Why I love the fantasy genre

In "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years", Don Miller describes watching the Tour de France and actually peddling his feet in the air as if he, too, were cycling through the winding hills of the European countryside. I can relate.

I doubt that I would ever pretend to be cycling along with the likes of Lance Armstrong, but I do day dream about a lot of other things. Mostly I think through "perfect" scenarios, things that may or may not actually happen in real life, and the ideal way they would play out. This is part of the reason I'm so terrible about big surprises...I've already thought through the perfect way for a situation to turn out, so reality is often a let down (horrible, I know, and something that's getting better the older I get). I also find myself imagining that I am a character in a story that I love, or that I am involved in another life...usually one where I sing really well. This usually happens in the car where I can belt out tunes with my average-at-best voice, but pretend it's really really good. I've also been known to attempt a Harry Potter spell or two.

I don't use day dreaming to escape my real life, because, quite frankly, my real life is just fine. There are just so many stories out there that could be lived! And why not by me, even if it's just in my head?

So how does all this relate to the fantasy genre in literature? Fantasy stories take us somewhere else. They indulge the feeling that all of us have that we somehow belong somewhere else, that there is more to this world than we currently know, or that we possess untapped powers and we just need someone to show us how to use them. C.S. Lewis describes this feeling as Joy, a longing for something else that we can't explain. And that is fantasy literature. It's the story of the "other" that we are all longing for.

There's more to it than all that, though. In "Mere Christianity", Lewis says, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." I believe that God is the ultimate fulfillment of our longing, that heaven is the other world we are looking for. I also believe that we are born with a longing for a real "other" place so that we will seek after it.

I love fantasy literature because it allows me to indulge that part of me that knows there is more to life than my experience has shown me. I love that it exercises my imagination and opens me up to other levels of creativity. And I love that it points me toward something greater than myself.

When I get to heaven, I know that the longing I feel will be fulfilled. But maybe I'll still get to use the "accio" charm to summon objects. We'll see.

Adventures in Reading: "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller

It is no exaggeration to say that this book changed my life.

"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" is Donald Miller's latest memoir-esque contribution to my library. What I love about Don (I met him briefly a few years ago, so I feel like I can call him that) is that all of his books are memoirs, but they're all about a different unique facet of his life experience so far. They are also all very conversational, and read just like a real conversation with him feels.

This is the description of the book from the cover jacket:

"Years after writing a best-selling memoir, Donald Miller went into a funk and spent months sleeping in and avoiding his publisher. One story had ended, and he wasn't sure how to start another.

But he gets rescued by two movie producers who want to make a movie based on his memoir. When the start fictionalizing Don's life for film -- changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative -- the real life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around."

So there you have it. A basic description. Now I'll tell you some of the things I really learned...

1) The principles that make written stories great are the same principles that make the stories of our lives great. This especially hit home as someone who wants to create great stories on paper. I know what it takes. It almost gives me a sense of obligation to create better stories in my real life.

2) Living a better story is an intentional process. It won't just happen. I have to get off my couch and make it happen.

3) It is silly for me to ask Life what it's meaning is. Instead, Life seems to be asking me what is meaningful. Things can be hard and not go the way I want them to, but does that negate meaning for life in general? That seems like quite a leap. Maybe my life doesn't seem like a big deal, but maybe it's not about me. Maybe, as Don puts it, I am a tree in a story about a forest.

4) Treating things like things and people like people will make those things and those people much more enjoyable. I have to let go of the lie that things and people are going to somehow resolve any issues I have. My rescuer for all things is Jesus, not new clothes or a relationship.

5) The climax of any human story will not actually happen while a person is living. Our lives are made up of many, many stories, but none of them will have the finality and resolve that a story in a book or movie will have. Our stories just about always leave room for a sequel. After one goal is achieved, there will be a new struggle to overcome on the horizon.

Those are just a few things that I picked up reading this book (twice). Reading this book has literally changed the way I view my life. I want to make better stories. I want to risk more to gain more. Miller says that once you start to live better stories, you can't go back to the way things were before. I think I'm at that point: there's no going back now that I know there is a better way.

I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone. Miller's writing speaks to our common human experience in a way that is humble, humorous, heart-breaking, and above all, honest. It's probably too late to put this book on your Christmas list, but maybe you'll get a gift card for Borders or something...

I miss dancing...

Hopefully none of these will get taken down any time soon.

Ballet by Nacho Duato

Jeanine Mason and Jason Glover (choreographed by Travis Wall, whom I love)




Kathryn McCormick and Jakob Karr (who I have a big fat crush on)




Ellenore Scott and Jakob Karr



So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 top 6 (sorry for the bad quality, but this song gives me the chills every time...and sometimes tears!)




Clifton Brown of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company (my favorite dancer in my favorite company)

Adventures in Reading: "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice

Sometimes I really miss college.

Mostly, it's when I'm reading a book and I need a professor to explain, a) what the heck is going on, and, b) any literary or cultural allusion/significance.

Suffice it to say, I didn't really understand Louis, the vampire and main character of this story. So I got some help from the internet (thank God for Google...I don't think I would know half the stuff I know if it wasn't for that beautiful search engine. And Wikipedia. Oh sweet sweet Wikipedia...).

What I have deduced is that this is a coming-of-age story, or a bildungsroman, if you prefer (my English degree does!). However, it is the story of Louis' coming-of-age as a vampire, not as a human. He is learning to leave behind his "childish" human morality in exchange for his "adult" vampire immortality. And, essentially, when he accomplishes this, his character ceases to change, which signals the end of his story.

When I think back over the novel with this perspective, it does seem to make more sense. The story itself always made sense. However, I didn't understand Louis' character until I thought about him from this perspective.

There is also a passage where the older vampire, Armand, says that he needs Louis because he exemplifies the modern age. If I had to hazard a guess, based on his literal age, I would say Louis belonged to the Romantic Era. This also makes sense when looking at the internal struggles Louis faces throughout the story, as well as his love of art and his propensity toward sentimentality. Thinking of Louis in this context also makes his character "make more sense" in my mind.

I was initially interested in exploring the vampire genre after reading the Twilight series, and then reading an interview with Stephenie Meyer where she described not adhering to traditional literary vampire motifs. I wondered what the traditional vampire of literature looked like. Based on "Interview with the Vampire", I would say that Meyer's vampires drink blood to live, and find pleasure in it the way a human finds pleasure in eating food. Rice's vampires, on the other hand, drink blood to live and find pleasure in doing so on a much more sensual level. Many critics have even said that it's a sexual pleasure, but Rice herself has said that vampires are no longer sexual beings. It is clear, either way, that Rice's vampires find the kill to be meaningful beyond mere survival. Louis likens killing to understanding the meaning of life.

Another is that Meyer's vampires seem to be eternally human, while Rice's lose their humanity and become eternally detached. The need for and progression toward this detachment is essentially Louis' story.

All this to say, "Interview with the Vampire" is a dark story, with graphic imagery and some intense themes. It is, however, well written and keeps the reader engaged and interested. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a more traditional vampire story.

Just be sure your blood sugar is up ;)

favorite poem...ever?

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

ee cummings is one of my favorite poets. Ever. His poems are so unique, especially their structure. I love writing them out, because it really make me focus on the way he's written the poem, the way the words and phrases blend together or contrast each other.

And this poem...it just...it feels like it reaches out and grabs onto my soul. Maybe that sounds dramatic, but it's a good description of how it makes me feel. I am inside this poem when I read it, when I think about it. The wonder that keeps the stars apart...that's what this poem makes me feel.

Reading Gone Wrong

I've always thought I wanted to live in a Gothic novel...mostly because I've already enjoyed several fainting spells in my life, and I figure, I might as well be doing it in a setting where it's socially acceptable. Plus, I love pathetic fallacy.

However, I have recently changed my mind, because fainting is, in fact, highly over-rated.

I am about to briefly recount the most embarrassing moment of my life thus far...

Friday afternoon, I was reading "Interview with the Vampire" during my lunch break. During a particularly bloody scene, I started to feel woozy. This didn't really surprise me at all, and I put the book down. Instead of lying down on the couch I was sitting on, I decided to go buy a drink at the coffee shop next to where I was reading (to get my blood sugar up...although I'd just eaten, so this really wasn't the issue). I successfully ordered a drink, but instead of listening to my body and sitting back down immediately, I stood and waited for my order. As soon as it was in my hand, I headed for a chair...

...and woke up flat on my face.

I can laugh about it now, but this whole situation is completely humiliating on a lot of levels. First, a book made me faint. I just feel like that's a really uncool way to go. Most other times I've fainted were medically related, or I at least had a visual. This was all in my head.

Second, of all the places to faint, the crowded coffee shop I go to almost every day was one of the worst, because I'm a regular...and now I'm the regular who fainted.

Third, this is not my first time fainting, and normally I can keep it from happening because I know the signs. However, in the moments preceding my most recent episode, I decided to risk standing up because I didn't want to look silly and sit down on the floor. I guess I thought falling on my face in the middle of the shop would be less embarrassing. One bloody chin and several bruises later, I have decided I was wrong.

I am not a clumsy person. I just seem to do these kinds of things to myself every few months. Maybe I do belong in a Gothic novel...but I most certainly don't want to be in one any more.

Adventures in Reading: "About a Boy" by Nick Hornby

"About a Boy" is one of my favorite movies. I love it. I've seen it at lease a dozen times, and it never fails to entertain me. And the book it's based on didn't disappoint.

This book deals with the complex issues surrounding what it means to grow up, whether you're 12 or 36. There are a lot of really serious story lines (including suicide and bullying), but the story never feels heavy. The characters are honest and entertaining, often without trying. Maybe that's what this book has that many don't: it feels effortless. It's as if the author isn't making any of it up, and this is the true story of several individuals.

The movie and the book differ from each other in several ways. In fact, they have two completely different endings. However, in both the book and movie the characters are able to accomplish the same amount of growth, and in the actual last scene, things to turn out almost exactly the same. I think some credit is due here to the writers of the screenplay, who were able to update the story (a main storyline revolves around Kurt Cobain and his death, which would date the story considerably), without losing its overall effect.

There isn't much to say about this book. It's a straightforward, entertaining coming-of-age story. I would definitely recommend it (and the movie, too)!