It sneaks up on me sometimes…usually when I haven’t had a chance to think it out of existence. Like today, for instance. I won’t bore you with the miles-long list of things that have to be done by tomorrow at 5p.m. Let’s just say that by 10a.m. today, I had accomplished more than I usually…
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Nice Surprises
For today’s Seven Quick Takes, I’m going to take a slightly different tack…hope you’ll bear with me! Every so often, something I think will be just one more commitment unexpectedly turns out to be a blessing. Such was the case with the Religious Ed Institute I attended today. It involved two sixty-mile round trips with…
Read MoreSung, Spoken, Secret
“People don’t really talk like that, you know.” “No, but they think that way.” —-Diane Kruger (Abigail Chase) and Nicholas Cage (Ben Gates) in National Treasure. What I love about writing is that it lets me communicate in poetry without sounding self-important and condescending. Never in reality could I talk about a filigree-and-marmalade sunrise.…
Read More“I Hate Church”
The other day I was listening to my WLP showcase CD in the car (I promise, this is not as geeky as it sounds; I was trying to decide if our choir could handle one of the pieces for Christmas Eve) when Alex suddenly piped up from the back seat, “Hey, Mommy, this is the…
Read MoreInspiration, Insomnia
I had forgotten. The creative process is a consuming one in any form. I tend to get my brain wound up, and then, even if my entire being is crying out for rest, I can’t get to sleep. It can happen after critique group, it can happen when I have a new article assignment or…
Read MoreReflections on Text and Style
July 7, 2009: I began the day with “O God Beyond All Praising” and ended it with “Rockin’ the Runway,” which is essentially Contemporary Christian/Praise & Worship. In the middle I worked on my own hymn text, so while I stood at the concert tonight singing, I was also analyzing the texts. Many of these…
Read MoreAn NPM Convention Journal
This will be considerably longer and less polished than my usual but I’m not taking the time to do exhaustive revisions. I spent this week in Chicago at the NPM (pastoral music) convention, which was in Rosemont, out by O’Hare airport. Here are the scattered reflections of a week… Day One: Sunday, July 5 12:38…
Read MoreText writing
Today I begin writing from a new location. I spent all my writing time this weekend working on this web site, and only got the “easy” parts done. But I’m feeling a great sense of accomplishment at finally taking this step. Friday was the last day of school, so I have now set aside…
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Kathleen M. Basi 