| | So hey, my last entry was months ago, and it was about Advent. Here we are, mid-February, and we have none-other than the season of Lent! Now, I'm all about Advent (as you may have read way-back-when), but I am even moreso a Lent enthusiast! That kind of seems funny when I think about it; Advent seems pretty easy to be excited about - the anticipation of the birth of Jesus, hope entering the world, the works! And then there's Lent - a time of reflection and repentance. Sometimes it can be a really tough season, but it is always rewarding and it ALWAYS ends in a triumphant celebration that, in my opinion, trumps Christmas any day! Anyway, I have given things up for Lent before, but I don't think I will this year. It sometimes seems like giving things up can just end up being more of a personal challenge, and I might even go so far as to say that it can become a bit of an idol in one's life. Not always, but sometimes. I digress, though - I am not giving anything specific up, nor am I taking anything up, but I do intend to take this season seriously, and I look forward to seeing what God has in store for me.
I've been enjoying some great new music lately! Number one on my list of new favorite bands is The Fratellis! You may have heard these guys on the fantastic iPod commercial they have been showing. They only have a 4 song EP released in the US right now, but a full CD is soon to follow some time next month, and I fully intend to purchase it and rock out to it for days on end. I also bought the second-to-newest Switchfoot CD, Nothing is Sound. At first listen, I was not too impressed. There were a few songs that stuck out, but in general, I was not thrilled with my investment. However, upon additional listenings, this CD has really grown on me. I would not say that it is my favorite Switchfoot CD, but I think it is better than The Beautiful Letdown by far. With time, I am sure I will get their latest, Oh! Gravity. When my sister was home a few weeks ago, she generously left me a copy of the new Shins album, Wincing the Night Away. Leave it to The Shins to put out some great tunes. So fun to sing along to, but great to just have in the background, as well. I knew when I saw them on Saturday Night Life a few weeks back that this would be a good one, and they did not disappoint. A few weeks back I was surfing around iTunes, trying to find something to spend an iTunes giftcard on (man, those things just burn a hole through my pocket if I don't use them fast enough!) and I thought I would try to get some new Jason Morant tunes. It turns out that Jason Morant only has his first CD available on iTunes, but his page linked to other artists. For some reason Leeland jumped out at me, and after hearing about 10 seconds of the iTunes-promo clip, my gift card was s-p-e-n-t! And it was very much worth it. I really hope to hear more from these guys, and I'd really like to see them in concert, as well. Chances are good that both of these things will happen, as Leeland was actually nominated for a grammy this year! Even though they didn't win it, that is a huge achievement, and I'm pretty sure the lead (Leeland, himself), is only 18 or 19. It's amazing what the Lord can do, really! And now I am trying my hardest to not buy more music - but Patty Griffin just released some newness, and I would love to get my hands on it! My, my, my.
Well, I intended to write a few, short segments, but instead I feel that I've rambled too much already. I do hope to get back into the habit of blogging, though. I've been wanting to, but I just couldn't think of a way to start an entry! Whenever I am blogging a lot, my thought process is frequently based on "if I were to write an entry about this, what would the first line be?" I kid you not. Hopefully I will get back into that mindset ... but don't be mad if I don't! |
. I miss you!