Love Story

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April 29th, 2012

My beloved friend Lucy honored me by asking me to help officiate her wedding to Kris. I’m still reeling from what this all meant to me, but one of the amazing things she asked me to do in the service was to tell Kris’s and her love story through an enchanted narrative. Kris and Lucy [...]

Posted in Art, Books, Bravery, History, intertextuality, Seattle, theology | 8 Comments »

‘Run to the Woods’: Songs for an Appalachian Dystopian Narrative

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April 23rd, 2012

I tend to only use Pandora in situations where I can’t use iTunes, which then means I just try to recreate my finely honed playlists designed mostly for reading. So of course for re-reading The Hunger Games, I needed to create a portable station with which to read along. When I started plugging tracks from [...]

Posted in Books, Film, intertextuality, Music, Pop Culture, Psychology/Being Human, Quotes | 5 Comments »

Writing Papers for Fun & Amusement (and battling personal demons)

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March 9th, 2012

It’s been about a month since I presented my Harry Potter research at the 2012 Southwest/Texas Popular & American Culture Association’s conference. Per the growing trend in my life, I wrote the paper in order to address some personal questions. Some people make art installations; I write research papers. I’m learning to accept this about [...]

Posted in Books, Film, intertextuality, Pop Culture, Psychology/Being Human, Quotes, theology | 4 Comments »

What I Do in ABQ

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February 19th, 2012

Last week, Ian and I reunited for our third trip to the Southwest/Texas Popular and American Culture Association Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s a fascinating blend of faculty, doctoral/grad students, undergrads and random smart people, all getting together for four days of watching people present papers on anything and everything relating to Pop Culture [...]

Posted in Bartending, Books, Cultural Shifts, Film, History, intertextuality, Lists, Pop Culture, Psychology/Being Human, The Seattle School/MHGS, theology | 2 Comments »

Drink More Books

1
October 26th, 2011

I recently did a guest post for my friend Erin Blakemore, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her book The Heroine’s Bookshelf. Hermeneutically speaking, I love bringing a literary lens to my cocktails. Enjoy The Heroine’s Barshelf.

Posted in Bartending, Books, intertextuality, Lists | 1 Comment »

In Search of an Authoritative Text: Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone

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September 22nd, 2011

I am embarking on the grand adventure of re-reading the Harry Potter series for the first time. Note: re-reading. I read the books starting in 2004 after the release of ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ in the theatres. Following that, I read each consecutive book as they were released. Though reading the books managed to enchant for [...]

Posted in Anglophilia, Books | 7 Comments »

What Yankee Candle Means to Harry Potter: Additions

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July 29th, 2011

Done with the first and second batch, but am happy to take requests and add them here. Here’s the Dursleys. Mr Vernon Dursely Strawberry Buttercream: Yum … an absolutely luscious treat of plump, sweet strawberries buried in rich whipped cream. Mrs Petunia Dursley Bahama Breeze: There’s cool summer refreshment in this tropical blend of pineapple, [...]

Posted in Books, Film, intertextuality, Lists, Pop Culture, Psychology/Being Human, Yankee Candle | 9 Comments »

What Yankee Candle Means to Harry Potter: 2

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July 27th, 2011

Harry Potter Characters’ Favorite Yankee Candle Scents (continued) Mrs Molly Weasley Kitchen Spice: This modern blend of sweet orange, clove, ginger and cinnamon is a new take on pantry favorites. Mr Arthur Weasley: Orange Dreamsicle: A favorite childhood summer treat you never outgrow … a cool blend of orange and vanilla ice cream. Bill Weasley: [...]

Posted in Books, Film, intertextuality, Lists, Pop Culture, Psychology/Being Human, Yankee Candle | 4 Comments »

What Yankee Candle Means to Harry Potter

3
July 27th, 2011

Earlier tonight, a friendly tweet-mention turned into an unexpected project. Ideas churned so quickly that I basically didn’t stop until I had this list done. My method was simply to imagine which Yankee Candle specific characters from the Harry Potter series would be mostly likely to use. There was no purposefull attempt to have the [...]

Posted in Books, Film, intertextuality, Lists, Pop Culture, Psychology/Being Human, Yankee Candle | 3 Comments »

The Memorial Coatroom Literary Society Reads Colette

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July 9th, 2011

Last month, the Memorial Coatroom Literary Society met to discuss Colette’s “The Vagabond” (1910). By an odd chance (or inclination?) we chose yet another book translated from French, written by a famous woman author. None of us had read any Colette, though Courtney directed a play about Colette’s stint as a stage performer, so we [...]

Posted in Art, Bartending, Books, Cultural Shifts, History, Seattle | 1 Comment »