1. I have been spending most of my free time organizing the basement.  When I completed this project I moved on to the upstairs.  I am on the verge of being quite downsized.  Hopefully this project will be completed next Wednesday.  Or at least, I hope that the only room that I will have left to organize and downsize will be the office after next Wednesday.  There is always a fair chance that I will just give up on the office and declare it a permanent disaster area.  We’ll see how the other two rooms go.
2. When I haven’t been organizing, eliminating and donating I have been moving furniture around. True this doesn’t take much physical time, but it is emotionally draining.
3. I have been working on a personal facial hair project.  For one 36 hour period, I wasn’t intelligent enough to put a noun against a verb in a meaningful way.
4. The last couple of Friday Night Supper Clubs have been emotionally draining.  The night we viewed Free Walking at Jay’s apartment was a visceral experience.  What a great movie!  Then the Jucy Lucy replication Friday Night Supper Club was an overt failure that ended with My Great Shame.  It took me several days to recover from that shame.  At least Dawn got to become an auxiliary member of FNSC.  She allegedly doesn’t even mind that it is a “Boys Club”.  I will believe her when she makes a return appearance. Plus Trivia Night.  Well, I can’t even begin to discuss how emotionally draining Trivia Night ended up being.  Plus Trivia Night fell in that 36 hour period where I was a moron. However, Team Stache (Geri D., Willy, Jay, Jesse, Shannon, Papa Smurf and his wife) was an undeniable powerhouse.  I only wish I had pictures to share so that you could relive the experience.
5. The cleaning crew (Jill) for my Oscars Watch had to work at her “real job” and got stuck in Minnesota.  Therefore I had to do my own cleaning.  The bed maker (Sara) also got stuck working her “real job” so I had to make my own bed.  I tried to get that out with a straight face.  Sara had to work, so I just shut my bedroom door and pretended that the room was how it was supposed to be.  My kitchen crew (Jen and Derrick, well mostly Derrick) came through with flying colors though.  Still, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I should add that my neighbor joined the Watch and listening to his plan to get his life back together by finding a girlfriend so that he can have some self-esteem.  Well, that was psychologically draining.
6. Perhaps the most important reason why I haven’t taken keyboard in hand and banged out some words is because during the move from one blogging entity to a different blogging entity, I decided to completely recategorize my blog. I started this process with well over 770 journal entries to review. Through this process I eliminated several journal entries.  Things that I didn’t need any longer. Like videos that no longer existed or calls to donate to a “charity” that would lie and claim that your donation was tax deductible.  I even broke down categories by people and I left the number of blog entries by the category.  A quick glance down the left side of this blog will tell you who I seem to write about the most.  Are you surprised that Jay is number 1?

A surprising side effect of my reading is that I think I might have regressed as a writer.  I fear that I might have peaked and it is all downhill from here on out.  Some of my writings in the not so distant past were clever, witty and dare I say it – brilliant.  I fear if I was ever going to write a play for ACTORS that was going to revolutionize costumed (believe me I have tried – Geri D. will not let me put an all-nude play on her stage) drama in a meaningful way, I have missed my chance.  Rather than eloquently crafting phrases, I now rely on cheap tricks (like my over reliance on parenthetical statements makes me want to punch myself in the face almost as surely as if I had moustache) and broad allusions.  I have surely descended into hack-hood.  See, that isn’t even a real word.  It isn’t like the old days when I used to invent words that are sure to be the next surefire hits in our lexicon.  I can’t come up with a word so I throw out a dash and postfix and then I merrily go on my way.

It didn’t used to be like this.  (I just don’t mean that I used to not end sentences with prepositions.)  I used to be growing as a writer.  For example, when I was in the 4th Grade I wrote the worst creative writing stories ever!! They were based loosely on a pet rabbit that most likely died due to my neglect.  Only I stole some ideas from a few cartoons and movies that I enjoyed and out of my pencil and on to some poor dead tree came writing that was so dizzingly bad that it makes me want to vomit when I read just a few short passages:

When Fluffy found him he took him to Leo the Lion. Leo took care of him. Pucky told Leo his life story. Then he told Fluffy what Jack, Jill and Joan said. Fluffy said “I better get going” then he left. He hid in Raspberry Forest and said “By the power of Carrot Castle! I HAVE THE POWER!” Then he said, ”Up, up and away and he flew off to find Joan, Jack and Jill. When he found them he landed and said, “Pucky sent me.” Superfluff said.  “Let’s get that wimpy rabbit!” Superfluff picked them up and twirled them until they gave up and promised to stop picking on Pucky. Then he went after Swampfrog. When he was fighting Swampfrog he said a few words he shouldn’t of. When he returned he taught Pucky karate. When he stepped into the pond, Jack, Jill, Joan and Swampfrog were waiting for him but Pucky beat them up in 15 fish winks. Now everybody calls him The Karate Duck.

Fortunately I can still say that I’m a better writer than I was when I put that horrible drivel to paper. But I did slightly improve by high school:

Eric reached deep into his soul, past the candy wrappers and half-eaten bagels, to the insult department. Through the corridor with doors marked with signs that read “whites”, “blondes”, “Scott Kendall” and “dogs”.  He opened the door that read: “The Mother of All Insults”.

The glowing light almost blinded him. The brilliant shiny box in the room was his destination. He opened the box and was greeted with a cloud of rolling smoke. He reached into the box and grabbed a piece of paper. Eric read the paper and he knew he had his death blow!

Back in reality Eric stared at the landing party and said… and I quote… “Huh, freaks of nature!”

He was puzzled when this didn’t break their morale. They were laughing at him. This was the Mother-of-All-Insults and they were laughing at HIM!

Chris looked at Eric and broke into another 5 minutes of laughter. Chris controlled himself and said, “You sir are our inferior. You call us freaks in an attempt to manipulate reality. We have evolved into a place of superiority over you!”

“Liar! I’m not listening to you!” Eric screamed.

“Scott. Who-o-o-o-o-o is this m-m-m-an?” Captain Punjab whimpered.

As you can tell, I have clearly progressed from the terrible wretch that wrote those words. I just hope that I am not regressing to that level again!

Becky Perkovich

Michael Vest

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole’s Artistic Appreciation Pick of the Week:

Springtime Haiku

Melting snow forms pools
Warmer days cause happy thought
Green grass from wet ground

The theme for this week is EXPLORE.

Seems like I will actually have to leave my house to take a picture this week.

My mom came over to my house a couple of days after I made this image and was horrified to find broken mirror all over my dining room table. She asked how the mirror got broken.

“I hit it with a hammer. Well actually Jay hit it with a hammer and then I hit it with a hammer some more.”

This made her even more horrified. She pointed out that breaking a mirror was bad luck. I was horrified to be related to somebody that was this superstitious.

Willy chose the name Shattered Dreams. He likes naming his portraits. He also named Grizzly McAlpine:

Shattered Dreams was taken during a FNSC at my house after we feasted at La Carreta and knocked down Tab Cola.

Willy showing he lacks the courage of his convictions.

Willy texting like a teenage girl.

Of course this was probably one of the nights where my furnace was on the fritz, so Jay cuddled up in my Snuggie and donned a mullet wig to keep warm.

Jay

It might just be me, but I think this look isn’t half bad for Mr. Janson. I’m so glad Jen gave me this wig, but I think I might just have to pay it forward.

by Mark Wolfram

Reporting on God’s Mission in Taiwan

February 2010

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year to all of you!  The month of February provided a time for travel and relaxation, as Taiwan celebrated its biggest holiday, Chinese New Year.  I was blessed with the opportunity to go to India on a short term mission trip, with a little extra time spent in the country for vacation.  It was an amazing experience that I am excited to tell you all about, however I think I am going to save it until next month. In this newsletter, I would like to share with you a few shorter stories that have taken place in the last month or so.

Barber Shop Ministry

While doing presentations this summer, I know that one person I specifically mentioned was my barber:  Sue Hway.  She often asks questions about church and talks about how she would like to be a Christian someday.  Her husband and relatives all practice the traditional Taiwanese folk religion.  I know that many of you have been praying for her, so I wanted to give you an update on the situation, and show the power of prayer as God continues to work in her life.

First, praise God that he puts many people in her life to witness His love to her.  About 7 or 8 weeks ago, I was in getting my hair cut, and Sue Hway commented that she has many customers who are Christians.  Two specific people she mentioned were Pastor Alex from Salvation Lutheran Church and another woman who attends Bread of Life Church in Chia-Yi.  My conversations with Sue Hway are all in Chinese, so this presents a little bit of a problem.  While I am able to use my Chinese on a functional level, I lack precision and command of the language to always be able to communicate with her in a clear way.  But praise God that he has put other Taiwanese people in her life who come as customers but also testimonies to God’s goodness.

While we were talking, she mentioned that she had began to pray.  I was very excited to hear this and inquired more about the situation.  The lady who attends the Bread of Life Church in the city talks with her about faith, and prayer while getting her hair cut.  This lady had given Sue Hwaye a prayer book, and began talking to her about prayer, and how Christians pray.  Sue Hwaye said that she had begun praying since early December.

I was very excited to hear this and asked her if she wanted to attended church.  She said that she was too busy, and that she had to have her shop open on Sunday mornings.  I then asked her if she had a Bible, which she said she did not.  As I left, I remembered that I had a Chinese-English New Testament in the trunk of my scooter.  I gave it her and suggested the Gospel of Mark as a good place to start reading about the life and work of Jesus Christ.  It was an amazing opportunity that God gave me to share God’s word with her.  I told her if she had questions about what she was reading that she could ask me, or Pastor Alex if she needs a better explanation in Chinese.

Two days ago I went back get my hair cut and asked her about how she was doing.  She said that she still prays every day, but has not had time to read the Bible.  Please continue to pray for her.  God is definitely working in her life, but pray that she will be connected with His word and will come to faith.  Your prayers have made a difference over the course of this year, so keep it up prayer warriors.

8th Grade Baptism

In early February, our 8^th Grade Bible Class curriculum began studying the life of Jesus.  The students study more Old Testament stories in 7^th grade and the first semester of 8^th grade.  However, beginning 8^th grade through 10^th grade, the focus shifts to the New Testament.  Our first lesson of the new semester was Jesus’ baptism and temptation.

After completing the lesson, one of my students, Jack, came up to me and told me that he wanted to be baptized.  I was really excited and surprised by this, as I had never had a student say this after a lesson before.  I asked him some more questions, and found out that he attends the Lan Tan Lutheran Church here in the city.  I told him about the great gift that baptism is, and encouraged him to talk to his family and pastor.

After class today, Jack came up to me again, and said that he would start school on Sundays.  I was confused by this and asked him to clarify a little bit.  Eventually, I figured out that he will start classes on Sunday in preparation for his baptism.  Praise God.  Jack didn’t know how many weeks the classes would take, but he was starting them next week.  Please praise God for Jack’s faith and pray for him as he prepares to be baptized later this year.

It’s Prayer Time!

1.     Pray for Sue Hway.  Pray that God would continue to connect her to His word and work faith in her.

2.    Praise God for Jack’s faith.  Pray for him as he takes baptism classes.

3.    Praise God for His guidance and safety on the excellent trip to India.

4.    Pray for me and the other missionaries as we start the new semester.  May God give us renewed strength and energy, and bless all of us as we work together and share the Gospel.

5.    Pray for me as I consider where God would want me to be next year.  I am prayerfully considering a return to Taiwan, or pursuing a teaching job in the States.

Happy Chinese New Year, and may God bless you all,

Mark

This is the last blog that will be posted to:

http://www.photography139.com/index_files/artistsnotebook.htm

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Last week’s theme was SELF-PORTRAIT. Although there wasn’t any new people to submit pictures, there were still several submissions. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was hoping that more men would submit pictures now and again, but we aren’t very far into this project, so maybe a few more guys will ante up in the future.

This week’s submissions:

Monica Henning (Fairweather Friend)

Julie Johnson

Dawn Krause

Becky Perkovich

Michael Vest

Christopher D. Bennett

Dawn’s Weekly Poem includes an Artistic Adaptation.

Self Portrait

A rose
yearning to be a daisy
vulnerable and
open for the world to see

Glass
shattered into pieces
broken, mended
brought together in new form

Steel
smooth and resistant
with scars
damaged but still strong

Sunlight
full of hope
warming souls
joy with simple pleasure

The theme for this week is:

That is a theme that would have probably been more fun to do in the summer, but what can you do? The Random Generator has spoken!

Hearts Beat High with Joy

When I took this picture I went down quite the long journey of family history in family Bibles. One of the most important things I discovered was that I was born special.

The Bible in the picture belonged to my Grandma Bennett. My birth announcement was taped or glued to the front of her Bible. I wasn’t the first grandchild born. I wasn’t even close to being the first grandchild born. However, I am the only grandchild that had a birth considered worthy of having the birth announcement glued into the front of the Bible.

The Bible used for Hearts Beat High with Joy was my Grandma Bennett’s Bible. The smaller Bible pictured in the last picture was my Dad’s Bible. The Bible in the middle of the stack was my Grandpa Bennett’s Bible.

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Last week’s theme was OUT OF FOCUS. I’m very excited to have Monica Henning as a first time contributor. Monica was so excited that she submitted four photos. She did violate the one and only rule of RWPE and that is that the picture has to be taken during the week of the theme, but I will let it slide.

Monica Henning A (Don’t Take Me for a Loop)

Monica Henning B

Monica Henning C

Monica Henning D

Dawn Krause

Christopher D. Bennett

Michael Vest

Dawn’s Poem of the Week

Out of Focus

The future’s a blur
and rather hazy
Energy gone
and feeling lazy

The edge is gone
turned to soft gray
Watching the hours
pass away the day

Next week’s theme is:

I hope there are plenty of first time contributors next Monday. After all, almost everybody owns a camera and everybody has a “self”!

The Lovely Silhouette

I finally found a use for this window that I like. Sara agreed to pose for this picture before we went to the movies one snowy Monday night. This pose was not without some danger. The lights behind Sara are extremely hot, but she managed not to burn herself. This was a victory of some kind.

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The theme for last week was ADVENTURE:

Jesse Howard

Michael Vest

Christopher D. Bennett

It is my custom not to explain much about my RWPE photos and I will not break with that tradition, but I will at least state that there is a small back story as to why I took a picture of me scrubbing the toilet for the theme ADVENTURE. This picture was not out of laziness. It exists for a reason.

Dawn’s Weekly Poem

Adventure

Let’s skip a stone on the pond
And run the forest wild
Have a sword fight in the woods
And fight the king so viled

Build a clubhouse in the tree
And mighty dragons slay
Lay in the meadow to watch the clouds
And pass away our day

Let’s push the limits of our minds
And spill our hearts desire
Play in the spirit of our youth
And pray we never tire

This week’s theme is:

Hopefully some fun can be had with that!

Now I’ve seen all 10 Best Picture Nominees, I feel a need to rank them. Even though I think that it is a rather tragic oversight by the Academy that they failed to nominate (500) Days of Summer. I also feel that Julie & Julia should have been nominated for Best Picture, but other than those two omissions, I can’t complain about the list too much. Okay, Fanastic Mr. Fox should have gotten more love as well. I also understand that the Oscars this year will hold very little suspense. Avatar will win Best Picture. That being noted, here is how I rank the 10 Best Picture Nominees from Best to not so good. Also, in case a person was to get invited to an Oscar Party, the movies that are currently available on DVD have been noted.

1. The Hurt Locker (DVD) – Most action movies have one big bomb diffusing scene at the end of a movie. Now imagine a movie with 4 or 5 of those scenes. On the surface it sounds like that could get boring, but every sequence is slightly different and slightly more intense. I’m not usually a huge fan of war movies, but this movie about the final few days of a bomb squad in Iraq is original and intense.
2. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Released on DVD March 9) – For starters, Mo’Nique should win the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. This movie is strangely uplifting even though I can’t think of a more depressing story. Precious follows the story of an illiterate teenage girl that is approximately 150 pounds overweight and is pregnant for the second time with her father’s baby. As bad as that sounds, the mom might actually be the worse parent. Her first child is born with Down’s Syndrome and you never actually learn the name of the child because they call the child Mongo. Yes, that is short for mongoloid. Despite how screwed up everything is in this movie, it somehow works extremely well. Even the casting of the normally wretched Mariah Carey even works.
3. Up (DVD) – Perhaps the least impressively animated Pixar offering to date, but who cares? It has the most heartwarming and beautiful story. Finding Nemo is the most beautifully animated Pixar film (besides WALL-E) and it is their worst movie.
4. District 9 (DVD) – For the most part I’ve parted ways with science fiction. Rarely does anything interesting or original come out any longer. This movie and Moon were two releases this year that have helped slightly restore my faith in the genre. Now if I could only wash memories of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Terminator Salvation out of my mind. This is science fiction how it used to be – smart. It also comes with a sociological message. Reminds me of the glory days of The Outer Limits.
5. Avatar (Still playing in Ames) – James Cameron certainly deserves to win Best Director for this movie. It is a technological milestone in cinematic history. Unfortunately it isn’t really a great movie. It is great to look at, but the story is only so-so at best. It is basically Dances with Wolves in space. Dances with Wolves is the 2nd worst movie to ever win Best Picture, next to Annie Hall. This movie isn’t bad. In fact it is good, but the majority of me just wishes that the story was half as good as the visual effects.
6. Up in the Air (Released on DVD – March 9) – I was a little disappointed in this movie. It is a good movie, but it was better in my mind. All of the really great sequences in the trailer were better in the trailer than they are in the movie. The movie is also filled with great characters, but I don’t think the story is as great as the characters deserve. There certainly aspects of the story that are fascinating. Just the thought that it is okay to lay people off over video conferencing and that anybody can do such a thing by following a simple flow chart was a perfect snapshot of corporate America. The performances are all great. In particular J.K. Simmons and Zach Galifanakis are superb in small roles.
7. An Education (Currently playing at The Fleur) – A good little movie that probably would have scored higher on this list if the ending wouldn’t have felt so rushed and thrown on. An Education is the story of a 16 year old girl with dreams of going to Oxford that begins a romantic relationship with a much older man. The movie never really reveals his age but the actor that plays him (Peter Sarsgaard) is 39 years old. It is the type of movie that is frustrating because the parents of the girl completely sign off on the relationship because they think the man is suave and sophisticated and is good for the future of their daughter. The thoughts of the dad are best illustrated when he points out that David (the older man) is better for his daughter than a love interest that is her same age because he know C.S. Lewis. The daughter points out that the “boy” could become a famous author some day. Her dad retorts: “Knowing a famous author is better than becoming one. It shows you’re connected.” It is my hope that Carey Mulligan wins the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as the 16 year old girl that gets seduced by an older man. It is certainly a better performance than Sandra Bullock’s overhyped performance in The Blind Side. Olivia Williams is also brilliant (as usual) in her performance as the girl’s school teacher and seemingly the only adult that sees what a colossal mistake this relationship is going to be for the girl.
8. A Serious Man (DVD) – Funny, quirky and a return to form by the Coen brothers, after the dreadful Burn After Reading. Not anything particularly great though. Funny in parts. Solid performances, but probably not Best Picture nominee worthy.
9. The Blind Side (Not playing anywhere that I know) – This is a decent and well made feel good movie. Sandra Bullock is good, but this isn’t an earth shattering performance. There is nothing decidedly original about this movie and there is a very painful sequence where football coaches play themselves. Not one of them is a thespian of note. It is a good movie and I will no doubt watch this again on some sleepy Sunday afternoon, but that is about it.
10. Inglourious Basterds (DVD) – This movie is a collection of great scenes that does not end up to a great movie. There is Tarantino’s normal addiction to violence and gore and he does do it in an artistic manner, but at the end of the day, it is still just violence and gore. This movie easily has the worst ending of any movie I’ve seen in a very long time. But the hype surrounding Christoph Waltz’s performance is well deserved. I do hope that he wins the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.

Here is Saturday’s love letter from The Writer’s Almanac:

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Puritan-inspired, New England-based works of dark romanticism, and he was largely a recluse. But he was cheerful about his personal romantic life. In his 30s, he fell in love with another reclusive person, Sophia Peabody. She and Nathaniel Hawthorne secretly became engaged on New Year’s Day in 1839.

They got married in her family’s bookstore in Boston. She was 32; he was 38. The newlyweds moved out to an old historic mansion in Concord, Massachusetts, where Henry David Thoreau made a vegetable garden for just the two of them. Hawthorne wrote to his sister: “We are as happy as people can be, without making themselves ridiculous, and might be even happier; but, as a matter of taste, we choose to stop short at this point.”

Then, on his first wedding anniversary, he wrote to his wife: “We were never so happy as now — never such wide capacity for happiness, yet overflowing with all that the day and every moment brings to us. Methinks this birth-day of our married life is like a cape, which we have now doubled and find a more infinite ocean of love stretching out before us.”

Writer James Joyce said things like, “A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.” But he often apologized wholeheartedly to his wife, Nora. And he said things like, “I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.” But to Nora Barnacle, he wrote things like — on October, 25th, 1909 — “You are my only love. You have me completely in your power. I know and feel that if I am to write anything fine or noble in the future I shall do so only by listening to the doors of your heart. … I love you deeply and truly, Nora. … There is not a particle of my love that is not yours. … If you would only let me I would speak to you of everything in my mind but sometimes I fancy from your look that you would only be bored by me. Anyhow, Nora, I love you. I cannot live without you. I would like to give you everything that is mine, any knowledge I have (little as it is) any emotions I myself feel or have felt, any likes or dislikes I have, any hopes I have or remorse. I would like to go through life side by side with you, telling you more and more until we grew to be one being together until the hour should come for us to die. Even now the tears rush to my eyes and sobs choke my throat as I write this. Nora, we have only one short life in which to love. O my darling be only a little kinder to me, bear with me a little even if I am inconsiderate and unmanageable and believe me we will be happy together. Let me love you in my own way. Let me have your heart always close to mine to hear every throb of my life, every sorrow, every joy.”

From Sunday’s The Writer’s Almanac:

Today is Valentine’s Day, the day on which we celebrate love, especially romantic love. The holiday was named after an early Christian priest, St. Valentine, who was martyred on February 14 in 269 A.D.

The tradition of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day originates from the martyr Valentine himself. The legend maintains that due to a shortage of enlistments, Emperor Claudius II forbade single men to get married in an effort to bolster his struggling army. Seeing this act as a grave injustice, Valentine performed clandestine wedding rituals in defiance of the emperor. Valentine was discovered, imprisoned, and sentenced to death by beheading. While awaiting his fate in his cell, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of a prison guard, who would come and visit him. On the day of his death, Valentine left a note for the young woman professing his undying devotion signed “Love from your Valentine.”

Poets Robert Browning  and Elizabeth Barrett Browning  carried out one of the most famous romantic correspondences in literary history. They first introduced themselves by epistolary means, and fell in love even before they had met in person. The letter that began their relationship was written by Robert in January 1845; it was essentially a piece of fan mail to esteemed poet Elizabeth Barrett. He wrote:

“I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett — and this is no offhand complimentary letter that I shall write — whatever else, no prompt matter-of-course recognition of your genius and there a graceful and natural end of the thing: since the day last week when I first read your poems, I quite laugh to remember how I have been turning and turning again in my mind what I should be able to tell you of their effect upon me …”

Elizabeth Barrett responded right away: “I thank you, dear Mr Browning, from the bottom of my heart. … Such a letter from such a hand!”

She continued, “I will say that I am your debtor, not only for this cordial letter & for all the pleasure which came with it, but in other ways, & those the highest: & I will say that while I live to follow this divine art of poetry, … in proportion to my love for it & my devotion for it, I must be a devout admirer & student of your works. This is in my heart to say to you & I say it.”

They continued writing to each other, clandestinely, for a year and a half, and then they secretly got married in 1846. Right before the wedding, Robert mailed off to Elizabeth a letter that said: “Words can never tell you, however, — form them, transform them anyway, — how perfectly dear you are to me – perfectly dear to my heart and soul. I look back, and in every one point, every word and gesture, every letter, every silence — you have been entirely perfect to me — I would not change one word, one look. I am all gratitude — and all pride (under the proper feeling which ascribes pride to the right source) all pride that my life has been so crowned by you.”

And then, the day after the wedding, she wrote to him:
“What could be better than [your] lifting me from the ground and carrying me into life and the sunshine? … All that I am, I owe you — if I enjoy anything now and henceforth, it is through you.”

During their courtship, she was composing sonnets for him, which she presented to him as a wedding gift. The sonnets were published in 1850 and include one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s most famous poems ever:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

I know that there are some Scrooge McDucks out there that loathe and hate Valentine’s Day. I hope you can at least appreciate the great writing that was posted last week.