Stumble It!
As always, if you're flitting from Thursday Thirteen to Thursday Thirteen, bookmark this page and come back to pursue the links that interest you!
1. The "Lost" Season 4 finale begins tonight! The bummer: we won't get to see the last two hours of the finale until 2 weeks from now. If you can't wait until tonight, here's a few sneak peeks.
2. Sadly, while driving from Texas to Illinois last weekend, my husband and son came upon the wreck that claimed the life of gospel music legend Dottie Rambo. Now, Christian Newswire reports that what is believed to be the last interview with Dottie will air on the Gospel Music Channel.
3. Here's a video of Sandi Patty singing one of my favorite Dottie Rambo songs, "We Shall Behold Him." (That's Dottie herself in the background, obviously being blown away by Sandi's rendition.)
4. Men's Health recently highlighted the most unhealthy food in America.
5. Men's Fitness has named the 25 Fittest Guys in America--they say Tiger Woods tops the list, which also includes a certain presidential candidate.
6. I guess this is one way to beat those high gas prices!
7. Google has passed up Yahoo to become America's most popular website.
8. USA Today likes Prince Caspian.
9. Good News interviews C. S. Lewis stepson' Douglas Gresham about Caspian and related matters, and Movieguide.org also talks with Gresham.
10. Happy 60th birthday, Israel!
11. Children's drawings come to life on this website.
12. Interested in The Hobbit movie? You can take part in an online chat about it with producer Peter Jackson and director Guillermo del Toro.
13. I haven't experimented with it yet, but this website that bills itself as a "media playground" looks intriguing.
At the Cafe Java on the morning of Graduation Day. My mom and Daylyn's parents are there too--it was the first time we had been with both Daylyn's parents since the wedding in 2004! (They live in Idaho.)
My face is always beaming when I'm in a picture with Payton!
Proud parents with our graduate! An MBA is quite an accomplishment...especially when you're holding down a full-time job and being a new daddy.
Jonathan, Daylyn and baby Payton--who was remarkably good sitting through the lengthy graduation ceremony!
At a picnic the next day to honor Jon--Grandpa obliged Payton on the swing.
Also at the picnic--my adorable little niece Arden (my brother's youngest daughter.)
My beautiful mom and me on Sunday morning, Mother's Day. It was the first time I've spent Mother's Day with my mother since 1976!!!
The only child of mine I got to be with on Mother's Day--my firstborn, Jonathan.
Mom with three of her children (my sister Bev couldn't make it)--me, David and Lisa.
The first time my brother prayed for "traveling mercies" I thought he was
praying for a band. Honestly, it sounds like a side project Dave Matthews and
that insanely muscular violin player are involved in. "Tonight, opening up for
Widespread Panic, it's the Traveling Mercies!"
Main Entry: mé·langePronunciation: \mā-ˈläⁿzh, -ˈlänj\Function: nounEtymology: French, from Middle French, from mesler, meler to mix — more at meddleDate: 1653: a mixture often of incongruous elements
Stuff to tell you on this beautiful Cinco de Mayo morning...
--The C.S. Lewis Society is planning a luncheon and private screening of Prince Caspian in San Francisco on May 17th. (from ChristianNewswire.com)
--Speaking of Prince Caspian--here are 12 spiritual lessons you can learn from it. (hat tip to Evangelical Outpost.)
--Are you a mom whose mornings are really crazy--and has kids who are Jonas Brothers fans? You might want to enter the "Moms Craziest Morning" contest here.
--I must say the late Heath Ledger is riveting in the latest trailer for The Dark Knight.
--For some reason, I find the mullet hairstyle (so popular in the 80s) hilarious. So I loved The Top 15 Most Awesome Celebrity Mullets. (Of course Billy Ray Cyrus is on the list--did you even have to ask?) By the way, I totally forgot that both Chuck Norris and Kiefer Sutherland used to sport mullets. The most outrageous, though, has to be Andre Agassi, who looked like he had a squirrel attached to the back of his head.
--Diabetes: The Musical? The winner of this year's Bayer Dream Fund will " 'compose and perform a play about managing life with diabetes,' complete with song and dance numbers." (hat tip to Diabetes Mine)
--A document called The Evangelical Manifesto is expected to be released this week. The document "faults Christians on the right and left for 'using faith' to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible.
--A Zion, Illinois man wants to legally change his name to "In God We Trust."
Happy Monday, everyone!
1. Today is the National Day of Prayer. You may want to check out this page on "How Prayer Works" and this one for some great quotes about prayer. One of my favorites:
"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness."2. Although she didn't always perform well or have an amazing voice, I'm sad to see Brooke White leave American Idol. And I guess I'm not the only one. Linda at Second Cup of Coffee links to an MSNBC story about how Carly Simon is a big Brooke White fan.
-- Martin Luther
3. For fellow Lost fans: an interview with incredible actor Michael Emerson, who plays Ben Linus.
4. Al Mohler has some wise words about Grand Theft Auto IV.
5. Meantime, Mothers Against Drunk Driving is up in arms against Grand Theft Auto IV.
6. Author and blogger Katy McKenna Raymond has come up with a (tongue-in-cheek) creed that I can definitely get on board with! An instant classic, in my opinion.
7. More really awful and hilarious old school Christian album covers in Purgatorio's latest edition of Divine Vinyl.
8. A list of the 50 Most Influential US Political Pundits.
9. The serious problem of eating disorders, especially among young women and girls, is the target of the faith-based True Campaign. From the website:
The True Campaign exists to end the crisis of poor self image by
challenging cultural ideals about identity and beauty, so we can be free to
impact our world as God intended.
I just interviewed Constance Rhodes of the FINDINGbalance, which is co-sponsoring the True Campaign with Remuda Programs for Eating Disorders...will blog more about it later.
Today is Word Out Wednesday, and today I'm pleased to get the word out about the Christy Award nominations. I'm delighted that several of the books I've read and showcased here have been nominated for Christy awards.
According to the Christy Awards website, the awards are designed to:
--Nurture and encourage creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of
fiction written from a Christian worldview.
--Bring a new awareness of the
breadth and depth of fiction choices available, helping to broaden the
readership.
--Provide opportunity to recognize novelists whose work may not
have reached bestseller status.
The awards are named after Catherine Marshall's classic novel, Christy.
The complete list of nominees is here, but I'm just going to re-visit the nominees I've blogged about. Here we go:
Quaker Summer, by Lisa Samson
Quaker Summer was the first month's pick in Cindy's Book Club last summer (now defunct, the Book Club was a lot of fun!)I interviewed Lisa Samson about Quaker Summer, and blogged about it here.
(One of the soundclips is no longer working.)
Jane Kirkpatrick tells me that this is her very first Christy Award nomination--a long time in coming, but totally well-deserved!
I apparently didn't blog about A Tendering in the Storm, although I read and enjoyed it very much. However, I reviewed the first book in the series, A Clearing in the Wild, here.
I'm now reading the latest in the series, A Mending at the Edge, and I'm totally engrossed. I'm excited about interviewing Jane for my radio show next week!
After my daughter and I read Sandra Byrd's delightful Let Them Eat Cake, we couldn't say enough about it!
I blogged about my interview with Sandra, complete with soundclips, here.
I thoroughly enjoyed Angela Hunt's Doesn't She Look Natural? Although I only blogged about it in passing. Only a writer as skilled and talented as Angela could set an absorbing and enjoyable story in a funeral parlor!
I'd always liked Deborah Raney's writing, but reading Remember to Forget reaffirmed my respect for her talent. I blogged about my interview with Deborah here, complete with soundclips.
Sharon Hinck's The Restorer was another Cindy's Book Club pick...and all the participants really enjoyed reading and discussing it.
I blogged about the book and my interview with Sharon here. (One of the soundclips is no longer working...sorry!)
I also read and really liked the sequel, The Restorer's Son.
Auralia's Colors, by Jeffrey Overstreet, was such an unusual book that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get into it...but I ended up loving it, and being a little stunned by the sheer beauty of Overstreet's writing.
Here's my post about my interview with Jeffrey, including a soundclip.
The book is actually nominated in two categories for Christys--Visionary and First Novel.
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Congratulations to these authors and all who received nominations!
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