11 Fictional Women I Have Crushed on at One Point in My Life:

…Since I’m sure that this in no way makes me appear weird or sad or pathetic, and besides, why not air out some dirty laundry? That’s what the internet is for, right?? The list caps at 11 because it’s a nice palindromic number and because it’s less creepy than going on and on about all the imaginary women from TV, movies, or books I would marry.

Honorable Mentions:

Britta Perry/Annie Edison- Because the two come in a package deal.

Casey Klein- Because I am a hip enough to have watched Party Down. And because nobody else did.

Kim Pine- Because WE ARE SEX BOB-OMB! ONE TWO THREE FOUR!

Kitty Pryde- Because despite numerous portrayals in comics, movies, and TV, I have yet to come across a version I don’t like.

Celine from Before Sunrise, Amelie from Amelie, Anna from Beginners, or any other French girl in movies- Because they are French girls in movies.

Robin Scherbatsky- Because before HIMYM messed her up in season 4, there was Robin, and then there was every other imaginary woman on Earth.

Dianna Agron- Because no way someone so perfect can be a real life person, right?

And now:

11. Franny Glass- “Let’s just try to have a marvelous time this weekend. I mean not try to analyze everything to death for once, if possible. Especially me. I love you.” I could totally love her to pieces, distraction, etc.

10. Sloane Peterson- My future wife will also be my accomplice when I decide to take a day off. She will assist in creating phony phone services to fool my principal and by pretending to be different people when nosy waiters don’t believe I am the Sausage King of Chicago. She will also make out with me in front of paintings, dance with me on parade floats, and deal with my best friend when he spazzes out after destroying his father’s priceless car. Chicka chicka.

9. Julie “The Cat” Gaffney- One of the best goalies of her generation, yet her coach refuses to play her a single minute of the Goodwill Games until out of the blue, he decides to stick her in goal during the shootout of the final game, completely cold, to face the best player in the tournament with the gold medal at stake. And then she does her job. Like a boss.

8. Kimberly Hart- Not only was she a teenaged super-hero who piloted a giant flying pterodactyl robot, she was an Olympic level gymnast. She was also incredibly well-rounded and organized or participated in pretty much every school event or activity. She gets points taken away for being a Socal girl through and through, though. And also for going for Tommy instead of the clearly superior Jason.

7. Alex Mack- My reasoning is easy to follow here. Larissa Oleynik was my first celebrity crush. Alex Mack wears a hat. Bianca Stratford doesn’t wear a hat. Alex Mack wins.

6. Joan Holloway- It’s a credit to Mad Men‘s writing that I feel like I know her better than I know some of my friends. It’s a credit to Joan Holloway that in a world of men, she shines brighter than any of them not because she is a woman, but because she is stronger, more confident, and more driven than anybody else working at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. It’s a shock when you see her vulnerable, and it makes your heart ache for her. She’s the best kind of bombshell- her incredibly and undeniably magnetic charisma draws you in before she blows you up. What’s not to like?

5. Liz Bennett- Simply put, she inspired a man to change for her. She is headstrong, witty, impulsive, and outspoken in the best ways possible. And boy do I like spitfires. Especially ones that are Keira Knightly in the movie adaptation.

4. Joey Potter- People forget this since she’s become some manic android woman, but back in the day everybody loved Katie Holmes. Sure, Joey was a drama magnet, but she was desirable enough for me to admit I watched Dawson’s Creek. She was also incredibly intelligent and could banter with the best of them, not to mention she was crazy beautiful (especially because she didn’t know it). Plus, she knew a whole bunch of big words. Nothing hotter than having a verbal arsenal at one’s disposal.

3. Jordan Baker- Probably my all-time literary character crush and probably the whole reason I came up with this list as I was reading The Great Gatsby for the umpteenth time. Waaaay sexier than Daisy. Also much more alluring and sultry with just the right amount of mysterious. Unlike Daisy, she could give as good as she got from the boys. And she’s an athlete (even though she cheats… and even though it’s golf). But when the new Gatsby movie comes out at the end of the year, I want everyone to remember that I was into Jordan Baker before it was cool.

2. Holly Golightly- Flighty and flimsy, but in the absolute best way possible. Who wouldn’t want to be the one to center her? I’m pretty sure Capote created her specifically so that every man on earth would fall in love with her for a few seconds. That said, this ranking is for movie Holly, not book Holly. Movie Holly has the distinct advantages of possessing guitar skills, of getting her happy ending, and of being Audrey Hepburn.

1. Buffy Summers- Everything I liked about all the girls above, plus equal parts baddest chick on the planet and vulnerable dorky girl just trying to fit in. Pretty much the total package. Dynamite.

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Now playing: Teenage Fanclub – The Concept

Doin Work.

Sometimes the simplest of actions do the best job of illustrating the magnitude of God’s power.

I read Hebrews 4 today. Verse 12 talks about a Word of God that is “living and active,” a Word that is hard at work- and there’s no doubting that. It’s actually becoming more and more abundantly clear to me just how much God’s Word is moving.

What’s been so funny is how I see it in action- or rather, the ways God chooses to show us things. The apostle Paul mentions twice (in 1 Corinthians 1 and Ephesians 3) that God uses the foolish, the weak, the least, and the insignificant to make his Gospel known and to make Himself glorified. I’ve been learning, though, that this doesn’t apply only to people but also to situations. Activities. Circumstances. He uses the measliest things to awe us in all these instances as well.

It’s as elementary as this: We spend seconds on this earth that matter in eternity. Some moments in time that may seem inconsequential to us now- a few guys meeting up in a basement, a girl playing a song on the piano, a young man flying south to say goodbye to a friend- somehow end up monumental in the grand scheme of things. A soul experiences the amazing love of Christ. A life is transformed. A church lays a foundation. God does work.

Today, incredibly, these things happened.

Here is one of these stories:

For the past few months I have been a part of a ministry in the Tenderloin called Adopt a Building. We have been going into some apartments in one of the roughest areas in the city and working to plant and sustain churches in each and every one of them by building relationships with residents and discipling and equipping them with the Gospel so that they can be a light to their neighbors- and eventually, their neighborhood.

I myself have been going into a building named The Aranda for the past few weeks with a couple other guys. And in this short time frame, I’ve already become a passenger to the ups and downs of this increasingly difficult- but increasingly rewarding process. People have become our friends and our brothers in faith. People have opened doors for us and allowed us into their lives. But people we have invested in have turned their backs on us. People have moved in and out of the building and lost touch. People have flat out refused us.

Still, God was moving.

As we spent more time there, we met a few men and women that were especially open to us. We got to know them, serve them, love them. We found fellow believers who wanted to see God working in the Aranda as much as we do. We spent time with them one on one, talking to them about the Gospel and waiting to see how God would work through us and through them. We decided to learn together and grow together and have Him move through us to accomplish that work…

…And today we gathered as a church- the church in the Aranda- for the first time.

There were six of us, and we met in a basement and sat on folding chairs and ate chips and drank Diet Dr. Peppers and shared about ourselves and our lives with each other. And we laughed and prayed and encouraged and hoped and rejoiced with each other. And we watched with each other as God did work. As God sowed the seeds of something that has the potential to be amazing. As God used us- the least of us in the simplest of gatherings- to magnify His name in a huge way.

I read about the living and active Word of God today.

I saw it today too.

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Now playing: Enfield – And Can It Be?

This brightened up my day.

(from Postsecret)

…not that I was having a bad one in the first place.

I like that there are means for good days to get better.

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Now playing: Thom Yorke – Black Swan
via FoxyTunes

What to do on a first date.

Okay so I know it’s a kids-slash-chick movie, and it’s probably super cheesy of me to say this… but holy hell is this part romantic.

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Now playing: Tangled (Original Soundtrack) – I See The Light
via FoxyTunes

There’s Magic Inside.

Ezra Shaw- Getty Images

Moments like this are why I love baseball.

Sublime.

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Now playing: Tony Bennett – I Left My Heart In San Francisco
via FoxyTunes