Book Commercials & Misanthropic Observations

Piper on the trials of Martin Luther

Seeing such things in the lives of the saints has caused me to think twice before I begrudge the trials of my ministry. How often I am tempted to think that the pressures and conflicts and frustrations are simply distractions from the business of ministry and bible study. Luther (along with Psalm 116:67, 71) teaches us to see it all another way. The stresses of life, the interruptions, the disappointments, the conflicts, the physical ailments, the losses- all this may be the very lens through which we see the meaning of God’s word as never before.

Piper, When I don’t Desire God; p.135

To be fair

I emailed Borders.com tech support with my recent tirade, and the search store inventory feature has now shown up on the newer titles, at least. I bet I’ll be found browsing the online sociology section like I used to browse it in person…

Borders, you are losing me to Amazon

Yes, Borders, your new website is very pretty. Nice use of flash on the bookshelf. However, I wasn’t even able to find your search store inventory feature, which was often what would convince me to get in my car and drive over to Woodbury in the first place.

With one step into the store 2 weeks ago it was clear, with your new spacious walkways and outward facing book covers, that you have drastically reduced your physical inventory. This does not bode well for browsers like me.

I will miss the regular adventures to your stores, being surrounded by the smell of new books, and the happy unpredicted possibilities for a new topic of reading. I won’t be wasting gas at these prices on such an anemic experience as you offer these days.

Dear Paulers

Thank you for parting with your video game storage space in the living room; giving our bookshelves the breathing room necessary to accommodate the growing stack I could not squeeze into place, as well as any purchases in the near future. That was very selfless of you.

Love,
Your bibliophile wife

Dear Borders book store

Why is your sociology section shrinking? Why your psychology section watering down and now mixing with self-help?
STOP IT.

How ironic that I post this AFTER claiming to be anti-music…

don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for
don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music

don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law

i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me

don’t teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice

don’t teach me about loving my enemies

don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit
just give me a new law

what’s the use in trading a law you can never keep
for one you can that cannot get you anything?

 

 Flash Video: Play Now | Play in Popup

On Music

Music is what feelings sound like. ~Author Unknown

This post will be anathema to friends like SX Benjamin Holsteen, who considers music to be oxygen.

I am prepared to admit what I am about to describe to be a fault. I must defer to the current millions worldwide and throughout history for whom music is what feelings sound like. I also have read studies that claim that singing together as a large or small group, being in a tight band, or participating in an open jam session creates what we call being in the “zone”. Hearts beat in unison, voices and breathing patterns merge into one joyful whole.

Others have a “soundtrack to their life” or at least a specific time period, and listening to this music brings them back in a flood of vivid and happy memories. We get lost in singing along to the music of our youth. I come closest to understanding this in the candy pop of the 80’s. I will happily sing along to one hit wonders like “In cars” or anything by Men at Work.

But, here is my confession- if I have anything to do that takes actual thinking, like web design, image editing, book keeping or comprehending what I am reading or hearing in conversation or audio book, I want that background noise off, please. And since I prefer to spend most of my time in one or more of these activities, Music is not a welcome addition to my daily life.

When Paul’s iPod broke, I gladly gave him mine, knowing that any audio book I wanted to listen to would easily fit on my Palm Centro, and I hadn’t even gone to the music section in over a year.

Often at work, around 5:30 PM, when everyone else has gone home, I will become self-aware enough to notice a certain agitation of my spirit. It takes me a second to come up mentally from the task at hand, and as I do, I am suddenly aware that someone has left the radio on. Switching it off has the same effect for me as a ½ hour nap.

Mr. Epstein’s kind reply

What a wonderful way to start the workweek by finding this email in my inbox:

Dear Ms. Dopkins,

     Many thanks for this generous and charming e-mail. “Like a sorbet for the brain” is a wonderful simile, and I am proud that my scribbling has been the occasion for it.

     People tell me that I do talk as I write. Whether this puts people off or not, I do not know. Fortunately, my wife talks much the way I do, so thus far this has not proved a crippling problem.

Best wishes, Joseph Epstein

Now I like him even more.

Dear Joseph Epstein

Thank you for an enjoyable weekend of reading

I picked up copies of both Snobbery and Friendship last week from Borders and have enjoyed the refreshing observations, insight, and humor. It has been like sorbet for my brain, and I feel re-charged to face daily life after having had a rest in observation of human behavior. I look forward to acquiring a copy of Envy the next time I visit a book store.

I find myself wishing I sounded more like you write in my daily conversation, but my co-workers would be confused by the sudden improvement in vocabulary and wit and I promise not to try.

Thanks again,
Brandy Dopkins
Hudson WI

Pat Stream: Prognosticator extraordinaire

A few weeks ago, Pat told me about a concept called “micro-posting”. He used twitter as an example. At the time I thought, well, what’s the big deal? just write a mini-post on your blog.

But there’s something about twitter and face book profile updates that make it right and fun to leave a 1 sentence update on yourself. It’s not creepy and schizophrenic to refer to yourself in the 3rd person on face book, since the status updater always adds your name at the beginning. I really enjoy the immediate mundane nature of the updates; they feel more intimate to me somehow.

Pat may not understand Coldplay, but he’s got his finger on the pulse of the future.

PS- for those who don’t know what microposting is, I have added our facebook status feeds to our homepage, dopkins.net