Joanne quoted in ABCNews.com story

Yup, I'm quoted in an ABCNews.com story about singer Katy Perry. I did a blog post earlier this week about her 2001 Christian release; the post garnered some attention. A reporter called and asked me a few questions about it and quoted me in the article, which you can read here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Music/story?id=5256149&page=1

The one thing I've been struggling with is actually helping to "out" Katy Perry, because the backlash is, of course, going to come from the Christian community. Mainstream fans don't care if she used to be a Christian. But Christian fans are already pointing a condemning finger at her.

My only reason for even talking about it in a Beliefnet post was that I found it interesting that, given her admission about her behavior, she even got a Christian deal to begin with.

You can read my blog post here:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/gospelsoundcheck/2008/06/katy-perry-christian-recording.html

Many Rainbows

I walked outside yesterday, after an afternoon of storms that included marble-size hail, and saw the most beautiful rainbow. For just a few moments, the entire arc showed in the sky.

God showed Noah a rainbow as a covenant never to destroy the earth by flood again, so I'm always hopeful when I see a rainbow.

Then, this morning, I'm sitting at my desk and I just happened to look up and there on my office ceiling was a rainbow! I don't have any crystals or sun catchers on my windows so I can't imagine what the sun was reflecting off to make such a beautiful rainbow. Maybe some CDs on the floor?

Either way, it's a hopeful symbol.

What I'm Read in 2008

Below is a list of books I've read so far this year and the dates I finished them. The goal? To read a book a week. Most recent at the end of the list.

1. How Starbucks Saved My Life, by Michael Gates Gill (finished 1/1/08)
2. Pontoon, by Garrison Keillor (1/7/08)
3. Someone Like You, by Sarah Dessen
4. That Summer, by Sarah Dessen
5. The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster (2/4/08 an annual read)
6. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'engle (2/6/08)
7. What is the What, by Dave Eggers (2/10/08)
8. Little Lady, Big Apple, by Hester Brown 2/11/08
9. In This Mountain, by Jan Karon 2/17/08
10. The Kite Runner, by Khalid Housseini ( 2/27/08 yeesh, what was the big deal about this?)
11. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding 3/2/08
12. Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason, by Helen Fielding 3/7/08
13. Shoot The Moon, by Billie Letts 3/9/08
14. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka (3/13/08 total random pick at the 70% off bookstore; really quite a good story)
15. The Last Mother, by Mary McGarrity Morris (3/18/08 stinker)
16. The Love Story, by Anita Higman 3/25/08
17. Another Stab at Life, by Anita Higman 3/29/08
18. The Partner, by John Grisham 4/6/08
19. A Day In This Life, by Joni B. Cole, Rebecca Joffrey, and B.K. Rakhra 4/19/08
20. Whistling in the Dark, by Lesley Kagen (4/26/08 great)
21. If I Am Missing or Dead, by Janine Latus (4/27/08 interesting, especially if you know someone who's in an abusive relationship)
22. I'm Not The New Me, by Wendy McClure 4/30/08
23. Mean Season, by Heather Cochran 5/3/08
24. Welcome to Higby, by Mark Dunn 5/08
25. 84 Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanft 5/3/08
26. Q's Legacy, by Helene Hanft 5/9/08
27. No News at Throat Lake, by Lawrence Donegan (5/11/08 fun Irish read; when I finished I went out and rented the movie "Dancing at Lughnasa" again)
28. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen 5/21/08
29. Rapture Ready, by Daniel Radosh (5/18/08 gotta read, great and funny insight into the Christian subculture)
30. Good Evening Mr. And Mrs America and All The Ships At Sea, by Richard Bausch (6/6/08 reminded me of Steinbeck)
31. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay (6/7/08 Ooooo, good)
32. Sometimes You See It Coming, by Kevin Baker (6/16/08 quite crude in places; didn't expect that)
33. Son of a Witch, by Gregory Maguire (6/18/08 I read Wicked last year and saw the stage show last month; I was disappointed by the ending in Son of a Witch but you can't deny Maguire is an amazingly clever writer)
34. The Year of Living Biblically, by AJ Jacobs (6/22/08 Great read, and if you haven't read The Know It All, go read it.)
35. We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. (6/30/08 - This book was amazingly well written. I couldn't put it down. Shriver's main character tells the story of her high school son who murders his classmate, using letters to her husband to get inside the mind of her son and reveal the family relationships. Shriver did a fantastic job. It was so well done.)
36. Around The World with Auntie Mame, by Patrick Dennis (7/9/08 Auntie Mame is one of my all time favorite books)
37. The Adventures of Flash Jackson, by William Kowalski (7/14/08 started out good and took a really quick turn into bizarre.)
38. Alice McLeod Realist At last, by Susan Juby (7/20/08)
39. Five Boys, by Mick Jackson (7/30/08 - started out as one story, turned into a completely different one. Either would have been good but it was weird in one book, as if the author didn't really know which story he wanted to tell so he threw them both in there.)
40. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory McGuire (8/3/08 - MacGuire is a genius storyteller)
41. The Molech Prophecy, by Thomas Phillips (8/1/08 - Phil is a friend and this is the second time I've read this. I read the manuscript before it was sold and liked it the second time just as much.)
42. Twlight, by Stephanie Meyers (8/23/08)
43. New Moon, by Stephanie Meyers (8/24/08)
44. Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyers (8/25/08)
45. Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyers (8/31/08)
46. The Flamingo Rising, by Larry Baker (8/2/08)
47. Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer (9/18/08)
48. Lost, by Gregory Maguire (9/21/08)
49. Freaky Green Eyes, by Joyce Carol Oates (9/23/08)
50. Through The Storm, by Lynne Spears (10/2/08)
51. The Last Season, by Eric Blehm (10/5/08)
52. Alas Babylon, by Pat Frank (10/10/08)
53. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver (11/1/08)
54. Faith Of My Fathers, by John McCain (11/16/08)
55. Where Am I Wearing, by Kelsey Timmerman
56. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
57. What The Dickens by Gregory Maguire
58. Thank You For All Things by Sandra Kring
59. THE BIBLE

Do we need a Christian cookbook?

According to author Benita Long, the problem with cookbooks is that they’re all about cooking.

She thinks it’s a problem that cookbooks are filled with measurements, recipes, and lists of ingredients.

Seriously.

I'm not sure what a cookbook should be filled with, if not information on how to cook. Maybe instructions on how to hang drywall or install a garbage disposal? The correct way to determine your bra size or a step-by-step guide to coloring your own hair?

According to Long, a cookbook should not only offer information about cooking, but be inspiring as well. Her new "Christian cookbook," Come To The Table, offers "inspiring quotes, uplifting introductions, and a perfect combination of landscape and food photography that magnifies the glory of the Lord."

At the risk of being irreverent, I'm sick of the Christian community finding a way to stick a Jesus sticker on something and repackage it as inspirational. Do we need a "Christian" cookbook? No.

If I want a devotional, I'll buy a devotional.

You know what I want in my cookbook? Instructions on how to cook.

Tell me what to do when a recipe calls for 2/3 cup of sugar and I can only find the 1/4 cup, and it's in the cat food tin.

Tell me what I can substitute when I'm out of vanilla and craving chocolate chip cookies at midnight.

Give me pictures of the food, so I know what the heck the dish is supposed to look like when it's finished. I don't need pictures of landscapes and Norman Rockwell family dinner scenes. We eat in front of the T.V. Tell me which food pairs well with which nightly news anchor and I'll be happy.

I'm sure Long's book is a beautiful publication, perfect for giving as a gift - which we all know means someone spends a boatload of money on it but no one actually reads it.

Daring David on the Bicycle

So my darling husband decided to ride a bike to work this morning, in an effort to save gas.

Of course, he hasn't ridden a bicycle in probably 20 years, so I'm not sure if the ensuing medical bills will outweigh the gas savings.

Apparently, one of his young employees biked to work yesterday, and bragged that he'd save about $20 in gas for the week. David thought that sounded like a grand idea, so he went and borrowed his father's bicycle and practiced riding up and down the street for while.

I suggested he ride the 1/2 mile up to the grocery store to see if he could actually get farther than the end of the block, but he refused. Saving his energy, I guess.

I also suggested he get a bike helmet. He fought me on that one, saying he didn't want to spend money on a helmet until he was sure he would like riding. Instead, he found our daughter's old helmet in the basement and used that.

It's about a 12 mile drive to his restaurant, one way, but he can take the Erie Canal Bike path and shorten that ride down to about 9 miles. He set off this morning, leaving himself about an hour to get to work, expecting it to take about 1/2 an hour.

By 9 am I hadn't heard from him, so I called. He'd made it. He said it was a beautiful ride but it took him the full hour. He said after the first 1/2 mile his legs were tired but he kept on going. Old men on bikes were passing him on the bike trail.

I'm impressed. Last night, I was tired looking at the map. Then again, I'm a natural fraidy cat. Give me any reason to not do something adventurous - danger, heat stroke, flat tire, hang nail.

I should take a lesson from my daring darling. Of course, he still has to ride home tonight ...

UPDATE: He made it home just fine!

Gospel SoundCheck blog

Seriously, my last post was MAY 26?? How can that be? I feel like I've been blogging non stop for weeks.

That's probably because my blog at Beliefnet.com is finally up! Head over to the Gospel SoundCheck blog at http://blog.beliefnet.com/gospelsoundcheck/. I can never remember the URL so I'd bookmark it, if I were you.