Psalm 34

¹ I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

² My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³ Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶ This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

⁹ Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹² Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,

¹³ keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.

¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶ the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;

²⁰ he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

Livin' the Louisiana Life

There are a few things in life you can only really experience in good ol' south Louisiana: king cake, crawfish, Mardi Gras, and baseball at the Box! Lucky me...I fit all of them into one weekend! I love this state. :)

Opening night at the new Alex Box stadium was magical, unforgettable, historic...in summary, it was AMAZING (right down to the cheesy ball o' Tiger spirit...don't ask)! I was a bit skeptical about the new snazzy stadium's ability to rekindle the tradition of the old Box, but I was wrong. To borrow a phrase from that terrible PR stunt by those "other" Tigers, it was like a family reunion! ;) There was an electric charge in the air and fireworks in the sky, and it was totally worth waiting in line for two hours with 800 other students.

LSU Pentecost: the transferal of Tiger baseball spirit from the old Box to the new

After the game, we went to see Slumdog Millionaire. I really don't know what else to say about this movie except that it has catapulted itself into my top 20 favorite movies, and I'm thrilled it won Best Picture (more on the Oscars later). I'm such a sucker for rags to riches coming of age semi-musicals. Loved it. You must see it.

Saturday, I went downtown for the Spanish Town parade. Clear skies, cultural history, community togetherness, creative political satire, and lots and lots of beads...what's not to love?!


And what better way to top off a lovely Louisiana weekend than the first crawfish dinner of the season! Gotta love those little mudbugs.

And as for the Oscars, which I've loved as long as I can remember, I was pleasantly surprised this year. For once, the glimmer and elegance of Oscars ceremonies past made its glorious return. Hugh Jackman, please come back and grace us with your gentlemanly presence next year! And Kate, that shampoo bottle quote will go down in Oscar history. Congrats on finally winning one! It's about time!

Sigh. Great great great weekend. Oops...gotta go. My dirty rice is done! (Told you I was livin' the Louisiana life!)

A Treatise on Plural Possession

If you know me very well at all, you know that very few things really irritate me. I'm a pretty easygoing girl. However, bear with me while I harp on one thing that is truly a grit in my oyster. ;)

I'm not sure where the elementary educational system goes wrong in teaching plural possession, but its misuse is viral and is sweeping the nation at an alarming pace with no regard for age, rank, or degree. Everywhere I turn I keep running into poor, pitiful misplaced apostrophes who just want to show that they belong to someone.

A friendly reminder...

My apartment is Stefanie Kellum's apartment.
My family's house is the Kellums' house.
Our Christmas cards will wish you a very Merry Christmas from the Kellums...NOT the Kellum's (*shiver*)

Respect the apostrophe. Let it do its job.

You can't say I'm not passionate about the correct usage of the English language...haha! Don't even get me started on the final comma in a series...crazy journalists!!!

This soap box presentation of Grammar Lessons from Stefanie is brought to you by the letter "s." ;)