What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Separation from God and other people. Complete and utter self-centeredness.

Where would you like to live? Somewhere with seasons. Preferably also with mountains.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? Good friends, good books, good coffee, good beer, good music (and not necessarily in that order). Enough money to get by, not so much that I get mater...

• Paul Simon, Graceland
• Derek Webb, I See Things Upside Down
• Radiohead, OK Computer
• Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
• Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison
• U2, War
• The Frames, Fitzcarraldo
• Waterdeep, Everyone's Beautiful
• Punch Brothers, Punch
• The soundtrack to Elizabethtown

• In the Heights
• Rent
• Les Miserables
• Godspell
• The Music Man
• Company
• Sweeney Todd
• The Lion King
• The Sound of Music
• Next to Normal
• West Side Story

1. Singing "Carol of the Bells" in the stairwell.
2. "Singing in the Rain" in the rain in the DC ghetto.
3. Holding his hand by the hotel pool.
4. "I LOST MY SOCKS!"
5. Godspell rehearsals.
6. Praying for Caleb the last day of class.
7. Miscellaneous trips to speech meets. ("Hey, ____, don't make it bad...")
8. The Wonderful Wizard of Odd!
9. Sitting around doing riddles with the Lewises.
10. Praying for one another on the fourth(?) nig...

• Dr. Xin Wang
• Dr. Nancy Chinn
• Dr. Phillip Donnelly
• Donald Miller
• Tim Keller
• Mark Driscoll
• Matt Chandler
• Jeff Hatton
• Pete Hatton
• Neil and Denise Johnston
• Jeremy and Diane Reeves
• C.S. Lewis
• John Piper
• Dr. Paul Larson
• Dr. Anne Osler
• Jacquie Scott
• Karen Allen
• Adam Urrutia
• Josh Kendall
• Stephanie van Wagner
• Hannah Smith
• My mom and dad
• Dr. Greg Garrett
• Christopher Vogler
• Joseph Campbell
• G.K. Chesterton
• J.I. Packer
• Kacy Sandidge-Ell...

• United States: 60
• United Kingdom: 37
• Canada: 7
• France: 3
• Ancient Greece: 3
• Russia: 2
• Argentina: 1
• Germany: 1
• Italy: 1
• Roman Empire: 1
• Australia: 1
• South Africa: 1
• Chile: 1
• anthologies of writers from multiple countries: 4

• A Pentecostal church (I barely remember it, though, I was five)
• Prince of Peace Catholic Church, Houston (my friend's first Communion)
• A mosque in the Dallas area, during afternoon prayer
• Two synagogues (one in Houston, one in Waco)
• A Hindu temple in Austin

• The only place where you can legitimately say that things really are as bad as they can possibly be, ever, is in hell. And this isn't it.
• Most people in the world would give their right arm to have the problems I have.
• If something's not working, work either until it falls apart or you make it work.
• God is not interested in your own righteousness.
• Finish every book you pick up (this may explain a lot)...

• The signing of the Declaration of Independence.
• Christ's crucifixion.
• Christ's resurrection.
• The exodus.
• The first time anyone ever danced.
• The battle of Gettysburg.
• Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses to the Wittenburg church door.
• Any Vietnam War protest.
• MLK's "I have a dream" speech.
• V-E Day, New York City.
• The Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
• The concert on U2's Popmart tour when they got st...

• Librarian (I hope so, anyway).
• Maybe teaching?
• Bookstore proprietress.
• Professional blogger.
• Tech writer.
• Professional poet?
• Baker. Except I'd gain ten pounds my first week...
• Editor.
• Proofreader.
• Travel writer.
• Book agent.

(Are you noticing a theme here?)

• Helping people out of poverty.
• Protesting human rights violations.
• The anti-Iraq War movement.
• Anti-discrimination causes.
• Education reform.
• Health care reform.
• Pro-life causes (not just anti-abortion ones, I might add).
• Sustainable agriculture (also part of helping people out of poverty).
• Sustainable fuel sources.

• Theologian/theologian-related names: Isaac (like Watts), Calvin, Knox, Geneva, Charles (like Spurgeon, or Wesley), Martin, Edward, Katherina (like Mrs. Luther). Not Augustine, though, as badass as that would be.
• Biblical names: Rebekah, Leah, Joseph, Joshua, David, Magdalena, Jeremiah, Daniel, Isaiah, Luke, Matthew, Paul, John, Elizabeth, Hannah, Esther, Ruth, Sarah, Prisca, Timothy, Titus, Aaron, ...

• Blood:Water Mission
• Heifer International
• Student Global Aids Campaign
• Oxfam (yeah, I know...)
• Amnesty International
• To Write Love On Her Arms
• Knitters Without Borders
• Compassion International
• Belmont Foundation
• Um, the Church, above all.

• raw tomatoes
• dark beer
• zucchini
• tartar sauce
• avocados (the taste is fine, it just feels as though I'm eating lotion)
• cottage cheese
• honeydew melon (cantaloupe is fine, honeydew isn't for some reason)
• Almond Joys
• blue cheese
• sweet pickles

• Sister Act 2.
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
• Remember the Titans.
• Moulin Rouge.
• Romeo + Juliet (the Baz Luhrmann edition).
• Singin' In the Rain.
• The Emperor's New Groove.
• The Princess Bride.
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy (although not all of them in one sitting...).
• Any Pixar movie.
• Pulp Fiction.
• Fight Club.
• High Fidelity.
• Godspell.
• Minority Report.
• The Patriot.
• Braveheart.
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
• Return to Me.

• They stick things out even when they get rough. COMMITMENT. I mean, they've been married for 37 years and have been through all manner of random crap together--miscarriages, illnesses, weird financial decisions, moves, two adoptions, at least one suicide attempt, one of their kids getting busted for drugs (er, my brother, not me...)--and they wouldn't trade it for anything. Go them.
• They're willing...

• Men in Trees (just because of the title--I actually don't know what it's about)
• The rest of Buffy
• Jeremiah (it was an HBO or Showtime show, I think; it had Sean Astin and Malcolm-Jamal Warner and it's post-apocalyptic, which are all elements that have me intrigued).
• The Next American Band (it starts next week).
• Brothers and Sisters (I've heard good things about this)
• Um. I need to catch up on Heroes.
• An...

• Korea, to get in touch with my roots.
• The great American road trip (places to hit: Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas [just because], Waco, Austin, Qulin, MO [it's a town in the middle of nowhere, where my uncle just happens to live], St. Louis, Chattanooga, Ft. Bragg [where my brother lives], Baltimore [I want to stalk Duff Goldman], Philadelphia, and maybe NYC).
• Australia/Ne...

• e.e. cummings, "somewhere i have never travelled"
• e.e. cummings, "anyone lived in a pretty how town"
• 2. “Epithalamion” by Edmund Spenser
• “Jesus Moshpit” by Big Poppa E (I swear, that’s not as weird/blasphemous as it sounds, but there’s some rather, uh, questionable language)
• “The Sun Rising” by John Donne
• “Inviting a Friend to Supper” by Ben Jonson
• “Prayer” by Matthew John Conley...

• the whole van Wagner clan (well...Mr. and Mrs. VW won't be around when I'm old, but still...)
• Hannah
• Teacher Dave
• Ashley
• Erica
• the Sara(h)s
• Josh
• Zach
• Adam
• Karen
• Tim
• Justin
• Joel
• Heidi
• Landon

If we all end up at the nursing home together, I won't mind. :)

• Needing to have all the answers.
• Being afraid of what other people think of me.
• Giving myself a greater level importance than I probably have.
• Despair.
• Intellectual arrogance.
• Not getting outside of myself long enough to love other people.

• gunshot wound
• stab wound
• collapsed lung due to stab wound
• hypertension
• diabetes
• shingles
• chicken pox
• pneumonia
• fibromyalgia
• endometriosis (and subsequent hysterectomy)
• heart attack
• bypass surgery
• gallbladder removal
• burst appendix
• cellulitis
• AIDS
• throat cancer
• brain tumors
• cracked skull
• third-degree burns
• scar tissue in lungs
• psoriasis
• dementia
• hypoglycemia
• near-fatal mystery disease
• septic arthritis
• rheumatoid arthritis
• st...

• Not saving more money for Edinburgh.
• Not keeping in touch more with Scotland people.
• Senior prom.
• That crush on that one guy...
• Every time I've screamed at my parents.
• My relationship with my brother.

• fear
• depression
• cancer
• the Fall
• the damn war
• the fact that my brother fights in the damn war and could therefore get himself blown up
• fibromyalgia
• saturated fat
• insomnia
• the decline of people buying full albums
• the suburbs
• Houston's layout
• Houston's lack of good public transportation
• Houston traffic
• throwing up
• Shaquille O'Neill's film career
• Baylor football (as of late)
• mathematics more advanced than elementary a...

• 2007 top 50 (my top 50 songs for the year, although this should be obvious)
• choral music
• christmas music
• colors (titles w/colors in them)
• comfort music
• dance music
• female vocalists
• flight soundtrack (for a play i'm writing)
• good friday
• guitars and vocals only
• happy music
• high school music
• hymnody
• names (titles that are just people's names)
• numbers (titles w/numbers in them)
• one-word titles
• piano [wo]men (sequel t...

• U2 - Achtung Baby
• U2 - Rattle and Hum
• Counting Crows - Hard Candy
• The Beatles - Revolver
• The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
• The Garden State soundtrack
• The High Fidelity soundtrack
• The Elizabethtown soundtrack
• Zwan - Mary, Star of the Sea
• Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin'
• Ben Folds Five - The Unauthorized Autobiography of Reinhold Messner
• Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs
• Johnny Cash - Live at Folsom Pri...

• Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
• Anonymous, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Athanasius, On the Incarnation
• Augustine, Confessions
• Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
• James Baldwin, Go Tell It On the Mountain
• David Brooks, Bobos in Paradise
• Sigmund Brouwer, The Weeping Chamber
• Francis Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
• Willa Cather, Shadows on the Rock
• Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
• M...

• California (only LAX, but it kind of counts)
• Missouri (lived there for six years)
• Texas (lived here for sixteen years--holy crap)
• Oklahoma (family reunion)
• Georgia (the Atlanta airport, and I think we stopped in a random town to eat here on the way to Florida...it was either here or Mississippi)
• New Jersey (the Newark airport)
• Virginia
• Maryland (both on trips to the DC area)
• Florida (church camp)
• Hawaii (s...

• Ballwin Baptist Church (Ballwin, MO)
• Champion Forest Baptist Church (Houston, TX)
• Houston Northwest Baptist Church (Houston, TX)
• University Baptist Church (Waco, TX)
• Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Waco, TX)
• Kaleo Church (Houston, TX)
• New Restalrig Church (Edinburgh, UK)
• Austin City Life (Austin, TX)

• Humility.
• The ability to accept grace and kindness.
• The ability to give grace and kindness.
• Intellectual curiosity.
• A good sense of humor.
• Respect for other people's dignity.
• Strength in difficult circumstances.
• The ability to have a good time.

• U2, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
• The Beatles, "Twist and Shout"
• Aretha Franklin, "Respect"
• Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
• Dusty Springfield, "Son of a Preacher Man"
• ...and I think that's it.

• A foster mom, somewhere in Korea, whose name I don't know.
• My parents.
• My older brother, his wife, and their first two kids.
• Courtney, my first college roommate, who was never there
• Julia, the second one, who hated me
• Kacy, who still drives me nuts even though I love her
• Ashley, Sarah, and Lulu
• Sara, H, Erica, Nicole, Nikki, Chelsey, and Jessie, who didn't technically live at our apartment, but might as ...

1. I have too many interests--my focus is wide, not deep. I couldn't pick one area of study, and I'd end up being that professor that rambles and bores my students.
2. Literary criticism bores me, quite frankly.
3. I'm bad at making logical arguments.
4. I can't follow other people's arguments, at least not in an obvious way. I can intuit them, just not recount or explain them.
5. I don't like speaking to groups of ...

• The new surge of domesticity/craft/whatever, how it’s been affected by postmodern and feminist sensibilities, how it’s a spiritual activity, a Reformed theology of the household (which I do think is possible to piece together, it’s just that no one who’s a theological conservative has really written anything on it that I’m aware of), how this is portrayed in postmodern literature. This m...

• William Miller (Almost Famous)
• The whole Weasley clan, even Percy (the Harry Potter series).
• Meyer Landsman (The Yiddish Policeman’s Union).
• Dr. Ransom (the Space trilogy).
• Sam (Benny and Joon)
• Cameron (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
• Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice)
• Janie (Their Eyes Were Watching God)
• Dr. Vivian Bearing (Wit)
• Fred, Gunn, and Wesley (Angel)
• Jayne and Kaylee (Firefly)
• Sully and Boo (Mon...