learning God, functioning in my Spiritual giftings, serving/caring for the Body of Christ, playing with my son (who is bigger than me now), singing, writing songs, listening to music (CHRISTIAN ONLY), going to concerts, moshing, writing poetry, shooting stuff (photography), writing short dissertations and dissertive prose, drinking Governor's Cup coffee (I'm very particular; there's a tiny little hole-in-the-wall establishment -- and I mean HOLE-IN-THE-WALL; I think one side of the shop is actually the outside of the wall of the adjacent business! -- right in the heart of downtown Salem called The Governor's Cup. Kevin, the owner, roasts his own imported Columbian and Kenyan beans daily right in the front of the store. Admittedly, I think I'm probably most loyal to GovCup coffee just for the sheer uniqueness of the urban poetry paradigm that the place always conjures up for me. That and the fact that their coffee is really, really good. :) ), really old downtown buildings -- the less refurbished the better, taking pensive walks by myself, any sky that's not overcast, the color indigo (NOT COBALT), cats, bunnies, playing with my hair (perming, colouring, wearing it in fun ways, seeing how much hair product I can put in it before it actually breaks...), going for a nice long drive, wearing toe-socks

NEWSBOYS!!!! I have everything from Not Ashamed (back when Peter Furler had hair) to GO!, which they're touring now. I volunteer for an organization called Dynamic Life, which hosts and organizes Christian events, including concerts, in Salem, Portland, and the surrounding areas, and because I am often working/hanging out at the various venues from early in the morning until late at night, I often get to talk with band members. I've met and talked with the four Newsboys that there are now, as well as Phil Joel, and I can say in all honesty that these guys are genuine, that God is #1 in their lives, with their families following at a close 2nd, and that they will forever be my most favoritest band!

And then there's Switchfoot... (come on, who doesn't like Switchfoot? I mean, these guys are The Beetles of the 21st century! "Circles" is in 5/4 TIME! Who else can even do that and get away with it? Their musical talent and prowess AMAZES me. Chad Butler is the best drummer who ever lived! And Jon Foreman's vocal tricks -- that's not simple pop-culture flavouring; I sing, and I know that some of the things he does are nearly impossible! And he makes it sound so soulishly accidental...)

After these two groups, I love the older Jars of Clay stuff, I like to sing with FFH (records), I am STILL loving Leeland's Sound of Melodies disc, I like a lot of ye olde dcTalk stuff, Phil Joel's Watching Over You and Bring It On were awesome discs, I liked Audio Adrenaline (*sniff*), Todd Agnew (I am SO into the barefoot thing), Wes King always manages to say it the way I meant to, TobyMac is always fun (I went NUTS with "Whoopsie Daisy" at my New Year's bash!), Down Here does some awesome hit-you-between-the-eyes-with-Who-God-is stuff, as well as Delirious?, and for pure worship I pop in Ten Shekel Shirt, Charlie Hall, Chris Tomlin, Parachute Band, or the song "Little", by Seven Places.

Oswald Chambers's "My Utmost for His Highest". That book is as good as a second Bible; I've experienced the Holy Spirit using it the same way for me. Akin to this would be "God Calling", by The Two Listeners.

For fiction, Clive Staples Lewis's "Perelandra". I think that perhaps the REASON why Yahoshua came and did what He did has never been told so thoroughly, nor so digestibly, as when our Brother C.S. Lewis wove it into the dialogue among 4 fictitious characters, and 1 quasi-fictitious Character.

I also love a lot of C.S. Lewis's other works: "The Screwtape Letters", "Mere Christianity", "Out of the Silent Planet", and, of course, The Chronicles of Narnia, with my favorite book out of the set being "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". I always tear up, if I don't completely bawl, when Eustace washes his dragonness away in the pool.

I don't own a TV. I rarely watch movies, but I liked Ever After, The Princess Diaries (1), Hoodwinked, While You Were Sleeping, and I think My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding would have been an AWESOME movie without the fornication bit. My philosophy on movies, TV, music, and anything else that goes into my me is: if I won't put food that has dirt or cat hair on it in my mouth, I should not put visual/auditory/conceptual dirt into my soul, no matter WHAT the "nutritive value" is of the surrounding matter.