At last!

The last four weeks have been really tough! Thankfully, I have survived (it was easier than I thought) and today is the last day! Tomorrow, oh precious tomorrow, I shall do exciting things accompanied by the sweet sounds of Muse, then Mew, then maybe some Death Cab and Dashboard Confessional, and while I'm listening to romantic acoustics I may as well play Secondhand Serenade. Oh my precious precious musics! I shall be listening to my lovely alternative/punk/emo/acoustic/indie/danish/rock/shoegaze/all my awesome cds!

You see, for four weeks I have seen my cds, and my mp3s, and my link to last.fm... and I have shown great self-restraint and not touched them! I gave up my music for four weeks!



But why?!!???!! Was I abstaining from the beloved music for a higher purpose i.e. God?

Yes... and no. I didn't give it up because I was seeking God (kind of like fasting). It was more of an experiment. So let me set it out like an experiment.

NOTE- I am not testing God. I am testing myself. After all, I'm a mouse, and mouses are goods for the experiments and goods for the bads englishes.

Introduction- I love music. And admittedly the music I listen to isn't always the "nice" type. I tend to listen to music that really moves me, for whatever reason, and in a lot of ways it's almost an emotional dependence on music. I listen to songs to get an instant emotional hit, and music has a high priority in my life. I listen to it when I catch public transport. I listen to it at work sometimes. I listen to it when I play on the internets. I often listen to music that matches my emotional state or situation. And I know that music can be very influential, even dangerously so, because it really speaks to you in a way that words and images fail.

Hypothesis- I will be able to hear God better when I'm not listening to music, and my "emotional state" will be improved (i.e. happier- I listen to a lot of sad music).

Aims- To determine if I can go without listening to my secular music.
To identify if music is affecting my ability to seek and hear God.
To identify the impact music has on my emotional state.

Methods- Basically, I avoided listening to my music. This included music videos.

Results and discussion- The first three weeks was really easy. The last week has been a nightmare. I've been constantly plagued by the need to listen to music. I think of certain songs I'm almost dying to hear. I desire to sing along and try to play them on bass or even try learning guitar. I suspect it may be because the last few weeks I've been pretty ill, and all my illness + personal issues + work issues = I feel moody and tired and grumpy and wants meh muziks!

My walk with God has been pretty good. Although sometimes it has been pretty bad. I don't think my ability to hear God has improved, but I do desire to spend more time with Him without needing to "be in the right mood" or wanting that emotional hit from Him (and being subsequently disappointed if I don't get it). This is good.

Emotionally, I'm still as demented as ever. The feelings haven't really changed, so I suspect the music I listen to doesn't cause my feelings; rather, it amplifies them. This is because if I'm sad I tend to listen to sad music, or if I'm angry I listen to angry music, or if I'm sleazy... okay, just joshing about that one =D My point is I listen to music that I "relate to" which feeds my emotional state and possibly heightens it.

Conclusions- I love my music. And it's still an important part of my life. But (excluding the music binge of tomorrow) I plan on listening to it less and being less emotionally dependant on it. I love it but I don't need it and I can go without it. However, I do need God, and thankfully He is someone I can turn to in any state or frame of mind, and His influence on my life will always be good.

Kallie's ark... err... bedroom!

This is an account of all of the creatures that slept in Kallie's room the other night (that she knows of):

- 100+ silkworms
- unknown quantity of aphids
- 4 ladybug larvae
- 2 stick insects
- teddies (Remus, Hendrik, Fredrik, Petruchio, Pingu the Burnt, Plucka)
- Desperado
- Kallie

Her excuse? It was too cold for them outside.

And because I haven't done one of these in ages:

What type of insect are you? Firefly You may seem drab and uninteresting to other people, but in reality you have amazing hidden talents.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

That's right. I'm special.

Surprisingly good

When Sam gave me a series called British Isles: A Natural History admittedly I wasn't that excited.

I mean... England. They have pollution. They have rain. They have green paddocks and sheep. They have stony places they mistakenly call beaches. Yeah. I partly descend from the Brits. My ancestors must have left that place for a reason.

I confess I was wrong! It turns out there is a whole lot more to this group of islands off the European coast. The scenery is surprising in its beauty and diversity. There are Bahama-like golden beaches on the Isles of Scilly, old pine forests of Scotland, the moors, the woodlands, the meadows, the extensive coastline, marshes, rocky islands. And then there are the wildlife- wildflowers, beautiful trees, animals like pine martens and puffins... it was as inspiring as it was beautiful.



Presented by Alan Titchmarsh, the series journeys through the history of the British Isles and examines how its current state is the product of an amazing variety of events, from ice ages to desertification, tropical rainforests, volcanic activity, sea inundation, connection to the European continent, and of course anthropogenic impacts. Alan Titchmarsh made it interesting and accessible to anyone and you could really tell that he was enjoying what he was doing.

My favourite part was when Alan saw a swallowtail butterfly and confessed that he always wanted to see one ever since he was a lad. I loved that emotion in his voice. As a fellow nature-freak, that's what it's all about. That... feeling... when you see a beautiful animal in the wild (I imagine that if I saw wolves or tigers or orcas I'd probably be so overcome I'd just sob!- seeing them in the zoo isn't the same).

I really enjoyed this, even more than I enjoyed watching David Attenborough's The Life of Mammals. It was amazing to see how much the British Isles have changed even in the last few thousand years, and while Titchmarsh speculated on the (possibly devastating) changes yet to come, there was always an underlying optimism in his message and this real sense that we have a responsibility to take care of the gorgeous surrounds we have been given, and it is indeed a heavy but worthwhile burden to carry.