Sketches from Leonardo Da Vinci

One Fish - Dr. Seuss

Because I've been thinking about things that have influenced me. :-)
I also have two nieces that are quit enthralled with Dr. Seuss. What is it about him?

One Fish

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

Black fish blue fish old fish new fish

Some are red and some are blue.

Some are old and some are new.

Some are sad and some are glad.

And some are very, very bad.

Why are they sad and glad and bad?
I dont know.
Go ask your dad.

Some are thin and some are fat.

The fat one has a yellow hat.

From there to here, from here to there, funny things everywhere.

Here are some who like to run.

They run for fun in the hot, hot sun

Oh me! Oh my!

Oh me! Oh my!

What alot of funny things go by.

Some have two feet and some have four.

Some have six feet and some have more.

Where do they come from?

I cant say.

But I bet they have come a long, long way.

We see them come.

We see them go.

Some are fast.

And some are slow.

Some are high.

And some are low

Not one of them is like another.

Don't ask us why.

Go ask your mother.

Thanks for reading. I know it was highly stimulating today. ;-)
Miss Pickwickian

Collision - Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson

This is something I've been wanting to see for a very long time and it finally happened!
I was not disappointed. I strongly recommend it.

It really makes one think and opens your eyes to what some people out there really try to tell themselves. It is almost hard to imagine such a wildly different viewpoint and world view. Everything is so drastically effected.

It certainly takes a lot of faith for Hitchens to be so sure that there is no God.

Anyways, I really appreciated how it made me think and how it showed the characters of both men.
It also made me wish I was a lot smarter...

Here is a short trailer. I hope this inspires you to go out and watch it yourself. If you've already seen it let me know what you think.




Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

With Child - Julian Smith

Because sometimes on a Monday, we need a reminder to laugh....

This is Julian Smith's latest video.
I know this isn't everybody's type of humor, but the last part gets me every time. ;-)

Hoped you laughed,
Miss Pickwickian

Bed of Roses - Chesapeake

I have been so excited finally find Chesapeake songs on Youtube!

This is a lovely duet with Moondi Klein and Trisha Yearwood.

This has been my #1 love song for several years. So amazing!

Beautiful.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

A Character - Inspector Javert

I've been talking about things that greatly influenced me and my writing, so I felt the urge to give Inspector Javert and Victor Hugo their due.
In fact, I think Les Miserables as a whole has greatly effected me. Let's focus on Javert. How long do you want this post to be, anyways. ;-)

Javert is an amazing three dimensional character, which I think, must have been especially difficult giving his particular traits. He is dutiful, stoic, uncommunicative, unmovable, legalistic-- all things that few authors seem to portray without getting flat stereotypes. And he changes realistically.

Unfortunately I think I have tried to imitate Victor Hugo too many times and have not achieved his success. I can see poor attempts at Javert in many of my characters scattered through several projects.

Going back and picking apart why I like Javert so much has been a recent study of mine. I think there is a lot to learn.

I'm not saying, of course, that we should try to copy him. I can just see his profound influence in a lot of my own characters of the years. I didn't even realize he was influencing them! Now I want to study why mine are so bad and Hugo's is so good.

As irritating as he can be, I think he'll remain one of my favorite characters forever.

Here is an excerpt from the end of Javert's life. Some is cut out, with no offense to the genius of the author, simply for spaces sake. ;-)

(Oh Beka! I feel like quoting it with you at this moment. Thanks for being my Les Mis quoting pal!;-)

Javert made his way with slow steps from the Rue de l'Homme Arme. He walked with his head down, for the first time in his life, and, for the first time in his life as well, with his hands behind his back...His whole person, slow and gloomy, bore the impress of anxiety...

He took the shortest route towards the Seine, reached the Quai des Ormes, went along the quai...This point of the Seine is dreaded by mariners. Nothing is more dangerous that this rapid...Men who fall in there, one never sees again; the best swimmers are drowned.

Javert leaned both elbows on the parape, with his chin in his hands, and while his fingers were clenched mechanically in the thickest of his whiskers, he reflected.

There had been a new thing, a revolution, a catastrophe in the depths of his being, and there was a matter for self-examination.

Javert was suffering rightfully...[He] felt that duty was growing weaker in his conscience, and he could not hide it from himself...He saw before him two roads, both equally straight; but he saw two; and that terrified him--him, who had never in his life known but one strait line. And, bitter anguish, these two roads were contradictory. One of these two straight lines excluded the other. Which of the two was true?

His condition was inexpressible.

To owe life to a malefactor, to accept that debt and to pay it, to be, in spite of himself, on a level with a fugitive from justice, and to pay him for one service with another service; to allow him to say "go away," and to say to him in turn, "Be free"; to sacrifice duty, that general obligation, to personal motives, and to feel in these personal motives something general also, and perhaps superior; to betray society in order to be true to his own conscience; that all these absurdities should be realized and that they should be accumulated upon himself, this was by which he was prostrated...

Where was he? He sought himself and found himself to longer.

~Les Miserables


Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

High Sierra - Moondi Klein

I was so incredibly thrilled to find this video with Moondi Klein singing!
He probably has my favorite voice in the whole world. ;-) Okay, I like a lot of different voices for different reasons, but his is pretty awesome.

I like his later singing better (what he does with Jimmy Gaudreau and the Kruger brothers is amazing) but his time with the band Chesapeake has some wonderful songs too.
Anyways, I was just excited to actually find something of his that I could post! High Sierra has been a favorite.
The recording on the album called 2:10 Train is the best. The instrumentals are considerably cooler.

Moondi Klein sings numerous Eric Bogle songs for which I am inexpressibly grateful. I love Bogle's lyrics, but have a hard time coming to terms with his voice.

High Sierra has been performed by many talented musicians, but this one, obviously is the best. (This is not open to argument.:-)

Enjoy.

High Sierra

I've been higher than the high sierra
Lower than Death Valley must be
I've been right, mostly wrong
Wrong about you, right about me

The way I feel, can't explain
So much passion turned to pain
The sun still shines most of the time
Did you know the sun shines when it rains

I've been higher than the high sierra
Lower than Death Valley must be
I've been right, mostly wrong
Wrong about you, right about me

I've been cussed and I've been praised
And I've been nothing these days
But I'll come back, time will see
If I'm wrong about you, right about me

I've been higher than the high sierra
Lower than Death Valley must be
I've been right, mostly wrong
Wrong about you, right about me

written by Harley L. Allen

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

The Eye that Blinks

"Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?" He paused again, his eyes misty now, and then went on. "I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something.
A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant.
Do you understand what I am saying? A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard to work to fill one's life with meaning. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest. When I am no longer here. Do you understand what I am saying?"

~ From The Chosen by Chaim Potok

What a difference Christ makes in meaning and in suffering!

I've been searching through my recent journals because I know I just came across an amazing passage from a book on suffering, but I can't remember what it was from. I'm sure I wrote it down, but I can't find it.

Here is another that is also extremely good from an Elisabeth Elliot book I've been reading...

"Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process."

~Elisabeth Elliot

And Romans...

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

~Romans 5:3-5

Okay, now I promise I won't talk about The Chosen for awhile. ;-)
We can go back to talking about Inception if you like. I was able to see it again on Monday and it was even more amazing the second time even though we were in our cheap local theater that smells like cigarettes, has bad sound, and a small screen compared to the IMax in Seattle. ;-)

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Sniffing Books

Last night I taught my niece about book sniffing. It was high time she learned. She is seventeen months old and about to be a big sister!

Her favorite seemed to be leather. My journal is leather, so in addition it smells like fresh ink. I think I smell it more then anything else. ;-)
My journal is awesome.

And there is the smell of old books. Yummy!

And there is the smell of new ink on once blank paper.

Then there is the smell of musty books.

And the smell of your Bible.

And the smell of a new, cheap paperback! Oh what bliss!

I think this is one of the biggest problems in the Christian book market. We insist on printing our books on pure white pages with shinny covers and no smell. This may look up-to-date and last forever, but it looses the magical aroma of a cheap paperback.

And the very best of all...a lot of books of all sorts!

Rambles and Potok's "The Chosen"

You know the feeling you get when you go back and read something that greatly influenced your life. You think "oh, that's where that came from!".

I get this a lot when I look at books like:
The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Westmark Trilogy and The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander
Narnia
The Blonde Night of Germany by Raymond Toliver and Trevor Constable
Just to name a few that have had obvious influences on me in my youth. ;-)

Or movies like:
Life is Beautiful
Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews)
Beautiful Mind

The Mayflower Voyagers: This is America Charlie Brown :-)
The Pianist
and more...

Or songs like:
Bob Dylan's Forever Young
Trail Band's Boatman
Jimmy Gaudreau, Bennett, and Auldridge's This Old Town and We Live in Two Different World's Dear
And of course Mundi Klein, especially his High Sierra, And the Band Played "Waltzing Matilda", and Leaving Nancy.
and hundreds more, I'm sure....

Well, the point is you can go back to something that you read, listened to, or watched and see the obvious ways it has influenced you, even if you didn't like it all that much.
I especially think our characters often reflect the characters we fell in love with when we were younger.

I got this very odd sensation while I was reading The Chosen. Not just the characters and plot, but parts of the actual style (mostly the parts I didn't like) reminded me of myself and my writing. It was like "oh, that's where that came from...uh wait...".
So over all, it was a very unusual experience.
I only wish that I could be such a genius. :-)

My main criticism for The Chosen are just stylistic things. I think the only reason they bugged me so much was because there were problems I have (and I don't have his good qualities to counter balance them). The issues were more opinion related things and were low key in this sort of literary novel.

I loved this novel. Really loved it.

I thought I'd expound on that because I could go on and on, but I find that maybe I should go find something to eat or take a nap. There is nothing left in my head.

If you've read it or want to discuss it, contact me. I'd love to talk about it, when I have a brain. :-)

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Writing and Reading

This last week we had a three day writing and planning trip. I was able to get a lot done and it helped me refocus and work out some concrete goals. Very productive.

Besides writing, obviously, I got a lot of reading done. I'm hopelessly behind in reviews, so here are a few quick squibs.





I finished His Rules by Christopher L. Burge & Pamela Toussaint.


This book was an extremely good one that really covers any age or predicament for someone who is single.




Really enjoyed it and it was an easy read. The main thing that bothered me was their use of the MSG and sometimes their strange use of Scripture totally out of context...but really, an excellent book!

You can read my sister's squib on it here.

I read two Elie Wiesel novels, which I have mixed feelings about... I felt like his writing style wasn't as deep as Night. (If that makes any sense.) Of course, his personal memoir will probably remain the deepest.





I also think that because he wrote these novels in French (at least not his first or second or third language) which was then translated to English by two different translators, they might have lost some of their potency.
Night was written in Yiddish and the version I read was translated to English by his wife. I imagine she probably has a better understanding of what he wanted to say then a normal translator.

Interesting and thought provoking, but certainly not easy, warm-fuzzy reads.

I finished On Writing by Stephen King. I had some extremely mixed feelings about it. I would not recommend it because of language and crudeness, which is really to bad because King has a lot of excellent things to say about writing.





Books on writing are written by writers who feel like writing about writing. Duh? Yes, but I have a point.
I think these writers in general tend to be plot-first novelist and learn a certain way (I know I'm greatly generalizing here, but this has been my experience.) They don't cover everything.

I honestly don't think Stephen King would have woken up one morning thinking he'd love to write a book on writing. His publisher or agent told him to.

He has a unique perspective and writes from the hip, which is something most writers that have written books on writing don't do. He actually bashes plotting (which I do not entirely agree with). He emphasises more of the feel and rhythm of writing.

While I didn't agree with some of what he said I could feel the balance this book helped me take. I was very inspired to write and it felt more carefree again.

I know a lot of this book was things I needed to hear. Unfortunately some of it was things I really didn't need to hear too. So...yeah, what a bummer to have objectionable content in such a good book!

One specific thing he talked about was writing as telepathy, which was something I'd never heard before.

Here are a few quotes. There was so many good ones, but I'm only including two.

"All arts depend upon telepathy to some degree, but I believe that writing offers the purest distillation. Perhaps I'm prejudiced, but even if I am we may as well stick with writing, since it's what we came her to think about."

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut."





I read The Chosen by Chaim Potok which is something that has been sitting on my desk-shelf for some time. Mama has been telling me for awhile that I would like this book and I've finally got around to reading it!




We were able to watch a live play version earlier this year, which was very good and already gave me a grasp of the story. Reading this book was certainly an interesting experience.

I'll be giving this novel it's own post soon. :-)



So, yeah. That's what I've been doing.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

If You Look

"If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair."
~ C. S. Lewis

Because Books are Plain Awesome

Writing is Work

"Writing is physical work. It's sweaty work. You just can't will yourself to become a good writer. You really have to work at it."
~ Will Haygood

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."
~Thomas Jefferson

Tell Me Why - Declan Galbraith

I have really enjoyed some Declan Galbraith over the last few years... I love his early stuff. I'm hoping the current style of his singing is just a faze and that his totally mature voice will be a little less nasally. Not that I don't like it now, but it's certainly not my music of choice.

Another thing that is cool about this singer, for me at least, is the fact that his first public performance was impromptu at a Dickens festival when he was dressed up as a chimney sweep. Obviously his career has sky rocketed since then.

We'll see what happens to it, and his voice in the future.

I know this song isn't completely sound, but I think it is fitting for a boy trying to figure out the world. And it's the first song I heard by him and I love it. :-)


Thankfully this before the bad hair days....

Tell Me Why

In my dream children sing a song of love for every boy and girl
The sky is blue and fields are green and laughter is the language of the world
Then I wake and all I see is a world full of people in need

Tell me why (why) does it have to be like this?
Tell me why (why) is there something I have missed?
Tell me why (why) cos I don't understand.
When so many need somebody we don't give a helping hand.
Tell me why?

Everyday I ask myself what will I have to do to be a man?
Do I have to stand and fight to prove to everybody who I am?
Is that what my life is for to waste in a world full of war?

Tell me why (why) does it have to be like this?
Tell me why (why) is there something I have missed?
Tell me why (why) cos I don't understand.
When so many need somebody we don't give a helping hand.
Tell me why?

(Children) tell me why? (declan) tell me why?
(Children) tell me why? (declan) tell me why?
(Together) just tell me why, why, why?

Tell me why (why) does it have to be like this?
Tell me why (why) is there something I have missed?
Tell me why (why) cos I don't understand.
When so many need somebody we don't give a helping hand.

Tell me why (why, why, does the tiger run)
Tell me why (why why do we shoot the gun)
Tell me why (why, why do we never learn)
Can someone tell us why we let the forest burn?

(Why, why do we say we care)
Tell me why (why, why do we stand and stare)
Tell me why (why, why do the dolphins cry)
Can some one tell us why we let the ocean die?

(Why, why if we're all the same)
Tell me why (why, why do we pass the blame)
Tell me why (why, why does it never end)
Can some one tell us why we cannot just be friends?
Why, why?


Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl - N.D. Wilson

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken Word by N.D. Wilson
Thomas Nelson




Rating: 9+
Readability: 9
Impact: 10+




Read it Again: Yes, actually I went back through to write some quotes and ended up just reading it all again... And I want to do it again soon. :-)
Recommend It: Yes! I think as soon as I can afford it, this will be my next giveaway! You can buy it here. :-)

If you read nothing else of this post, read the last, longer quote on this review!

What to Expect

A book that does not go strait, but one that revels in God's creation and sees the story the Master Author is weaving.
Funny, artistic, wise, heart tugging, and thought provoking. I cried and laughed and took hundreds of notes.

Note: Some of the material may not be considered suitable for younger ages.

My Squib

Loved this book to death. :-)

So much food for thought, deep (but understandable) discussion, random humor, all bundled up in an awesome writing style.
I can see some people not liking this book because of it's meandering and style, but everyone can benefit from what it has to say and what it makes you think about.

I, of course, loved what N.D. Wilson said about art, especially using evil in art. Besides it all being directly applicable to Christian life, it was particularly amazing to one interested in writing.

His whole section of evil existing in the world with an all powerful, all knowing, all good God was especially influential.

I appreciated the refreshed view I came away with about all of creation.
Sometimes I worry about myself and how uninterested I am in sight seeing and scenery. If it has to do with history it's all very well and good, but if it's just a pretty tree or a piece of rock my attention span is limited. (Okay, those things have history too, but you know what I mean.)
I guess I'm not a natural romantic. And sometimes that actually bothers me...

I know some awesome people who can tell me all about something beautiful and it truly sounds amazing. They could write a poem about a tree or a mountain they would sound honest. I think mine would sound like it was laughing at itself.

Somehow this book helped me get a clearer view. I'm trying to appreciate those things more. And if I can't stand and look at a tree for an hour, that's okay.

I think I have a tendency towards cynicism and this book is one of many amazing things God has used to keep me from becoming even more messed up. ;-)

So, I don't know if any of that made any sense. Basically, I am just really thankful for this book and grateful for God bringing it into my life at just the right time.

I really can't think of anything to add. It's awesome. Go read it.

From the Book

There is seriously way too much amazingness, so you are going to have to go check it out for yourself. :-)

"And I move on, with the sun on my face. Clouds are growing in the west, glorious clouds piled up with rowdy care and sparked electric life.
I feel my lungs with the world, with this life, with this gift beyond containing. There is only one thing I can say.
Thank you. And I must say it with my life. Through my life. To the end of my life. And after."

"Why do Christians think of purity, holiness, and even divinity as something with big eyes and soft fur? Why do we so often ignore the beautiful in exchange for the cute?"

"The trite is more comfortable. I like angels I can hug. Forget the pillar of fire; a teddy bear is a more fitting icon of holiness."

Read this-
"Do not resent your place in the story. Do not imagine yourself elsewhere. Do not close your eyes and picture a world without thorns, without shadows, without hawks. Change this world. Use your body like a tool meant to be used up, discarded, and replaced. Better every life you touch. We will reach the final chapter. When we have eyes that can stare into the sun, eyes that only squint for the Shekinah, then we will see laughing children pulling cobras by the tails, and hawks and rabbits playing tag.
But we cannot hope to reach the final chapter by dreaming, by holding our collective breath and staring a unshaded acrylic escape paintings. The only road to that final chapter began a the garden and led into the wilderness. It runs through these chapters. Live now. Relish the tensions, the challenges, and laugh at the petty pains."


If you've read it or when you read it, tell me what you think. :-)
Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

One Winner...and a Bunch of Losers

You know, I really wish you all could win. This book is so amazing and I want you all to have it! If you didn't win, which most of you didn't, I strongly suggest buying the book. If that means eating beans and potatoes for the next month...it will be well worth it. ;-) Order The Art and Craft of Christian Fiction on Amazon Order the Art and Craft of Christian Fiction directly from Marcher Lord Press When you read it, let me know what you think. :-) Now to business. I hope you've all be waiting expectantly. Thank you to all those who entered! We had 83 entries, 82 of which did not get picked. Sorry guys, but thank you for your support and help in spreading the word. The randomly selected winning number was... Entry 75 - Shayleen at She Drinks Coffee at Midnight (If you all did not skip directly to this declaration, I am extremely proud of you.)

Shayleen, I hope this is a great encouragement to you and really helps you advance in fiction writing.
I shall be contacting you personally very soon! :-)
Congratulations!

For all of you who are not Shayleen. Sorry. But it's not to late to win a giveaway and an awesome book!
Rosanne E Lortz, authoress, is giving away a signed copy of her historical fiction work, I Serve. Check it out. Entry is easy!

Special thanks to all of you who posted about the giveaway on your blog or placed my link in your sidebar. It is greatly appreciated.

If you write a blog that relates to anything I type here and feel the urge, please contact me about trading links. You can email me at pickwickian.forever(at)gmail(dot)come.

Thanks again,
Miss Pickwickian

P.S. I have no idea what is going on with formating. I've tried to make this post pretty a hundred times, but it's time to move on. I have been beaten.

The Giveaway Ends Tonight!

The Art and Craft of Writing Christian Fiction
Jeff Gerke

If you are not already entered, you have until midnight!

See Giveaway details.

A Character - Mr. Edward Carter

I've never been able to fully emerge myself in Elizabeth Gaskell's writing, but I love her stories and characters. I think they excel when adapted to the screen. The jerkiness and narrow description (or just weirdness) of characters smooths out on film.

I'm not saying I don't like Gaskell's work, I really do, but I just don't love her style.

She has given me some of my true all time favorite characters. Jessie Brown, Mrs. Thorton, Miss Matty, Molly Gibson, Nicholas Higgins, Lady Ludlow, Miss Galindo, and others are immortal in my imagination.

Two of my all time favorite heroes are her creations. The amazing Mr. John Thorton and Mr. Edward Carter. Everyone knows how awesome Mr. Thorton is, so this post is for Mr. Carter. :-)

What makes Gaskell's characters and stories stick out to me is their complexity. You can love a gazillion characters and be siding with them all, even though they are all siding against each other.

They might struggle with reassurance, but they are acting on what they believe to be right. They are taking a stand for something. They deal with real life problems and it's hard.

Mr. Carter is compassionate but tough.
He's loyal (even to crabby people:-).
He'll tell the truth even when it costs him.
He's willing to give great personal sacrifice to help others, even if he can't trust them or knows there will be no sort of return.

Basically, he's so awesome, yet believable.

With Lady Ludlow.
(One of the aforesaid difficult people to work with.)

With Harry.
This part is so sad.

With one of the pretties, sweetest bouquets of all time.

With Miss Galindo.

With Miss Galindo again...
Just because that is where he should be.

With Captain Brown.
No! Turn around!

With Miss Galindo.
Writing his will. One of the sweetest, saddest scenes of all time.

With Harry, Miss Matty, Deborah, and Miss Pole.

There is a relatively nice "tribute video" you can see here. I would have posted it, but I thought the end seemed sort of lame and trivial given the caliber of the character.

If you haven't explored Elizabeth Gaskell, you should! Wives and Daughters, Cranford, Return to Cranford, and North and South are all amazing period dramas.

I always enjoy trying to think through why I like a character so much or why someone is just plain awesome. I consider it a great study for my writing. ;-)

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

More on Inception

Maybe some of you are tired of thinking about Inception...but that's going to be awhile for me. :-)

in·cep·tion: The beginning of something, such as an undertaking; a commencement.

The beginning of something... Putting an idea out there. Changing, however subtly, the way someone thinks. Isn't this what we are doing when we are writing?

Thinking, thinking.

Hmm...

Thinking.

So, we are basically Leonardo DeCaprio. Sweet.

Writing is important. (You all already know I think this.;-)
And what you read and watch is really important too. How are we getting changed by what's going in? Are we changing people by what's coming out? How?

Just thinking,
Miss Pickwickian

Okay...so maybe the pic didn't have that much to do with the post, but it's cool.

None of us Escapes the Influence

Here is an amazing post concerning fiction and character by Peter Leithart on Credenda Agenda.

Why Read II

Check it out! It explains ideas that have been bouncing around in my head. I just don't have the wisdom and skill to sort it all out and write them down.

Miss Pickwickian

Blowin in the Wind - Bob Dylan

This is an awesome Bob Dylan classic. :-) Love this song.


1963
In the early days. The sound isn't as good on this one, but it's interesting to see him near the beginning of his career.


1971
I really like his singing style in the 70s.

There's a live recording online from a performance of Blowin in the Wind from 2010, but the sound is awful. I don't think it's a legal video. Anyways, if you want to hear the progression of his style, you can check out that one too. :-)

Blowin' In The Wind

How many roads most a man walk down
Before you call him a man ?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand ?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea ?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free ?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky ?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

~ Bob Dylan


Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

In This Story

"In this story, the sun moves. In this story, every night meets a dawn and burns away in the bright morning. In this story, Winter can never hold back the Spring... He is the best of all possible audiences, the only Audience to see every scene, the Author who became a Character and heaped every shadow on Himself. The Greeks were right. Live in fear of a grinding end and a dank hereafter. Unless you know a bigger God, or better yet, are related to Him by blood."

~N.D. Wilson in Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl

The Kiss of Judas - Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

This painting is also known as The Taking of Christ.

In Lonesome Dove - Garth Brooks

Okay...so Garth Brooks is amazing. Just to get that out there. :-)
I think his songs have a cohesiveness where a lot of country songs fail. However outdated his fashion choices, I think his music is going to endure. ;-)

In Lonesome Dove is one of my many favorite songs. Unfortunately there is very little Garth Brooks on Youtube. You can look this up and hear someone else sing it, but of course it's not the same.

If you've already heard it, you know what I mean. It's awesome. :-)

In Lonesome Dove

She was a girl on a wagon train
Haded west across the plains
The train got lost in a summer storm
They couldn't move west and they couldn't go home
Then she saw him ridin' through the rain
He took charge of the wagons and he saved the train
And she looked down and her heart was gone
The train went west but she stayed on
In Lonesome Dove

A farmer's daughter with a gentle hand
A blooming rose in a bed of sand
She loved the man who wore a star
A Texas Ranger known near and far
So they got married and they had a child
But times were touch and the West was wild
So it was no surprise the day she learned
That her Texas man would not return
To Lonesome Dove

Back to back with the Rio Grande
A Christian woman in the devil's land
She learned the language and she learned to fight
But she never learned how to beat the lonely nights
In Lonesome Dove, Lonesome Dove

She watched her boy grow into a man
He had an angel's heart and the devil's hand
He wore his star for all to see
He was a Texas lawman legacy
The one day word blew into town
It seemed the men that shot his father down
Had robbed a bank in Cherico
The only thing 'tween them and Mexico
Was Lonesome Dove

The shadows stretched across the land
As the shots rang out down the Rio Grande
And when the smoke had finally cleared the street
The men lay at the ranger's feet
But legend tells to this very day
That shots were comin' from an alleyway
Though no one knows who held the gun
There ain't no doubt if you ask someone
In Lonesome Dove
Back to back with the Rio Grande
A Christian woman in the devil's land
She learned the language and she learned to fight
But she never learned how to beat the lonely nights
In Lonesome Dove, Lonesome Dove

~Garth Brooks

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian