Our spacious room was lined with tall, tall windows. We set down our bags and stood close to the glass, never minding the chill, gawking upward at the Trump Tower and all her subjects.
You see, we may not live in Chicago forever. Last-minute hotel deals are pretty amazing.
If you have a free second today, could you vote for my cousin, Maia? She is an incredibly talented artist from California, and her drawing has made it to the finals of 2013 Eustace Tilley Contest hosted by The New Yorker! Isn't it awesome?
To vote, click here. You will have to create a login for The New Yorker website, but it only takes a second. If you're feeling extra amazing, return to the site this weekend to vote again! You can vote once per day through Sunday, January 20.
As some of you may know, I sing. Music has been an unexpected, integral part of my relationship with God. Somehow, giving my breath to a lyric, to a harmony, to a hymn, gives breath to my belief. I heard this song for the first time a few days ago, and since then, it's nestled itself safely beneath my waking thoughts (as all great songs do), murmuring until I return to it for rest.
Remember when our songs were just like prayer
Like gospel hymns that you called in the air
Come down, come down sweet reverence
Unto my simple house and ring... and ring
Ring like silver, ring like gold
Ring out those ghosts on the Ohio
Ring like clear day wedding bells
Were we the belly of the beast, or the sword that fell?
We'll never tell
Come to me, clear and cold
On some sea
Watch the world spinning waves
Like that machine
Now I've been crazy, couldn't you tell?
I threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell
Now I'm covered up in straw, belly up on the table
Well I drank and sang, and I passed in the stable
That tall grass grows high and brown
Well I dragged you straight in the muddy ground
And you sent me back to where I roam
Well I cursed and I cried, but now I know
Now I know
And I ran back to that hollow again
The moon was just a sliver back then
And I ached for my heart like some tin man
When it came, oh it beat and it boiled and it rang
It's ringing
Ring like crazy, ring like hell
Turn me back into that wild haired gale
Ring like silver, ring like gold
Turn these diamonds straight back into coal
Turn these diamonds straight back into coal
