On Being a Christian, Liberal Youth amongst Generation Y

I am a closet Christian

Ada Calhoun wrote an interesting article in Salon, and it reminds me of a couple of personal fears I have about coming out as a Christian. I'm sure this piece is more relevant in places not part of the Bible Belt, but it's certainly something my generation has qualms with, something I encountered up at college. Read and comment all you followers out there, if there are any.

Caitlin

Girls grow up

So, I just found out this Ke$ha K from Flo Rida songs is lil Kesha from St. Bernard Academy. Yep, I was in class with this girl, hung out with her after school, and boy has she changed.



She looks a little crazed, but Tik Tok is sooooo addictive.

CQ

Another side job?

Your Hobby Looks Like A Lot of Work

This article in the NYTimes makes me wonder if I can pull money from my hobby too. A few of my folks' art-loving friends have shown interest in my paintings...Hmmm...

Here are a couple examples:

Making a bed

via Toast


via Sundance

I always wanted a giant, feathery, pillowy bed to collapse in. Engulf me, drown me, ship me off to the sleeping sea in yards and yards of material. Wouldn't it be nice to have these warm layers and layers of blankets on top of crisp, white, cool sheets? It would be heaven. On second thought, would I ever leave bed? or solve any of the problems life has given me? Oh, life.

CQ

One of my whims

I want to write a children's book, and why couldn't/shouldn't I? Kids like me. We get each other. My mom's got the publishing background, and I've got the, well, liberal arts artsy education.

So where do I begin? With a character: a dog, a dragon, a shoe, a leaf? A place: Canada, a foxhole, a cloud, or just in my room? An action: roller skating, flying a spaceship, sipping soup? Probably, a lesson or moral first.

How does it work? I need to brainstorm.

On it,
Caitlin

On jobs and money

Day 1 at Starbucks as a barista: my legs/feet hurt, my hair smells like burnt coffee, and I have enough thrown-out pastries to give me 20lbs of fat add-on this week. On the weight gain, well, that's not happening. No no no. I am giving these breakfast muffins, brownies, and scones to the dogs. Or my friends in dorms.

On the whole, Starbucks is going to do me good. Yes yes yes. There will be a steady paycheck, some huge benefits, and free coffee out the wazoo.

What's more, on the side, I'm working with my momma and my favorite aunt on a new business venture. Us Gunn's are going to get our groove back, financially and/or personally, using those Proactive dermatologists. If you have skin and are willing, your dollars could help a young woman pay off a massive debt in college loans. Here's the website so far: quinn.myrandf.com

Best,

Caitlin

Character dreaming

So, if I had the means to buy a couch, I would buy this couch. Do not be under the illusion that I am a trust fund baby who grew up in the smokey lounge of an Oxford mens club or that I am an old Southern widower with a house full of wood paneling, game tables, and antler chandeliers.

It is my dream character couch: I am an old thoughtful Brit in and out of London inquiring about a high-profile murder in a country-shire house salon. After a long day of deduction, I crawl up on this green thing, read a case file until I fall asleep, and then after a mysterious phone call at 4 am, I rush out the door grabbing my tweed jacket hanging on the couch arm, keys and glasses in hand, and drive away before locking the door.

CQ

Reading and

I'm halfway through Portrait of a Lady, and I really hope Isabel Archer shit-kicks Madame Merle and Gilbert Osmond.

Also, did a lot of Cracker Barrel crime novels on tape this Thanksgiving break driving to/from Texas.

What is your favorite crime writer or creation?
P.D. James, Agatha Christie, John Grisham, Sherlocke Holmes, Poirot, that old English widow on PBS who gets in everyone's business with young sidekick (who later played hobbit in LOTR), or that other equally old and nosy spinster woman, Miss Marple? Oh, this came on two weeks ago, but it's definitely worth the watch before they take it off the site!

CQ

the Anemone Grows

I have just graduated college, opened and closed the door on the Nashville-Music career I always wanted, lost the proximity to my good, dear friends off in other cities while simultaneously growing closer to my own family in Nashville. I have demi-started making roots in the town where I saw my life taking off, but now that my job will not require me to live in Music City, I wonder if it is too soon? Should I go back to school? Follow my friends? Or be close to my family for the rest of my life?

I'm scared to pick up and leave because that would mean I have made a decision about where my life is headed. But maybe this blog will give me the courage I need if that is where I am told to go. I am a fatalist, and I believe everything is for a reason. So yes, I want to believe God gives me signs. Even if it is on the techy godhead internet.

At this point, I am unclear what I want to do with my future, but I have lots of dreams. Dreams in every which direction, and those directions will sprout new inspired directions of dreamy dreams to inscribe on this blog. In very unspecific, romantic terms, I do know this: I want to live a full life the way the "anemone grows." I want to learn, love, foster, educate, create, and make things even more beautiful no matter what they are. I want to be the person responsible for making things good in my life and maybe someone else's too. We will see how that goes.

Caitlin