Live Without:

• The Andy Griffith Show
• The Office
• LOST
• Arrested Development
• Gilmore Girls
• Seinfeld
• The Cosby Show
  

7 Books and Albums/Mixes Not Made by Me That May Have Actually Changed My Life:

(That’s kind of a shot at Garden State, but these really have influenced my life in important, notable ways.)

• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• The Tongues of Men and Angels by Robert A. Fink
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Soundtrack to a 4-door Hyundai by Various Artists
• Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
• XO by Elliott Smith
• (There Never Was) A Prayer for Us by Various Artists

7 Promises I Broke on For the Record Last Year, for Which I Now Must Beg Your Forgiveness:

• To review the iPhone — I still love it! As my sister would say, if Mac was crack, Chris would smoke it. And I sure don’t mind living in the dealer’s house. The iPhone’s uses are endless. But, lately, I’ve discovered that it’s perfect for when you can’t sleep. It’s like having a book with a built-in book light!
• To review Rescue Dawn — See my comment to Chelsea on this post.
• To review The Bourne Ultimatum — I jumped on the “I Love Jason Bourne” bandwagon long ago, and I’m not ashamed of it, even though I’m generally opposed to bandwagons.
• To review Mr. Brooks & Ocean’s Thirteen — Mr. Brooks was okay. Maybe kind of good. If you’d gotten rid of Demi Moore and her entire story-line, I would’ve liked it much better. Ocean’s Thirteen wasn’t anything new, in terms of the Ocean franchise, but that’s okay. I like Danny Ocean and his dozen or so criminal buddies. Thirteen goes back to the feel of Eleven, with lots of good fun, laughs, and piece-it-together suspense. Plus, Matt Damon gets more screen time and serves up a performance reminiscent of Bob Newhart, albeit a younger, hipper Bob, but still a Bob with not a bit less deadpan delivery and facial mastery.
• To report on the Michael W. Smith Christmas concert, which I attended with my in-laws – (Sorry I can’t figure out where I made the promise, but I’m sure I did.) We sat in the choir loft, directly above and behind the orchestra. Many very excited middle-aged women were in attendance. American Idol fans came out in equal measure, and some two-for-ones with sparkly mini-skirts and hoodies with MWS iron-ons made appearances too. The symphony stuff was really pretty. The french horns behaved like total snobs. Michael seemed like a genuinely nice guy. There was a massive, silver Christmas tree — I like Christmas trees. And, afterwards, my mother-in-law proclaimed: “Michael W. Smith is the Bach of our generation!”
• To report on the Christmas goings-on — (Chris still hasn’t worked on the pics, so that part’s not entirely my fault.) We opened presents on Christmas morning just the three of us, then we headed over to the Merritts’ for Christmas lunch. Caelyn was too tired to eat and went almost straight to bed; she missed the presents. We had scrumptious roast beef sandwiches on homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, green bean bundles wrapped with bacon, cheese grits, shrimp cocktail, Chex mix, low-fat pumpkin cheesecake, molasses cookies, apple pie, and chocolate chess pie. Lots of good visiting ensued. San Antonio beckoned us the very next day, without giving warning about the traffic that lay ahead. The 4 1/2 hour drive took us 7 1/2. Grandmom’s house bustled with good food (prime rib, mashed potatoes & gravy, asparagus with cheese, green beans, rolls, pecan pie, date pinwheels, and iced Christmas cookies), presents, conversation, 25 family members, and an assortment of illnesses. Chris, Caelyn, Maverick, and I spent the four nights at the Red Roof Inn, which was kind of a roach motel hiding under the guise of a middle-of-the-road inn. They promised us a crib, but they didn’t have a single one in the establishment. Grandmom told Dad that she would be “disappointed in” him if he didn’t demand that we get the room for free. Chris asked them about it — they gave us a pack n’ play. Not the same, but the quiet was worth it. Jen and Mom watched Caelyn so Chris and I could go on a dinner date. Afterwards, we took dessert back to the hotel. Once Caelyn was asleep, we sat on the bed in the dark with the open laptop and headphones, watching LOST and eating pie with baby spoons. That’s my kind of romance.
• To continue my thoughts on the Andrew Peterson Christmas Tour — There were many. And I may still get to them. The one that keeps coming to the surface is what Bebo Norman said about his capacity to suffer. He spoke of a man he knows who was in charge of counting bodies after the genocide in Rwanda. Bebo’s voice shook as he admitted that being aware of that kind of pain makes him question God. “I don’t have the capacity to handle that kind of suffering,” he said, which brought quickly to mind what Lex said about our not being required to or able to take on the suffering of our individual cities, much less the entire world, and his statement about the toll bearing all the misery in just one ICU would take on his ministry. When I’d read that, I hadn’t thought about whether or not we each have a different capacity for suffering. I just agreed. And I still do. Bebo made me wonder, though, and think about if we each have a different cap for personal suffering, as well as for taking on others’ misery, or if we each just have different methods of dealing with pain which makes it seem as though our capacities are different, and what that means for each of us in a human and a Kingdom sense.

BONUS — 7 Things You May Not Know About Me:

(I’m using this as the bonus topic in response to all those e-mails you get asking you to fill out “surveys” about yourself and then pass them on to everyone in your address book. I never participate. Never. But it’s not because I don’t want you to know anything new about me. This list ought to prove it.)

• I have an irrational fear of bees, wasps, yellow jackets, etc.
• I have a double-jointed elbow. And, yes, it does look a little weird.
• I’ve never forgotten to put on my seatbelt.
• I use pillows, curtains, and tape to block out all the light (from windows and electronics) in our room at night.
• I talk and, occasionally, walk in my sleep.
• I make sure the path to the front door is clear every night.
• I fold my fast food wrappers into placemats before eating. It really bothers me if I can’t do it for some reason.

Whew! It feels good to get my list on.

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Filed under Faith, Family and Friends, General, Gilmore Girls, Movies, Music, Reading Materials, TV, The History of Me

Tags: Arrested Development, Classic TV, Lost, Seinfeld, The Office