Life Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Sarah Fowler Wolfe

What’s Going On Right Now (3/30/11)

Spring! by Theresa Thompson — Image by Theresa Thompson

I never plan to do these link-y posts more than once a week, but sometimes there’s just too much great stuff!

This gets me every time I read or watch The Lord of the Rings: when Frodo is feeling like he just can’t do this herculean task anymore, Gandalf says

“But you have been chosen. And you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.”

The Leadership Journal talks about this in relation to pastors, but it really applies to everyone– mothers, musicians, government employees…

Desiring God Ministries is doing a read-along of the book Desiring God with John Piper himself. Chapters 1 and 2 are available now.

John Samson tells the story of the boat journey to remind us we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

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Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London has entitled its 2011 season “The Word is God” and will mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible with a cover-to-cover reading between Palm Sunday and Easter Monday. The troupe will also put on mystery plays (the dramas of Bible stories that were the beginnings of modern drama), Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII’s short-lived queen and Reformation activist), and other performances and lectures about England’s Biblical heritage and the impact of the King James Bible on the English language and England’s culture.

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Good ol’ FB has some charts on what people spend in an average household budget. It raises a question I often ask myself: if I made more money, could I be disciplined enough to keep the lifestyle I currently enjoy and save the rest?

In classic Godin style, Seth asks what we do with a slow news day.

If you have ten minutes unscheduled and the phone isn’t ringing, what do you do? What do you start?

What’s going on right now (3/28/11)

The Ligonier Ministries National Conference was last weekend. The sessions are now available online, and I highly suggest you make some time to view/listen to them! The optional sessions are about half an hour, and the rest are 1 to 1-1/2 hours long.

In addition, John Piper (author of the life-altering classic Desiring God) preached at Saint Andrew’s on Sunday morning on the supremacy of Christ in calamity. It’s wonderful too.

Not enough Reformed theology for one post? John Samson wrote last week about how there can be five solas of the Reformation since ‘sola’ means ‘alone’.

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In what’s been going around amongst my friends today, check out this post on why men love Jane Austen. There’s also a great post along similar lines about one of my favorite movies of all time, The King’s Speech.

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I didn’t post yesterday that on Saturday I made some chocolate pecan toffee, very similar to this recipe, with my friend Bekka.

Tonight’s dinner was lemon linguine with grilled chicken. I’m waiting for the recipe to be approved on Tasty Kitchen… but basically it’s just linguine tossed with freshly grated Parmesan, freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, and a splash of olive oil.

With the whole “food truck revolution” going on around the country, I wondered when Orlando would get some. Turns out several assembled at SODO today. Even though I didn’t get to go tonight, it bodes well.

Remember when I wrote about Atlas Shrugged? Turns out they’ve made a new movie, or at least Part One of the movie, and since it’s independently distributed they’re only able to do a limited release. Enter your zipcode here to ask for the film in your city, and spread the word! (If the site doesn’t load at first, try again… Boortz mentioned it on the air today so I’m betting the site is getting a lot of new traffic.)

What’s Going On Right Now (3/27/11)

Phew, what a week! In addition to the usual, I volunteered at the Ligonier Ministries National Conference (although unfortunately got a migraine on Friday), and today we (Chancel Choir) sang for two services at Saint Andrew’s before I photographed the latest Fine Arts event.

Last weekend I managed to make chocolate chip banana bread

My beautiful sisters are going to spend the night with me next weekend!

I went to Hobby Lobby and got some fun crafty things for their visit. I also grabbed a couple extra things that have become three new cocktail rings for me (about $5 each).

Have I mentioned (ha!) the awesome Fine Arts series at Saint Andrew’s? This afternoon Ben Lane gave an organ recital.

When I left for the concert, this funky caterpillar was on my car window.

I’m trying to be disciplined about taking more careful photos and posting them without editing. (It has the secondary benefit of saving a great deal of time!) Forgive my learning curve.

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In awesome business advice this week, Chris Brogan wrote a piece about true entrepreneurs. Amber Naslund wrote lessons from the management front lines.

If you want to be temporarily famous, have Grammar Girl repost a link! I’ve had more people mention this hilarious magazine cover gaffe, online and off, than I’d have ever imagined.

Happy new week, ladies and gents!

What’s going on right now (3/17/11)

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.
-Saint Patrick

St. Patrick's Day clover — Image by AdamSelwood

Yup, it’s St. Patrick’s Day (The History Channel has some good, uh, history of the holiday)… and I’ll be wearing orange because I’m Protestant.

Gene Veith suggests we use today to honor all missionaries.

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It’s easy to think we’re spending more on gadgets than ever before (iPad 2, anyone?), but consider 8 gadgets that used to cost a fortune over at Mint.com.

Just in case you need a reminder that formal higher education isn’t for everyone, here are 5 jobs that make $100,000 a year without a college degree. FB also posted a reminder to keep eating out in check for your budget’s sake!

Do you get terrible PR pitches offering pictures of celebrities, coupons, and other junk for the “privilege” of giving companies free publicity? I bet you’ve always wanted a snarky reply to send, and The Bloggess has you covered.

Now you know about Lifehacker, but have you seen Instructables? You never even knew what you didn’t know how to do!

Strange Herring has a hilarious take on time stealing (from earthquakes or calendar syncing).

Links to edify and educate

Tomorrow I’ve scheduled my usual roundup of just-because-they’re-interesting links, but there were a lot more valuable ones this week I thought deserve their own post.

Whether you fast or not, Lent should be a period of reflection and repentance. We can’t just jump straight to Easter without considering the darkness that Jesus overcame. Desiring God has a series of eight biblical devotions to prepare for Easter you can read either on the Sundays of Lent or in Holy Week leading up to Easter.

C. H. Spurgeon is excellent, as always, about why creeds are important to worship.

Ligonier posted an excerpt on hell from R. C. Sproul. Thank God for His mercy.

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A friend wrote a beautiful post when her family visited the Taj Mahal

Because despite the beauty and spectacular, seeming perfection of this wonder, I couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by it all: a king, heart and will set to finish something wonderful, in the name of love no less, but thwarted in the end by his own son. That’s the earthly version. The story that failed. But I know a King who set out to do something wonderful, too, also in the name of love. And not only did he finish it, His Son finished it for Him. In a manner most painful and most giving. And most most beautiful.

“…For nothing can be sole or whole that has not been rent.”

She also has a great way for you to donate to Japan and make sure 100% of the funds goes to relief.

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It’s a crazy world we live in, and just when you think you’ve heard it all you realize even worse things fly under the radar. Did you know Michigan is essentially considering suspending democracy? (On the Ides of March, no less.) It’s still amazing to me that while there are protests around the world against totalitarian regimes we’re begging for them here.

What’s going on right now (3/10/11)

Spring Blossoms by jnyemb — Image by jnyemb

It’s raining and cool today (yay!) but just a couple weeks ago we were in the mid-80s. Spring (ahem, summer) is coming…

I’ve worked a lot of different ways over the course of my career and I’m still figuring out my favorite elements, so I thought this post on Copyblogger about freelancing vs. agency owning was very interesting.

Letters of Note is such a cool blog, and I love this letter they posted from legendary animator Chuck Jones: I dare you all, test your strength: open a book.

Tim Challies writes to remind us we needn’t feel obligated to exert effort responding to email that took no effort.

If you’re a FourSquare user, you might want to check out what’s new in version 3.0 (they always update around SXSW).

Kenneth J. Stewart writes on the Gospel Coalition blog about how it’s a myth that Calvinism undermines the arts. (Shameless plug: Case in point: Saint Andrew’s wonderful Arts series!)

In cool new blog news, my friend has started a great mommy blog about organization and other great ideas.

Where the title comes from

I use my real name more online since I’ve begun consulting, but I used to mostly go by VerseFameBeauty. (If the username SarahFowler is taken, I often still do… it’s my Words With Friends handle, for instance.) People ask all the time where I got the concept, so here once and for all is the name’s origin: a couple of lines I love (emphasis mine) from a [rather whiny and depressing] poem by John Keats.

Why did I laugh tonight? No voice will tell

Why did I laugh tonight? No voice will tell:
No god, no demon of severe response,
Deigns to reply from heaven or from hell.
Then to my human heart I turn at once–
Heart! thou and I are here sad and alone;
Say, wherefore did I laugh? O mortal pain!
O darkness! darkness! ever must I moan,
To question heaven and hell and heart in vain!
Why did I laugh? I know this being’s lease–
My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads:
Yet could I on this very midnight cease,
And the world’s gaudy ensigns see in shreds.
Verse, fame, and beauty are intense indeed,
But death intenser–death is life’s high meed.

– As printed in Essential Keats: Selected by Philip Levine (Essential Poets)(Amazon affiliate link.)

Books I read this month

Books by shutterhacks — Image by shutterhacks

The Pioneer Woman‘s Black Heels to Tractor Wheels–A Love Story

The Hobbit (re-read, of course)

The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way

In the Company of Others: A Father Tim Novel

A.L.T.: A Memoir

The Pasta Queen‘s Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go Away

Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater

It was a very memoir-y month; I was inspired by #fridayreads!

(Amazon Affiliate links.)

Saturday morning

Since my fall, things have been slipping through the cracks. I needed to carve out a day to press the proverbial reset button.

I plan to do laundry, dishes, dusting and vacuuming but also relax a bit; I shared this on Instagram this morning:

Then I made biscuits (a double batch, so I can eat them all week)…

I cut my biscuits in triangles like scones because it’s quicker/easier, and works the dough less so the biscuits stay lighter and fluffier.

(In case you’re wondering, of course Alton Brown has the best biscuit recipe ever.)

Later I’ll post pictures of the venison chili my friend Kate and I made last night!

What’s Going on Right Now (2/14/11)

For all who wondered exactly how Seth Godin’s abandoning traditional publishing would go, check out this cool idea. He’s lowering the Kindle price $1 for every 5,000 email subscribers.

It is Valentine’s Day, and Gene Veith reminds us that romantic love within marriage was something the Reformers brought back.

If you’d like a little more romance in your everyday life– married or single– check out this Mr. Darcy proposal towel on Etsy.

On a practical note, did you know that Experian is now going to start including rental history in your credit report? Could be good news for those of us who are debt-free.

I found this encouraging: Are you taking your faith to the marketplace?

On a geeky note, apparently some scientists took pictures and approximated the average face of different ethnicities. I thought it was pretty accurate, though it doesn’t account for mixed ethnicities.

Fellow Jeopardy! nerds, who else will be watching men vs. computer this week?

I can’t say I haven’t wanted to do something similar from time to time… the Cleveland Stadium Corp’s response to a lawyer concerned about paper airplanes.