my hospital playlist

Well, tomorrow's the big day! Laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis, that is. If I'm on any kind of emotional roller coaster, it's a kids' ride because I've been mostly calm with only small spurts of fear. People are praying for me, and I can feel it. Most of all, I feel as if the Lord is not only giving me His peace, but also a gift.

A gift? Weird, I know, but for all the unknowns and discomfort, this surgery does feel like a gift. Please pray for me, Johnny, Dr. Mangal, and his staff, if you will. Johnny will post updates on my Facebook and Twitter feed if you're interested. But everything will be just fine, I do believe.

We have to be at the hospital at 11:30 am, but my surgery won't be until 2:30 or 3:30 pm. So to keep my mind off of hunger, thirst, and the temptation to fear, I will be prepared. I'm packing a small Bible, a good book (Lit, unless I finish it tonight. If so, then either Hannah Coulter or Jayber Crow.), my iPhone (to play with as long as the nurses will let me), warm blue socks, and my iPod, which I just filled with good ole hospital music:

Modern Guilt :: Beck

"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" :: Bob Dylan

For Emma, Forever Ago :: Bon Iver

"Hallelujah" :: Brandi Carlile

Broken Bells :: Broken Bells

Written in Chalk :: Buddy & Julie Miller

"The High Countries" :: Caedmon's Call

"Ten Thousand Angels" :: Caedmon's Call

The Little Boat :: Chelsey Scott

"Poison & Wine" :: The Civil Wars

"Passenger" :: Daniel Ellsworth

"The Maker" :: Daniel Lanois

Here is What is :: Daniel Lanois

"Fix You" :: Derek Webb

"This Too Shall Be Made Right" :: Derek Webb

"Heaven" :: Derek Webb

Ampersand :: Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken

"A Thousand May Fall" :: Doug Burr

"The Righteous Will Rejoice" :: Doug Burr

"Battle Hymn of the Republic" :: Eef Barzelay (from the movie, Rocket Science)

"Gold" :: Emmylou Harris with Dolly Parton

"The Pearl" :: Emmylou Harris

"Where Will I Be" :: Emmylou Harris

"All My Tears" :: Emmylou Harris

"If I Needed You" :: Emmylou Harris & Don Williams

By Thy Mercy :: Indelible Grace

"It is Well with My Soul" :: The Innocence Mission

"Since I Still Tell You My Everything" :: The Innocence Mission

"Dust to Glory" :: Jeremy Casella

"Hymn #101" :: Joe Pug

"Hymn #35" :: Joe Pug

"Johnny Cash" :: Kelley McRae

Mars Hill Audio Journal :: Volume 100

"This Time Tomorrow" :: The Kinks

"Strangers" :: The Kinks

"Hallelujah" :: Leonard Cohen

"If I Needed You" :: Lyle Lovett

"The Book of Love" :: The Magnetic Fields

Middle Cyclone :: Neko Case

"Trapeze" :: Patty Griffin with Emmylou Harris

Downtown Church :: Patty Griffin

Scratch My Back :: Peter Gabriel

"15 Step" :: Radiohead

"Real Love" :: Regina Spektor

In Feast or Fallow :: Sandra McCracken

Red Balloon :: Sandra McCracken

"Ten Thousand Angels" :: Sandra McCracken

"I Can Hear Music" :: She & Him

Volume One :: She & Him

Volume Two :: She & Him

"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" :: She & Him

Wincing the Night Away :: The Shins

Takk :: Sigur Rós

Slow Soft Syrup :: Snowden

"Tear-Stained Eye" :: Son Volt (one of my future daughter's songs)

"One April Day" :: Stephin Merritt (from a great movie, Pieces of April)

Ghosts of the Great Highway :: Sun Kil Moon

"In These Arms" :: The Swell Season

"If I Needed You (Live)" :: Townes Van Zandt

"I'm Gonna Love You" :: Waterdeep

"Good Good End" :: Waterdeep

"But for You Who Fear My Name" :: The Welcome Wagon


I'm also packing a Moleskine and my favorite pen because I have a hunch that God is not only gifting me with surgery, but also a story. Surgery on Maundy Thursday and healing during Eastertide are no coincidences, my friends. Thanks for your prayers! I'll write again as soon as Johnny gives the OK that I'm not too drugged . . .

another sneak peek . . .

. . . from the Art House America blog -- I'm still in awe of Jacob Wick for creating such beautiful images:

[click to see larger]

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter!

prayer

Can we pray for each other via Vimeo? I think so.
(this vlog was recorded last night, FYI)

prayer from Jenni Simmons on Vimeo.

Happy Monday!

sneak peek

I can't remember if I've shared the specifics of the project I'm working on for Art House America in Nashville, TN, directed by Charlie Peacock and his wife, Andi Ashworth. Hmm . . .

Well, I can share a bit now: I'm the editor, art director, and sometime contributor to the Art House America blog, coming in late April. Here's a sneak peek -- whaddya think?

[this graphic created by the very magical Jacob Wick -- click to see larger]

I can't wait for y'all to see the debut issue; we've lined up some amazing content. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'll be tweeting Art House-worthy information, and who knows, maybe more sneak peeks.

Sooo, this is why I've slacked off blogging so much, and resorted to more vlogging. But sometime after my surgery, and the late-April launch of the Art House America blog, I'm gonna give my blog a makeover. It'll be my writer/editor web site, with a blog, and a few vlogs, too. But definitely more blogging.

Happy Thursday, y'all.

like mother, like daughter?

My sweet Mom is recovering from eye surgery; I am soon to be recovering from laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis. Like mother, like daughter? You be the judge . . .

like mother, like daughter? from Jenni Simmons on Vimeo.

P.S. -- She asked me to tell you that she is not drugged - just tired. :)

coaches love poetry, too

My parents were in town yesterday and today to celebrate my brother's belated birthday. Over breakfast this morning, I showed my Dad the latest issue of Comment magazine with this gorgeous artwork on the cover:

["Pentecost" by Harold Sikkema]

My Dad is a coach; plays guitar & piano; and is also a mathematician, completely enamored with algebra, geometry, numbers, and so on (I did not inherit this gene). So naturally, he fell in love with this poem from Comment and proceeded to read it aloud to me, Johnny, and my Mom:

"Dividing Zero"
by Aaron Belz

Dividing one makes two,
and so on. But dividing zero?
"Nothing can come of nothing,"
Lear laments - and yet, as you

know, God's signature's here.
Where zero was, is one, then two:
two lights, moon and sun;
then man and woman;

two brothers, two kingdoms -
then one, one stump, one shoot,
a branch bowed down with fruit.
So where zero becomes one,

two, then many, many again
are one in whom "neither slave
nor free, male nor female";
a new nation, ex nihilo.


P.S. -- I may not love math, but I do love this poem.

traffic is not my muse

Part 2 of 2, in which Johnny makes his vlog debut. Part 1, a vlog I recorded with my Mom, will post tomorrow.

traffic is not my muse from Jenni Simmons on Vimeo.

P.S. -- I need to upgrade to Vimeo Plus, and learn how to edit these vlogs. So much to learn, so little time . . .

two poems for today

["The Birds" by Heaven's Gate (John)]

1. "Ecclesiastes 11:1"
by Richard Wilbur

We must cast our bread
Upon the waters, as the
Ancient preacher said,

Trusting that it may
Amply be restored to us
After many a day.

That old metaphor,
Drawn from rice farming on the
River’s flooded shore,

Helps us to believe
That it’s no great sin to give,
Hoping to receive.

Therefore I shall throw
Broken bread, this sullen day,
Out across the snow,

Betting crust and crumb
That birds will gather, and that
One more spring will come.


2. Psalm 104.

a happy sabbath & hippo bling

check out my hippo bling from Jenni Simmons on Vimeo.

writer's funk

For the weary & creative, in which I look weary.

writer's funk from Jenni Simmons on Vimeo.

the glen, terry gross, LOST, and my favorite beatle?

Sorry folks, but 15-16 minutes seems to be my average. Make a cup of tea, or grab a beer, and get comfy . . .

the glen, terry gross, LOST, and my favorite beatle? from Jenni Simmons on Vimeo.

ken myers rules

Today we have yet another video, but not of me, which I'm sure is a relief to all of you.

Ken Myers is the reason I've subscribed to Mars Hill Audio all these years. He rules. In fact, note to self: renew my subscription!

Interview with Ken Myers from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo.

P.S. -- Still workin' on the blog post, I swear on my cup of tea. I'm just a busy bee. -- [not feeling so well and I AM busy . . . I will blog soon, I hope. I know I'll vlog sooner. But in the meantime, you can chat with me on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks for your patience, fair blog readers.]

how tea saved our lives

OK, my next post will be a blog. But in this vlog, there's a giveaway -- good luck!

how tea saved our lives from Jenni Simmons on Vimeo.