Cinderella came to my house!

Let's talk about how I get TTTTTTTTHHHHHHHIIIIIIIISSSSSSSS excited about trick-or-treaters... it's a little ridiculous. Tonight, Katelyn and I were sitting around the Los Gatos house (yes, I'm here, but only until tomorrow morning... long sad story) moaning and groaning because no one was knocking on our door. So we developed a strategy: we turned on all the lights, we put out some not-so-subtle signs that say "WE HAVE CANDY!!!!"... I put on a costume, and we tried to think lots of kid friendly, welcoming, happy-happy thoughts. Nothin'. Then we thought maybe all the "WE HAVE CANDY!!!!!" signs made us look a little too eager, like we were no longer the happy-cool-kid-friendly house, but the a-little-TOO-kid-friendly house, if you know what I'm saying. We were sad. We lamented: "Why don't the children love us?" " We are nice people" "Alas, Alack" etc.

Then......... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we've had like, five thousand trick-or-treaters in a row now. And every single Disney princess. And we try not to scare them with our relentless and somewhat suspicious enthusiasm. And I pretty much love Halloween for this reason: your neighbors come to your door... you smile and exchange good wishes and get to talk to their kids without seeming like a weirdo. And it's just nice. Well, that and costumes. Those are nice too.

Hey artist... you got a dollar?

There is an unusually high concentration of hitchhikers in this city, and they are ALL good looking, clean cut young men. There are 4,129 people who live in my town. Burrito Boy makes what is possibly the second best burrito of all time, for cheapo (it's almost Ricardos. Almost.) We drove to the coast yesterday, which takes about an hour, and it's breathtaking from the start of the drive all the way to the cliffs and the sea. The ocean smells like home :). Saturday we found the "World's Largest Indoor Garage Sale," which made me almost as giddy as iced venti nonfat white mocha. Spoils: One broken but beautiful watch ($2), one silly little vase ($2), and one perfect Louis the whatever chair for me to take apart and put back together ($40... that's cheap, really it is). Left behind: perfect beautiful vintage coat ($15)... too short sleeves. Dang arms. There are WAY more stars than I remember there ever being, anywhere. There are WAY more bugs than there should ever be, anywhere. A suicidal bird flew into our window and I collected it and felt like I've officially transitioned into the attitude of this place. Our neighbors have horses they never ride, and I'm welcome to ride them, but there are three and they are a herd so I need friends. We are invited to a Halloween Party in a barn :). We went to the most amazing church on Sunday and they did my two favorite songs in a row (God is good all the time). www.ecf.org.

So, speaking of artists (yes, we were, check the title)... I'm going to have a house of my own soon, and I know I've already expressed to a few of you my desire to fill it with artwork by people I know and love... I'm so blessed to know so many talented people, and I think it'd be fabulous to have a gallery of a house, a piece of each of you up here with me. I'm not picky, sketch me something on a napkin or go crazy, send me wacky photos or poetry or whatever...I'll even frame a letter... I promise to send you back a dang good Christmas present. Really. Something really good :)

Accountability, party of none.

K so I admit it... I am a total Myspace spy. I spy on my friends and my not so friends, my old acquaintences, and if I'm bored enough, their old acquaintences. Now that there's a virtual epidemic of Myspace activity trackers and other buzzkilling spyware, I have probably been on many of your "profile viewer" lists. Yes. I confess. I spy on you, too.

It was on a particularly uneventful spy on friends of friends of friends kind of day that I came across the following profile headline: "Don't judge Christianity by the lives of Christians." Huh. Don't judge Christianity by the lives of Christians. Try as I may, I cannot get that phrase to stop bouncing around in the bottom of my brain... don't judge Christianity by the lives of Christians...

Seriously? I mean, really? Is it only me that has a hard time with this sentiment? I could understand "Don't judge God" or "Don't judge all Christianity by the lives of some Christians", but "Don't judge Christianity by the lives of Christians" sounds to me like a big, fat, nasty, cop out.

My buddy Webster is going to help me out here:

Christianity: 1. the Christian religion 2. Christian beliefs or practices; Christian quality or character 3. the state of being a Christian

Huh. So Christianity, in summary, is the religion AND practices of those who define themselves as Christians. Seems to me if you can't judge Christianity by the lives of Christians, you can't judge it at all. Because without being exemplified, practiced, followed, or lived out by Christians, Christianity isn't. It becomes extinct. It ceases to exist. It's a lot of good ideas in a book. Can you define a religion without the practices of the religious to base your definition on? And if the definition of Christianity exists only on paper and as an ideal, what value does it have? What's the point?

God is not religion. Religion is of man and by man, and flawed and fearful and all of the imperfect things that we are as a result. But we have to own it. How the world judges Christianity is absolutely our responsibility, because the lives of Christians, the unit of us, the whole, ARE the working, visable definition of Christianity. God is, but He isn't a religion. Christ is, but He isn't a religion either. The religion of Chrisitanity isn't only what Jesus intended it to be, it's also what we act it out to be. If the majority of us who call ourselves Christians are close minded, judgemental, hypocritical, and all the other things we often are, then Christianity, as it can be identified and defined in this world, becomes so as well. Is this the way it should be? No. Should we call it Christianity. No! Is it what Christ intended... I don't think so.

The face of God is perfect and whole despite any of our failures or shortcomings. But we are the faces of religion, and if we can't live it, then our religion isn't what we claim it to be, and the world SHOULD judge us, and harshly, for that. How many times in my life have I used "Don't judge Christianity by the lives of Christians... by the life of me" as an excuse to be less than I should be? How many more times will I fall into the same trap? Religion will never be perfect just as we will never be perfect, but it should be humble and it should be honest and it should be accountable. And if the world's judgement of Christianity is not what we want it to be, we should change it. We should change us.

Christian: 1. of, pertaining to, or derived from Jesus Christ or his teachings 2. of, pertaining to, or adhereing to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. 4. exhibiting a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ, as in having a loving regard for other persons. 5. a person who believes in Jesus Christ; an adherant of Christianity 6. a person who exemplifies in his life the teachings of Christ

( I apologize to the " Don't Judge Christianity..." profile guy. I totally get your intention, pal. Sorry for the rant... I'm annoying.)

I admit there are a bunch of theological holes you could punch in my argument. Bring it. But, my underlying point and the heart of my post is as follows: no more whiney, put upon, irresponsible, "why doesn't the world get it and love us" Christianity. Let's be the change, people. Let's prove'em wrong.

I am shocked and appalled.

SHOCKED APPALLED and HORRIFIED



That I have to put my own stamp on my required jury duty response form envelope.

I mean, really. Insult to injury, people, insult to injury.

;)

What happened to Karyn today?

Ya wanna know? I'll tell ya.

This weird guy with a turban came into my work, handed me a card that said "Lucky" on it, and said the following:

"This is what I know about you from looking at you. You have a very romantic face. There are two men who are thinking of you, but you think too much. Don't. This year will be a lucky year for you, unlike two years ago."

Then he left. No kidding. I promise. Actually happened.

weird.

Anyone else want to spontaneously predict my future? Bring it.



peace. out.

A Million Little Pieces

K so...

I find the whole scandal with James Frey and his book fascinating. Those of you who know me know how much I love this book, and I continue to love it to this very second, officially 4 minutes after I finished watching Oprah and a bunch of journalists talk about how embarrassed and annoyed they are about it. For those of you who don't know, Frey is accused of, and has admitted to, embellishing (fabricating, lying) parts of the book, which was published as a non-fiction memoir. For example, instead of spending 3 years in jail, he was only there for a couple of hours. Which is a pretty decent exaggeration, I suppose.

My thoughts? Whoopee. And frankly, why do we care so much? Yes, I believe the truth is valuable, but perhaps only to a point. Should he have promoted the book as fact? No. Should he have issued some sort of a disclaimer in the beginning? Sure. But this is a book that has been an essential motivating factor in the recovery of literally thousands of addicts nation wide. Is James Frey a recovering addict? Yes. Were the facts about his addiction accurately represented in the novel? Apparently. Are the essential truths of the novel in tact? Yes. Do I think it matters if he wanted to stroke his own ego a little and exaggerate things? Not really. Probably not the best idea, especially in such a public forum, but I am yet to meet a human who doesn't embellish his or her own life story, at least the details, a bit here and there. Especially not artists, for crying out loud. We're all a bunch of sensationalists.

I'm reminded of Dumbo, the flying elephant, who didn't believe he could fly. His mouse friend (whose name I never remember) told Dumbo that a magic feather would give him the ability to fly if he (coincidentally if you've read A Million Little Pieces) held on. So Dumbo holds on, and eventually discovers he can fly without the feather, and so on. Technically, the mouse lied to Dumbo, but that lie allowed him to accomplish something he would never have attempted otherwise. Now, granted, Frey's motives are a bit more self serving (although I bet that mouse got a kick out of being best friends with the star of the circus). However, doesn't his book accomplish the same sort of thing? His story provided inspiration for a whole bunch of people who may have otherwise remained un-inspired. I'd venture to say it saved some lives.

So which is better? A truth that allows people to remain hopeless and/or apathetic, or a lie that inspires them to greatness? I'm not sure I'm wise enough to say, but I will say this: Damn good book, James Frey. And I don't care if you lied or told the truth or what. Thanks for the good read.

And good luck with the media firestorm. Hold on.

Pollyanna strikes again...

It occurred to me today, as I was closing out my stuff at work, how little credit I give to mini-miracles.

Those of you who are amused by my craziness will not be too surprised when I say that I believe there is a little bit of magic involved in choosing a wedding dress. I know, I know, but let's think about it... there are 2000 dresses in our store alone, and thousands upon thousands in the city, and millions in the country, etc. etc. Yet somehow, 9 times out of 10, the right dress gets matched up to the right bride somewhere in the first 3 dresses she tries on. Many times, it's the very first dress. Now, yes, it could be that the brides are just so excited to try something on that they fall in love with the first one they try, or that countless hours (and dollars) spent in magazines have helped them narrow their selection. It could be that I'm just that darn good at my job. It could be that ALL bridal consultants are just brilliant. It could be luck. I don't think so. It happens too often to be luck and involves too little intellect to be skill. I think it's magic.

Today I spent 45 minutes with a bride who had fallen in love with a dress at our store. A different consultant had misplaced her file, and we had no record of the dress she loved. She tried to describe it to me, and we looked everywhere we could, but to no avail. The dress simply wasn't anywhere. I could tell she was on the verge of tears and went through my usual slapstick routine... humor, flattery, cookies, you name it... then suddenly, as she was standing there in a dress that looked nothing like the one she loved, I knew. And I walked right to a rack we had already checked twice, and I reached in, and I found it. You should have seen the look on her face when she recognized it. And we cried. And she bought it. And she raved about me to my boss. Happy ending.

Here's the thing: I'm not that good. And I've never, ever been very lucky. I didn't have anything to do with it. I had no reason to think of that dress, I didn't really know why I went for it, but I knew it was the right one. Huh.

It may seem silly to suggest that God, in all of His cosmic power and responsibility, might have anything to do with something as trivial as a wedding dress. I choose to imagine that a God who is so often turned to for help and guidance in the worst times of our lives might like to dabble in the fun stuff. I'll bet He gets an almighty kick out of making His little girls feel beautiful. It might be just a small miracle, but isn't a God who revels in tiny miracles all the more beautiful than one who simply can't be bothered? If God is really in the details, and speaks to us in whispers, who am I to say that any small wonder is insignificant? How lucky I am to be a part of little bits of magic. How silly I am to ignore them so much of the time.

I'm feeling blessed today to be witness to countless mini-miracles, and I'm going to try to pay more attention. Maybe it's good old God magic, or maybe I'm just a nut... I'm not entirely sure it makes a difference. I'd like to think life is bettered just by believing in the first place. ;)

love.