I want to create
I feel the ideas, the emotions,
bubbling, boiling, ready to burst
from my mind, my chest,
and they do, spewing from my mouth,
landing on the table, running down to the floor,
a soupy mess that no one understands.
How do I give them form,
these thoughts,
take the tohu vavohu
and order it.
I speak, but my word is not made flesh,
in the minds of my audience.
One more distinction between me and God.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Life Lessons with Liz
"Beauty that steals the heart is often imperfect, suggests grace and kindness, and inspires tenderness more than it excites lust." -Forever Odd, Dean Koontz
"You're being so adorable, it's so hard not to kiss you right now."
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I'm trying to reconcile the first quote with my experience. That quote came to mind while ruminating on a recent experience of mine. It didn't quite seem to fit, because I don't have the kind of beauty that you'd think would excite lust. Maybe I actually do and I'm just in denial.
It's thinking on things like this that makes me wish sometimes that I wasn't a girl. Or that I wasn't pretty. Which sucks, because the world tells you to look nice, and you want to look attractive or at least decent, and when you put in the effort and plan out a cute outfit and the stars and planets align and you actually do look nice for once, you doubt your appearance again. But for other reasons.
Am I too pretty?
Will I cause someone else to sin?
I shouldn't have tried.
And then something happens like I allowed happen to me. That's not misplaced guilt. I did allow it to happen. I really did want it, at least in the moment. That doesn't make it right on either side. But I'm not a victim.
And I'm not actually that stunning. So when I think about that quote, and how he acted and talked that night, what am I missing? Why does my beauty excite lust? Why doesn't it inspire tenderness? What did I do wrong? What should I do differently?
And how do I trust another guy? I want to be complimented, but how do I know it's genuine, and not just animal instincts trying to manipulate? If I'm going to find a good one, do I need to look like trash all the time? Totally doable, and a lot easier for me. Not for my self esteem though.
But maybe the problem isn't me.
Maybe the problem is him. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He didn't pay attention to the whole beauty of me. He just let in what he wanted, just enough to excite lust. He didn't look at the beauty that would have carried him beyond lust, to tenderness.
These are all a bunch of maybes, and that 'But' goes against one of my main philosophies in life, just assume the problem is you. If the problem is you, you can fix it.
If it's not you...
You can't do squat.
Disclaimer for anyone who knows me personally and still reads this blog: I am safe and well, don't worry about me :) what happened was a one time thing and there's not a chance it will happen again. This is just one of my ways of processing things.
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Where Have I Been?!?
I don't even know the answer to that. I'm also pretty sure that I don't have a crazy but cool grandpa who knows a forgetting trick that he told me he learned from a witch doctor/voodoo person in Vietnam or wherever but he actually developed in collaboration with some super shady government agencies that don't actually have a name or official records. But then again, if I did, would I remember? ASHLEY BELL WILL LIVE
Anyways, this is a post that I've been wanting to write for a while but haven't had the time to do. Also, blogger has been weird about letting me get into my blog. I will refrain from concocting a conspiracy theory about the all-seeing and all-powerful Google.
Have you ever baked anything from scratch? If you have, then you know how recipes usually have the preparation time included. These times are great for some of you because your baking experience goes like this:
Stated preparation time: 20 minutes.
Actual preparation time: 20 minutes. Add an extra 2 or 3 if you need to borrow some sugar or flour from a neighbor.
There are those of you reading who may think, "Yes, this is exactly how my baking goes. It doesn't always taste the best and I say this even though Paul Hollywood from the Great British Bake Off tasted my baking and says he wishes I were his child, but yeah, this is how my baking goes."
You lucky dog, you.
Well you dear protege who also probably has no kids and keeps track of your entire life in a carefully color coordinated planner with accompanying alerts and notifications through a smart phone, the reality for most of us goes something more like this:
Stated preparation time: 20 minutes
"Great! I can start this at 3:00, have it in the oven by 3:20ish and it'll be ready by 4:00! Plenty of time!" Haha, you poor, optimistic, naive little baker. You know nothing of the ways of the world. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
So you start.
2 minutes of prep time before realizing you don't have enough sugar.
3 minutes to bundle up for 20 degree weather, run across the street to ask the neighbors for sugar, get the sugar, then run back.
1 minute of prep time, then you realize both sets of measuring spoons have conveniently gone AWOL when you know you just saw them in the drawer this morning.
2 1/2 minutes of digging through the sink, the cabinets, the kid's toys (because your young siblings steal kitchen appliances for weapons or microphones or what have you), then asking other people if they have seen the vanished spoons. Of course, no one knows where they went.
3 minutes of washing dishes, because where else could the spoons be but the bottom of the sink? Sure enough, they are stuck in the drain.
3 minutes of prep time before the young siblings realize you are making something and want to help.
We're only six minutes into prep time people. And it doesn't get better.
1 minute of arguing with them that it will take longer with their help than without before you realize that your siblings are extremely stubborn and it will actually take longer to argue them out of helping than it will to just let them help. So they are added to the crew of your bakeship, which will be known as the USS Bakerprize. Whether it will actually be a prize is dubitable at best.
2 minutes of prep time before one sibling complains that the other is pushing him off the chair they are sharing because there is minimal counter space in your kitchen probably because the original owner didn't realize how important LOTS of space is to a successful kitchen operation probably because he didn't ever run a kitchen operation due to the abundance of fast food restaurants close by. No judgments, just speculation.
2 minutes of trying to calm both siblings down the nice way before you revert to the harsher but more effective method of threatening to send both away if they don't work it out. But your siblings are as belligerent as they are stubborn, so they continue fighting and you banish them to the basement to play with the cave troll which cries in fear and hides behind the water heater upon sight of your siblings having previously encountered these small terrors in battle. How else would you get a cave troll into the basement?
3 minutes of prep time before you need the nutmeg but SURPRISE you can't find it.
2 minutes of rummaging through ALL the cabinets, not just the baking cabinet where it should be, then running down to the pantry in the basement where extra supplies are stored in addition to some dried fruit for the cave troll who was turned vegetarian by your siblings. You ask your Mom if she bought nutmeg recently and she replies that yes, she did, she bought a massive container yesterday. You plead with her to come look for it because your Mom's Confirmation Saint is St. Anthony and he ALWAYS makes sure she finds what she's looking for. Sure enough, she opens the baking cabinet (the first place you looked) and pulls it out. Your Mom gives you an exasperated look and mutters something under her breath about eye exams.
3 minutes of prep time, and then the screams of a young child become audible. It's coming from upstairs where some of your siblings and the neighbor kids are playing dolls. You have a large enough family that odds are, it's your sibling screaming, but it sounds more like one of the neighbors. None of the other older siblings or parents are responding, so you take it upon yourself to investigate.
3 minutes of traveling upstairs, coaxing out of siblings and neighbor kids conflicting versions of the story from which you extrapolate that someone hit the now screaming neighbor child, but the attack wasn't completely unprovoked. You make an executive decision establishing a neighbor ban that will continue indefinitely, except it's not really a ban because your siblings just play outside in the freezing cold with them because besides being belligerent and stubborn your siblings are descendants of Jack Frost and Elsa.
4 minutes of prep time. The end is in sight. It's possible you could get this in the oven before the heat death of the universe.
PSYCHE!! Did you really think you'd get off that easy? While you were getting out the muffin trays your youngest sibling currently at home climbed up onto the chair left by the earlier helpers and has taken an egg in each hand. He is poised to hurl them and win the gold medals for farthest egg toss and most kitchen destruction done in a single motion.
2 1/2 minutes of trying to gently pry the fragile eggs from his unrelenting baby fists. This of course fails and egg covers him, the chair, and you. A washcloth with soap for him (luckily he never wears any clothing but a diaper, even when it's 60 degrees in the house), paper towels for the chair, and you ignore the blood and gore on your own clothing because you are so close and that's just the messy nature of war. I mean baking.
A final 2 minutes of prep time, the batter is in the trays and you can put them in the oven!!! except you can't because you forgot to preheat the oven in the chaos. But you take a deep breath, smother the Klingon side of you that has been threatening to emerge this entire time, and preheat the oven.
Actual Preparation time: 39 minutes, 19 of which wasn't even spent baking.
But it's okay, because a day may come when the courage to bake fails, when your forsake your butter and break all the cooking utensils, but it is not this day. An hour of crying and burnt muffins, when the walls of the oven come crashing down! But it is not this day! This day you fight! I mean bake!
The oven is preheated and you slide your muffins in, confident of the fluffy, delectable treats they will soon be.
Then you remember that you forgot to double the baking powder.
Anyways, this is a post that I've been wanting to write for a while but haven't had the time to do. Also, blogger has been weird about letting me get into my blog. I will refrain from concocting a conspiracy theory about the all-seeing and all-powerful Google.
Have you ever baked anything from scratch? If you have, then you know how recipes usually have the preparation time included. These times are great for some of you because your baking experience goes like this:
Stated preparation time: 20 minutes.
Actual preparation time: 20 minutes. Add an extra 2 or 3 if you need to borrow some sugar or flour from a neighbor.
There are those of you reading who may think, "Yes, this is exactly how my baking goes. It doesn't always taste the best and I say this even though Paul Hollywood from the Great British Bake Off tasted my baking and says he wishes I were his child, but yeah, this is how my baking goes."
You lucky dog, you.
Well you dear protege who also probably has no kids and keeps track of your entire life in a carefully color coordinated planner with accompanying alerts and notifications through a smart phone, the reality for most of us goes something more like this:
Stated preparation time: 20 minutes
"Great! I can start this at 3:00, have it in the oven by 3:20ish and it'll be ready by 4:00! Plenty of time!" Haha, you poor, optimistic, naive little baker. You know nothing of the ways of the world. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
So you start.
2 minutes of prep time before realizing you don't have enough sugar.
3 minutes to bundle up for 20 degree weather, run across the street to ask the neighbors for sugar, get the sugar, then run back.
1 minute of prep time, then you realize both sets of measuring spoons have conveniently gone AWOL when you know you just saw them in the drawer this morning.
2 1/2 minutes of digging through the sink, the cabinets, the kid's toys (because your young siblings steal kitchen appliances for weapons or microphones or what have you), then asking other people if they have seen the vanished spoons. Of course, no one knows where they went.
3 minutes of washing dishes, because where else could the spoons be but the bottom of the sink? Sure enough, they are stuck in the drain.
3 minutes of prep time before the young siblings realize you are making something and want to help.
We're only six minutes into prep time people. And it doesn't get better.
1 minute of arguing with them that it will take longer with their help than without before you realize that your siblings are extremely stubborn and it will actually take longer to argue them out of helping than it will to just let them help. So they are added to the crew of your bakeship, which will be known as the USS Bakerprize. Whether it will actually be a prize is dubitable at best.
2 minutes of prep time before one sibling complains that the other is pushing him off the chair they are sharing because there is minimal counter space in your kitchen probably because the original owner didn't realize how important LOTS of space is to a successful kitchen operation probably because he didn't ever run a kitchen operation due to the abundance of fast food restaurants close by. No judgments, just speculation.
2 minutes of trying to calm both siblings down the nice way before you revert to the harsher but more effective method of threatening to send both away if they don't work it out. But your siblings are as belligerent as they are stubborn, so they continue fighting and you banish them to the basement to play with the cave troll which cries in fear and hides behind the water heater upon sight of your siblings having previously encountered these small terrors in battle. How else would you get a cave troll into the basement?
3 minutes of prep time before you need the nutmeg but SURPRISE you can't find it.
2 minutes of rummaging through ALL the cabinets, not just the baking cabinet where it should be, then running down to the pantry in the basement where extra supplies are stored in addition to some dried fruit for the cave troll who was turned vegetarian by your siblings. You ask your Mom if she bought nutmeg recently and she replies that yes, she did, she bought a massive container yesterday. You plead with her to come look for it because your Mom's Confirmation Saint is St. Anthony and he ALWAYS makes sure she finds what she's looking for. Sure enough, she opens the baking cabinet (the first place you looked) and pulls it out. Your Mom gives you an exasperated look and mutters something under her breath about eye exams.
3 minutes of prep time, and then the screams of a young child become audible. It's coming from upstairs where some of your siblings and the neighbor kids are playing dolls. You have a large enough family that odds are, it's your sibling screaming, but it sounds more like one of the neighbors. None of the other older siblings or parents are responding, so you take it upon yourself to investigate.
3 minutes of traveling upstairs, coaxing out of siblings and neighbor kids conflicting versions of the story from which you extrapolate that someone hit the now screaming neighbor child, but the attack wasn't completely unprovoked. You make an executive decision establishing a neighbor ban that will continue indefinitely, except it's not really a ban because your siblings just play outside in the freezing cold with them because besides being belligerent and stubborn your siblings are descendants of Jack Frost and Elsa.
4 minutes of prep time. The end is in sight. It's possible you could get this in the oven before the heat death of the universe.
PSYCHE!! Did you really think you'd get off that easy? While you were getting out the muffin trays your youngest sibling currently at home climbed up onto the chair left by the earlier helpers and has taken an egg in each hand. He is poised to hurl them and win the gold medals for farthest egg toss and most kitchen destruction done in a single motion.
2 1/2 minutes of trying to gently pry the fragile eggs from his unrelenting baby fists. This of course fails and egg covers him, the chair, and you. A washcloth with soap for him (luckily he never wears any clothing but a diaper, even when it's 60 degrees in the house), paper towels for the chair, and you ignore the blood and gore on your own clothing because you are so close and that's just the messy nature of war. I mean baking.
A final 2 minutes of prep time, the batter is in the trays and you can put them in the oven!!! except you can't because you forgot to preheat the oven in the chaos. But you take a deep breath, smother the Klingon side of you that has been threatening to emerge this entire time, and preheat the oven.
Actual Preparation time: 39 minutes, 19 of which wasn't even spent baking.
But it's okay, because a day may come when the courage to bake fails, when your forsake your butter and break all the cooking utensils, but it is not this day. An hour of crying and burnt muffins, when the walls of the oven come crashing down! But it is not this day! This day you fight! I mean bake!
The oven is preheated and you slide your muffins in, confident of the fluffy, delectable treats they will soon be.
Then you remember that you forgot to double the baking powder.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Happy Easter!
This is not late, there are 50 days of Easter!
 |
| Aren't these daffodils in my front yard AWESOME?! |
Happy Easter! He is Risen!
Monday, April 6, 2015
The Tripods Attack! by John McNichol
I know what some of you are thinking. More sci-fi? Well, sort of. The Tripods Attack is actually more than just sci-fi.
This book is the first in the Young Chesterton Chronicles series, featuring G.K. Chesterton as a youth in an alternate universe; alternate meaning instead of electricity, everything is run by steam, the Civil War in the U.S. ended up with the Confederate states splitting, Texas became its own republic, and California is its own country. Actually two. There's other smaller stuff, but that's the gist of it.
The Tripods Attack stands out though mostly because of its characters, who are a mix of real life people (like G.K. Chesterton, H.G. Wells, C.S. Lewis, and even J.R.R. Tolkien!!) and fictional characters (like Father Brown, Doctor Watson, and another girl who I really want to mention but can't because that would be a major spoiler; let's just say she lives on Prince Edward Island). And I think that Margaret Sanger is in there, but I'm not sure, her last name is never actually mentioned.
So as you can see, its a pretty mixed cast, and that's what makes it really fun! The author was able to keep the identities of the fictional characters and I think it was fun to see what the younger versions of some of my favorite authors might've been like. It was also cool to see the authors interact with their characters.
The book was very exciting, and I love how the author was able to get Chesterton into several debates on different subjects and bring in themes from some of Chesterton's books. And as for the sci-fi part, I was a little afraid that the sci-fi would clash with the classic characters, but McNichol was able to bring the two elements together in a way that worked really well.
I highly recommend this book, especially for young teens who like sci-fi and the classic authors.
The Tripods Attack stands out though mostly because of its characters, who are a mix of real life people (like G.K. Chesterton, H.G. Wells, C.S. Lewis, and even J.R.R. Tolkien!!) and fictional characters (like Father Brown, Doctor Watson, and another girl who I really want to mention but can't because that would be a major spoiler; let's just say she lives on Prince Edward Island). And I think that Margaret Sanger is in there, but I'm not sure, her last name is never actually mentioned.
So as you can see, its a pretty mixed cast, and that's what makes it really fun! The author was able to keep the identities of the fictional characters and I think it was fun to see what the younger versions of some of my favorite authors might've been like. It was also cool to see the authors interact with their characters.
The book was very exciting, and I love how the author was able to get Chesterton into several debates on different subjects and bring in themes from some of Chesterton's books. And as for the sci-fi part, I was a little afraid that the sci-fi would clash with the classic characters, but McNichol was able to bring the two elements together in a way that worked really well.
I highly recommend this book, especially for young teens who like sci-fi and the classic authors.
Monday, February 16, 2015
A Cat in Paris
My younger sister saw this movie while she was at a friend's house, and she badgered all of us until we watched it. I have to say, I understand her enthusiasm now. I thought this was going to be a cutesy movie about a girl and her cat, but it wasn't!
'A Cat in Paris' is about a cat named Dino (pronounced dee-no) who leads a double life: during the day he lives with a mute little girl whose father was recently killed; at night he is the partner-in-crime of a burglar. The little girl gets mixed up with some gangsters and it's up to the cat and Niko (nee-ko), the burglar, to save her.
This movie is really cool, even though it's a pretty simple concept there's a lot of drama throughout. I really like Niko the thief, he kind of seemed like a Robin Hood, he was so sweet to Zoe, the little girl. The movie never gives any background on Niko, so it makes you wonder why he was stealing, but in the end he stops stealing. Zoe was really cute too, even though she doesn't really talk until the end, you still get a good sense of her character. Kudos to the animators!
Speaking of animators, the animation in this movie is interesting. It reminded me of the animation for those animated versions of books? The animation looked really cool though. You know how when someone moves really smoothly people say they're fluid? Well when someone was sneaking around (especially Niko) they looked literally fluid. I thought it was really cool.
The soundtrack for this movie was really neat too. It was a mix of that creepy adventure music, plus French music, and an American sounding song that I don't know the name to :P
This movie was a real treat to watch, the plot was engaging, and the characters had depth! I totally recommend this movie, especially as a family movie night. It's not too scary that the littles can't watch it, but it's not too boring and little-kiddish that the older people can't watch it.
I look forward to watching this one again soon!
'A Cat in Paris' is about a cat named Dino (pronounced dee-no) who leads a double life: during the day he lives with a mute little girl whose father was recently killed; at night he is the partner-in-crime of a burglar. The little girl gets mixed up with some gangsters and it's up to the cat and Niko (nee-ko), the burglar, to save her.This movie is really cool, even though it's a pretty simple concept there's a lot of drama throughout. I really like Niko the thief, he kind of seemed like a Robin Hood, he was so sweet to Zoe, the little girl. The movie never gives any background on Niko, so it makes you wonder why he was stealing, but in the end he stops stealing. Zoe was really cute too, even though she doesn't really talk until the end, you still get a good sense of her character. Kudos to the animators!
Speaking of animators, the animation in this movie is interesting. It reminded me of the animation for those animated versions of books? The animation looked really cool though. You know how when someone moves really smoothly people say they're fluid? Well when someone was sneaking around (especially Niko) they looked literally fluid. I thought it was really cool.
The soundtrack for this movie was really neat too. It was a mix of that creepy adventure music, plus French music, and an American sounding song that I don't know the name to :P
This movie was a real treat to watch, the plot was engaging, and the characters had depth! I totally recommend this movie, especially as a family movie night. It's not too scary that the littles can't watch it, but it's not too boring and little-kiddish that the older people can't watch it.
I look forward to watching this one again soon!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Odd Thomas
Ack!! I've been working on this review for a month now, and I'm finally putting it up, I can't believe it's been this long!!
I got 'Odd Thomas' for Christmas, and I was going to save it for a new reading list, but I was so excited by what Monica at Spilled Ink and my Grandmother (who's so hip and up-to-date that she reads novels like Odd Thomas) have been saying about the Odd Thomas books that I told myself I would just read the first couple of chapters and that's it. Yeah. Well, that did NOT go as planned.
I couldn't put the book down!!
Odd Thomas felt fast paced, but it really wasn't. To put it into perspective, the book is 500 pages, and the book covers a time span of 48 hours.
Yeah.
Even though Koontz takes 500 pages to cover a 2 day timespan, the book doesn't feel slow at all. The book feels super fast-paced, and you'll find yourself saying 'Just one more chapter!' and then 10 chapters later, 'I should probably stop now.'
I really like most of the characters in this book. Odd is just so sweet, and I love his attitude towards everyone and everything. I like how he calls people he respects 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' even if he is really close to them, like Ozzie. My view on Stormy Llewllyn, Odd's 'best girl' as he calls her, is kind of mixed. At the beginning I just really didn't like her, she was sooo sarcastic, and I thought sometimes she was bit mean to Odd. Towards the end she grew on me more, and I was able to really see something in her relationship with Odd. She still isn't my favorite character in the book, but my appreciation of her character has grown.
One thing I really love about this book is the Catholic element. It's really awesome to see that an author can write a book with Catholic elements, and the book (and the author) can still be a success! Of course, the book isn't a Catholicism-in-your-face type of book, and the good points with the Catholicism are very much balanced out by all the ugliness that Odd Thomas encounters throughout his adventures.
A word of warning, this book contains some mature content, a LOT of scary, gross, guy-dead-in-the-bathtub moments, and some language. Definitely don't let a 10-year-old read this.
All things considered, this is an awesome book, you need to acquire it now if you don't already have it. It will keep you on edge the whole time, and it has quite a few twists and turns along the way.
I got 'Odd Thomas' for Christmas, and I was going to save it for a new reading list, but I was so excited by what Monica at Spilled Ink and my Grandmother (who's so hip and up-to-date that she reads novels like Odd Thomas) have been saying about the Odd Thomas books that I told myself I would just read the first couple of chapters and that's it. Yeah. Well, that did NOT go as planned.
I couldn't put the book down!!
Odd Thomas felt fast paced, but it really wasn't. To put it into perspective, the book is 500 pages, and the book covers a time span of 48 hours.
Yeah.
Even though Koontz takes 500 pages to cover a 2 day timespan, the book doesn't feel slow at all. The book feels super fast-paced, and you'll find yourself saying 'Just one more chapter!' and then 10 chapters later, 'I should probably stop now.'
I really like most of the characters in this book. Odd is just so sweet, and I love his attitude towards everyone and everything. I like how he calls people he respects 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' even if he is really close to them, like Ozzie. My view on Stormy Llewllyn, Odd's 'best girl' as he calls her, is kind of mixed. At the beginning I just really didn't like her, she was sooo sarcastic, and I thought sometimes she was bit mean to Odd. Towards the end she grew on me more, and I was able to really see something in her relationship with Odd. She still isn't my favorite character in the book, but my appreciation of her character has grown.
One thing I really love about this book is the Catholic element. It's really awesome to see that an author can write a book with Catholic elements, and the book (and the author) can still be a success! Of course, the book isn't a Catholicism-in-your-face type of book, and the good points with the Catholicism are very much balanced out by all the ugliness that Odd Thomas encounters throughout his adventures.
A word of warning, this book contains some mature content, a LOT of scary, gross, guy-dead-in-the-bathtub moments, and some language. Definitely don't let a 10-year-old read this.
All things considered, this is an awesome book, you need to acquire it now if you don't already have it. It will keep you on edge the whole time, and it has quite a few twists and turns along the way.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
I recently saw the last part of 'The Hobbit'!!!!!! Hooray!! I remember three years ago finding out that not only was Peter Jackson going to be so mean as to make the Hobbit into three parts, but the last part was going to be released in 2014!!! I remember thinking, What?!?!?? I can't wait that long!!! Three years is so far away!!
But it's here!!! It's here!! The moment we've been waiting for is here!!!! And I have to say, the wait was worth it.
A while ago Monica and I of Spilled Ink wrote a post on her blog with a list of items that had to be included/excluded from this, the third Hobbit movie. And, surprisingly, almost every single one of those bossy demands were met! Many spoilers ahead!! Gandalf wasn't rescued by the Eagles, Kili does die, Bard does kill the dragon, Beorn comes in at the Battle of Five Armies, Thorin dies as well, there were only 5 armies at the battle (even though they kind of screwed up who the armies were, but there were only 5), Gollum doesn't make an appearance, and Peter Jackson apologizes for everything he screwed up in the past!
Actually, I made that last one up. End Spoilers.
But if Peter Jackson had expressed his deepest apologies and said that he hoped this movie made up for what he did with 'The Desolation of Smaug', then I would be satisfied. That's how awesome this movie is. It almost makes up for the second Hobbit movie.
I haven't really been reviewing the movie, have I? I guess I've just been gushing and gushing.
But there's so much to gush about. I really like how Thorin was slowly going crazy (not trusting the other dwarves, becoming obsessed with finding the Arkenstone, etc.), and how that was linked to the 'sickness that lies on all dragon hoards'.
Okay, enough gushing.
I liked how they embellished on the White council driving Sauron out of Dol Guldur. Except for one part, which I'll mention in a second. In the book Gandalf barely mentions it to Bilbo. The movie was very true to the book. I know some people don't really like the side story with Azog, but in the movie it's used as an opportunity to include some legends of Middle Earth that aren't well known.
There really wasn't much about this movie that I didn't like. The one thing that really bugged me, was when Gandalf gets rescued by Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel, and Galadriel uses her power as an elf and a wielder of one of the elven rings to fight off Sauron, and she turns into like, this evil-looking sorceress lady, kind of like in the scene with the Mirror of Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings? I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, why do they portray her like that? I can almost get the scene with the Mirror (that's what she would become anyways if she had the One Ring), but not this instance.
I highly recommend this movie, for lack of better words, let me just say that it was awesome :)
But it's here!!! It's here!! The moment we've been waiting for is here!!!! And I have to say, the wait was worth it. A while ago Monica and I of Spilled Ink wrote a post on her blog with a list of items that had to be included/excluded from this, the third Hobbit movie. And, surprisingly, almost every single one of those bossy demands were met! Many spoilers ahead!! Gandalf wasn't rescued by the Eagles, Kili does die, Bard does kill the dragon, Beorn comes in at the Battle of Five Armies, Thorin dies as well, there were only 5 armies at the battle (even though they kind of screwed up who the armies were, but there were only 5), Gollum doesn't make an appearance, and Peter Jackson apologizes for everything he screwed up in the past!
Actually, I made that last one up. End Spoilers.
But if Peter Jackson had expressed his deepest apologies and said that he hoped this movie made up for what he did with 'The Desolation of Smaug', then I would be satisfied. That's how awesome this movie is. It almost makes up for the second Hobbit movie.
I haven't really been reviewing the movie, have I? I guess I've just been gushing and gushing.
But there's so much to gush about. I really like how Thorin was slowly going crazy (not trusting the other dwarves, becoming obsessed with finding the Arkenstone, etc.), and how that was linked to the 'sickness that lies on all dragon hoards'.
Okay, enough gushing.
I liked how they embellished on the White council driving Sauron out of Dol Guldur. Except for one part, which I'll mention in a second. In the book Gandalf barely mentions it to Bilbo. The movie was very true to the book. I know some people don't really like the side story with Azog, but in the movie it's used as an opportunity to include some legends of Middle Earth that aren't well known.
There really wasn't much about this movie that I didn't like. The one thing that really bugged me, was when Gandalf gets rescued by Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel, and Galadriel uses her power as an elf and a wielder of one of the elven rings to fight off Sauron, and she turns into like, this evil-looking sorceress lady, kind of like in the scene with the Mirror of Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings? I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, why do they portray her like that? I can almost get the scene with the Mirror (that's what she would become anyways if she had the One Ring), but not this instance.
I highly recommend this movie, for lack of better words, let me just say that it was awesome :)
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Youtube Channel and Video!
So after more than half a year, I finally posted another video on my channel! Yay!
Ta-da!
Also check out my channel and the rest of the New Catholic Generation Videos!
Ta-da!
The Divergent Series
I've been a bit into dystopian fiction lately, and I recently received this series for my birthday. Now I've read that book on my Chocolate Book list that falls under Milk Chocolate!
And since lately I've had time issues anyways, I decided to review this as a series instead of book by book. Also, uh, I tore through the books so fast (that's three 500 page books in little more than a week. Yeah.....) that I kind of have trouble remembering where one book ends and the next book begins. Like, did Tris know her Mom was Dauntless during or after 'Divergent'?
Anyways, let's get to it!
Oh, yeah, I should probably do a quick plot summary.
The Divergent books are set in (guess what?) the future in a wrecked Chicago. Society is divided into five factions which are supposed to keep the city peaceful. Children grow up in the factions of their parents and when they are 16 they go through an aptitude test which is supposed to help them decide which faction to enter. The main character is Tris Prior, who leaves her Abnegation faction for the Dauntless. She discovers from her aptitude test that she is Divergent, which is, she is told, very dangerous, and she must keep it a secret. During Dauntless initiation she meets fellow Divergent Four, or Tobias. They discover that the Erudite are planning to destroy the Abnegation faction, and then it's all down-hill from there.
I have to say, these are very fast-paced books. Even though each book is around 500 pages long, the author doesn't ramble. Which gives you an idea of just how much happens in these books. The books are in the first person, which normally means you get a lot of reminiscences, but you don't get any of that. Which completely fits with Tris' personality. She's not the kind of dreamy eyed, rambling girl. The last one swaps back and forth between the first-person perspectives of Tris and her boyfriend Tobias, which really confused me at first because I didn't realize that whenever the perspective swaps, a new chapter starts at the same time and under the chapter number it tells you whose perspective it is. Silly me :P
As for the characters, the characters were good, but not crazy uber good. Tris was a very interesting character with a good story arc. She starts out almost like a little girl at first, but during initiation she matures a lot. During most of the second book she seesaws between trying to fight the Erudite and being depressed about all the horrors she's seen (and done). By the end of the book she's gotten through the initial rough patches (with the help of her boyfriend of course), and her story ends with a very bittersweet, heroic ending. And although sometimes I'm sarcastic about her having a boyfriend and how that's so typical of most modern heroines, Tris' relationship with Tobias is different from most modern boy/girl relationships. They protect each other, and Tris is definitely not entirely dependent on him. There are some times when Tris totally ignores Tobias' advice and what he asks her to do. Tris makes a lot of hard choices, and while she's definitely not perfect, she does the best that she can in the tough spots she gets stuck in.
Tobias, the other main character, is also interesting, but not quite as complicated as Tris. He has abusive parent issues that plague him and make him constantly question his self-worth. Tris helps him to see that he is not worthless, which is another reason that their relationship is different from other guy/gal relationships: It's not just that Tris depends on Tobias; Tobias depends on Tris too. They lean on each other for support. Tobias was uber protective of Tris during 'Insurgent', but Tris got it through his head that she really didn't need or want protecting. Oh, and I forgot, his nickname is Four, but I call him Tobias, because, well, that's what Tris does most of the time.
None of the other characters are really relevant enough to talk about here, maybe I'll do a post with some thoughts on them another time.
But what about the villain?
Okay, so if you've only read the first book, stop reading this post, because it contains mucha spoilers.
In the last book you find out that several generations ago after several wars the U.S. government tried to eliminate all the bad aspects of human nature by removing certain people's genetic tendencies towards a certain trait: i.e., removing the gene for cowardice, or aggressiveness, or, well, you get the idea. The only problem that the government didn't foresee was that if you removed one genetic tendency, you also removed another and brought out an even worse one. The people who didn't have a genetic tendency towards cowardice for example, also lost their sympathy and became ruthless. Anyone who had been genetically altered like this was labeled Genetically Damaged. Their memories were reset and they were placed in 'experiments' (major cities that had been devastated by previous wars) that were designed to be self-sufficient in the hopes that after a couple of centuries the genetically damaged population would become genetically pure again. Genetically pure people were the Divergents.
Oh, and on top of that, the government has been lying to everyone about, well, about a lot of things. First off, the government claims that the world was all rainbows and sunshine before the genetically altered people came along, and that all previous wars were the fault of the genetically altered people. Tris finds out that the government was lying and that there were wars before the genetically altered people came along, and that the government was just using this as an excuse to set up the experiments. Grrr.....
Good grief this post is looooong, so I'll try to wrap it up quick.
There were very few things I didn't like about the book, one of which was Tris and Tobias' kissing so much throughout the books. Seriously, the book stands fine on its own without all the gross stuff, okay? Oh, and in the Epilogue, Tobias scatters Tris's ashes while zip-lining. Really? Why does she have to be cremated?!
The Divergent series incorporates several different issues, and I would love to give you all long speeches on all of them, but I'll save that. Issues such as a new take on racial prejudice (Genetically damged people are treated as inferior to genetically pure), human dignity in general, and also free will.
All in all it's a really good series, and if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Allegiant.
Sorry, for this excessively long post, I don't know what got into me!
Anyways, let's get to it!
Oh, yeah, I should probably do a quick plot summary.
The Divergent books are set in (guess what?) the future in a wrecked Chicago. Society is divided into five factions which are supposed to keep the city peaceful. Children grow up in the factions of their parents and when they are 16 they go through an aptitude test which is supposed to help them decide which faction to enter. The main character is Tris Prior, who leaves her Abnegation faction for the Dauntless. She discovers from her aptitude test that she is Divergent, which is, she is told, very dangerous, and she must keep it a secret. During Dauntless initiation she meets fellow Divergent Four, or Tobias. They discover that the Erudite are planning to destroy the Abnegation faction, and then it's all down-hill from there.
I have to say, these are very fast-paced books. Even though each book is around 500 pages long, the author doesn't ramble. Which gives you an idea of just how much happens in these books. The books are in the first person, which normally means you get a lot of reminiscences, but you don't get any of that. Which completely fits with Tris' personality. She's not the kind of dreamy eyed, rambling girl. The last one swaps back and forth between the first-person perspectives of Tris and her boyfriend Tobias, which really confused me at first because I didn't realize that whenever the perspective swaps, a new chapter starts at the same time and under the chapter number it tells you whose perspective it is. Silly me :P
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| I know I'm reviewing the book, but visual aid anyone? |
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| Trust me, he's not just a pretty boy |
None of the other characters are really relevant enough to talk about here, maybe I'll do a post with some thoughts on them another time.
But what about the villain?
Okay, so if you've only read the first book, stop reading this post, because it contains mucha spoilers.
In the last book you find out that several generations ago after several wars the U.S. government tried to eliminate all the bad aspects of human nature by removing certain people's genetic tendencies towards a certain trait: i.e., removing the gene for cowardice, or aggressiveness, or, well, you get the idea. The only problem that the government didn't foresee was that if you removed one genetic tendency, you also removed another and brought out an even worse one. The people who didn't have a genetic tendency towards cowardice for example, also lost their sympathy and became ruthless. Anyone who had been genetically altered like this was labeled Genetically Damaged. Their memories were reset and they were placed in 'experiments' (major cities that had been devastated by previous wars) that were designed to be self-sufficient in the hopes that after a couple of centuries the genetically damaged population would become genetically pure again. Genetically pure people were the Divergents.
Oh, and on top of that, the government has been lying to everyone about, well, about a lot of things. First off, the government claims that the world was all rainbows and sunshine before the genetically altered people came along, and that all previous wars were the fault of the genetically altered people. Tris finds out that the government was lying and that there were wars before the genetically altered people came along, and that the government was just using this as an excuse to set up the experiments. Grrr.....
Good grief this post is looooong, so I'll try to wrap it up quick.
There were very few things I didn't like about the book, one of which was Tris and Tobias' kissing so much throughout the books. Seriously, the book stands fine on its own without all the gross stuff, okay? Oh, and in the Epilogue, Tobias scatters Tris's ashes while zip-lining. Really? Why does she have to be cremated?!
The Divergent series incorporates several different issues, and I would love to give you all long speeches on all of them, but I'll save that. Issues such as a new take on racial prejudice (Genetically damged people are treated as inferior to genetically pure), human dignity in general, and also free will.
All in all it's a really good series, and if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Allegiant.
Sorry, for this excessively long post, I don't know what got into me!
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Following Gandalf
"For countless people, 'The Lord of the Rings' has provided splendid refreshment. For that, the author would be glad. But his deeper desire is that for some it would be an introduction to the mountains."
- Following Gandalf
I've had people tell me that the books I read are too serious. That may be true. I read more than just books about books though!
But, nevertheless, you've caught me red-handed. This is a book about a book. Actually, about all of Tolkien's books.
'Following Gandalf' by Matthew Dickerson is study of several aspects of Tolkien's philosophy and theology that can be deduced from his writings. Mr. Dickerson begins his book by debunking the view that the Lord of the Rings glorifies war. While I agree with his conclusions drawn from LotR and Tolkien's own letters that the Lord of the Rings does NOT glorify war, I wish he had also written a little about how while Tolkien doesn't glorify war, he does show how one's part in war can be noble, as Peter Kreeft does in 'The Philosophy of J.R.R. Tolkien'. I'm not going to get into that here though. The book also touches on the deeper war in Tolkien's Middle Earth books, namely, the spiritual war.
Dickerson also writes about Freedom (or free-doom as he calls it sometimes), the true power of the Ring (being the domination of wills), stewardship, hope and despair, salvation in its manifestations in LotR, and 'fate' vs. the guiding purpose of an all-powerful being, in the case of Middle Earth, Iluvatar.
Dickerson ends by asking and answering the question, "Is The Lord of the Rings a Christian Myth?" with an ambiguous 'yes and no'. I'm not going to give the reasons here though, this is a review of the book, not a lecture on it.
The book was very well written and clear, and easy to understand. I really liked how Mr. Dickerson had a quote from Tolkien's letters or books to support everything he said.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I gained a deeper insight into LotR and the rest of Tolkien's writings by reading it.
Now, there are books about books that are fun (like this one) and books about books that are not (I here must mention 'The Philosophy of J.R.R. Tolkien', which while an interesting read, wasn't 'fun' in the common sense of the word). I definitely recommend this book to any Tolkien fan, even if they don't like philosophy or books about books ;)
Oh, and by the way, the quote at the beginning of this post contains the last words of the book. I thought it was a neat reference to 'A Leaf by Niggle', and a fitting way to end the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here I must attempt to apologize again. I missed yet another week of Stocking Update :P I make a solemn promise to post one on Saturday, even at the cost of my life and/or sanity. And possibly my Chemistry test score. Do I really have to memorize half the periodic table for a good grade?
- Following Gandalf
I've had people tell me that the books I read are too serious. That may be true. I read more than just books about books though!
But, nevertheless, you've caught me red-handed. This is a book about a book. Actually, about all of Tolkien's books.'Following Gandalf' by Matthew Dickerson is study of several aspects of Tolkien's philosophy and theology that can be deduced from his writings. Mr. Dickerson begins his book by debunking the view that the Lord of the Rings glorifies war. While I agree with his conclusions drawn from LotR and Tolkien's own letters that the Lord of the Rings does NOT glorify war, I wish he had also written a little about how while Tolkien doesn't glorify war, he does show how one's part in war can be noble, as Peter Kreeft does in 'The Philosophy of J.R.R. Tolkien'. I'm not going to get into that here though. The book also touches on the deeper war in Tolkien's Middle Earth books, namely, the spiritual war.
Dickerson also writes about Freedom (or free-doom as he calls it sometimes), the true power of the Ring (being the domination of wills), stewardship, hope and despair, salvation in its manifestations in LotR, and 'fate' vs. the guiding purpose of an all-powerful being, in the case of Middle Earth, Iluvatar.
Dickerson ends by asking and answering the question, "Is The Lord of the Rings a Christian Myth?" with an ambiguous 'yes and no'. I'm not going to give the reasons here though, this is a review of the book, not a lecture on it.
The book was very well written and clear, and easy to understand. I really liked how Mr. Dickerson had a quote from Tolkien's letters or books to support everything he said.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I gained a deeper insight into LotR and the rest of Tolkien's writings by reading it.
Now, there are books about books that are fun (like this one) and books about books that are not (I here must mention 'The Philosophy of J.R.R. Tolkien', which while an interesting read, wasn't 'fun' in the common sense of the word). I definitely recommend this book to any Tolkien fan, even if they don't like philosophy or books about books ;)
Oh, and by the way, the quote at the beginning of this post contains the last words of the book. I thought it was a neat reference to 'A Leaf by Niggle', and a fitting way to end the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here I must attempt to apologize again. I missed yet another week of Stocking Update :P I make a solemn promise to post one on Saturday, even at the cost of my life and/or sanity. And possibly my Chemistry test score. Do I really have to memorize half the periodic table for a good grade?
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Stocking Update: Fail
I think I have learned a lesson. When your Dad is gone for a month on a business trip, it's all you can do to make sure your Mom doesn't go insane and help her keep the house together. That's my excuse for not posting in like, three weeks.
But yeah, I haven't worked on the stocking at all since the last post. So you're not missing anything. When I do start working on it again I will post stuff. Hopefully I will be posting stuff again next week.
Oh, and I finished one of the books on my reading list, and will be posting a review soon :)
I also got the Divergent series for my birthday :D and I will review that too. I probably won't do separate book reviews (for several reasons), but I'll review the series as a whole.
Look out for some posts soon, but in the meantime, have some ice cream!
But yeah, I haven't worked on the stocking at all since the last post. So you're not missing anything. When I do start working on it again I will post stuff. Hopefully I will be posting stuff again next week.
Oh, and I finished one of the books on my reading list, and will be posting a review soon :)
I also got the Divergent series for my birthday :D and I will review that too. I probably won't do separate book reviews (for several reasons), but I'll review the series as a whole.
Look out for some posts soon, but in the meantime, have some ice cream!
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Stocking Update: Week 1
First week of Stocking updates! Yay!
So I started the stocking like, two weeks ago, and normally the only chance I get to work on it is on the weekends, and at The Needle Club (a girl's crafty group where I live). So I don't normally get a lot done. If it was my younger sister who is crazy about crafts and will sew and crochet all day long, she'd have it done by now. But I don't have the luxury of that much time :P
Oh yes, and please excuse the low quality of some of the pictures.
Before I started taking photos of this project I finished the stocking front, which was mostly a lot of sequins and embroidery.
Then the fun stuff started!! The snowman has, well, a snowman butt bottom, so I sequined it and appliqued (fancy for sewing it onto the main body of the stocking) it, and it actually turned out pretty nice. I had some problems with sequins that wanted to keep falling off, but it looks pretty nice now.
Then I did the snowman arms and mittens. The arms were pretty easy, just sequin, stuff, and applique.
Then came the mittens. There's not one, not two, but THREE pieces to the mittens. And how they were supposed to go on was kind of confusing. And never mind all that, I also had to have my first experiment and embroidery!!! O.o And, yeah, that didn't turn out too well. I think one of the lines turned out pretty well, but the rest were a mess.
I've been told that practice makes perfect, but, uh, I'm not sure I'll ever get anywhere near perfect.
I finally figured out how to put the finger ends of the mittens on, and it turns out I'm not supposed to sew all the way around the edge of the fingers when you applique the mitten fingers on, so that way the snowman can hold his lights. Yeah........
But all turned out well, and I'm working on sequinning the snowman middle, so that should be on by next week! But for now, there are two floating snowman arms......... Hey, if I could I would put the head on next and then we could have a floatingsnoman snowman head too!
So I started the stocking like, two weeks ago, and normally the only chance I get to work on it is on the weekends, and at The Needle Club (a girl's crafty group where I live). So I don't normally get a lot done. If it was my younger sister who is crazy about crafts and will sew and crochet all day long, she'd have it done by now. But I don't have the luxury of that much time :P
Oh yes, and please excuse the low quality of some of the pictures.
Before I started taking photos of this project I finished the stocking front, which was mostly a lot of sequins and embroidery.
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| Pretty snowflakes! |
Then I did the snowman arms and mittens. The arms were pretty easy, just sequin, stuff, and applique.
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| I never actually got a picture of the arm by itself. Woops |
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| They don't look terrible in this picture, but trust me, they are worse in real life. |
I finally figured out how to put the finger ends of the mittens on, and it turns out I'm not supposed to sew all the way around the edge of the fingers when you applique the mitten fingers on, so that way the snowman can hold his lights. Yeah........
But all turned out well, and I'm working on sequinning the snowman middle, so that should be on by next week! But for now, there are two floating snowman arms......... Hey, if I could I would put the head on next and then we could have a floating
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| For some reason this reminds me of the Cheshire Cat..... |
Friday, November 7, 2014
Experiment Post: Intro
Okay, so I've decided to start a, uh, what should I call this? An Update Series? How about I just give background information and maybe it will explain itself.
I'm making a Christmas stocking for my youngest brother, who isn't born yet, but will be in January. We'll call him Peanut :) It's a tradition in our family (has been for like, almost three generations) to make each other's Christmas stockings, so I have the privilege of making Peanut's stocking! I'll post updates here every Saturday. I'll include some pictures and an explanation of my adventures while making the stocking. Trust me, it gets pretty crazy sometimes, and all I'm doing is making a stocking!!
This is the stocking I'm making:
Pretty cute right? And simple, which I like because it means less work! Well, actually I wish there was more detail, because then there would be more fun.
I already started the stocking before I decided to do this, but I haven't gotten too far, so nobody's missed much :)
I'll start posting updates every Saturday, so look out for my first post tomorrow!
I'm making a Christmas stocking for my youngest brother, who isn't born yet, but will be in January. We'll call him Peanut :) It's a tradition in our family (has been for like, almost three generations) to make each other's Christmas stockings, so I have the privilege of making Peanut's stocking! I'll post updates here every Saturday. I'll include some pictures and an explanation of my adventures while making the stocking. Trust me, it gets pretty crazy sometimes, and all I'm doing is making a stocking!!
This is the stocking I'm making:
I already started the stocking before I decided to do this, but I haven't gotten too far, so nobody's missed much :)
I'll start posting updates every Saturday, so look out for my first post tomorrow!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Chocolate Book Tag
Yay!! Two of my favorite things combined! Thanks to Monica at Spilled Ink for the tagging of me :)
I think I'm gonna have to go with Island of the World by Michael O'Brien. I could put almost any of his Children of the Last Days series under here, but I feel like this one is the one that best fits the description. Or maybe I'm just putting it here because the book is so deep and that makes me think of Dark Chocolate?
While not exactly humorous, this book (or any in the series) is a very light read, and pretty fun too.
I've been wanting to read this one ever since I watched the movie. That was shortly after I saw the Hunger Games, and I wanted to compare the two stories. Now I really want to read the book, which, as a little birdie told me, my sister is getting me for my birthday :) Don't tell her I know, I dragged the secret out of Mom.
This is one of the many romance novels I have read that makes me feel gooey inside :) But this one does it the most!
I was going to mention one of my first sci-fi books here, but instead I'm putting Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale instead. This book, unlike the sci-fi books which surprised me in a good way, surprised me in a not so good way. It was just really dry, which surprised and disappointed me, since the prequel was soooooo good. I was really surprised at how cookie-cutter it seemed, especially after the originality of the first book, Princess Academy.
The Lord of the Rings :) Need I say more?
Dark Chocolate (a book that covers a dark topic)
I think I'm gonna have to go with Island of the World by Michael O'Brien. I could put almost any of his Children of the Last Days series under here, but I feel like this one is the one that best fits the description. Or maybe I'm just putting it here because the book is so deep and that makes me think of Dark Chocolate?
White Chocolate (a light and humorous read)
Milk Chocolate (a book with lots of hype that you're dying to read)
I've been wanting to read this one ever since I watched the movie. That was shortly after I saw the Hunger Games, and I wanted to compare the two stories. Now I really want to read the book, which, as a little birdie told me, my sister is getting me for my birthday :) Don't tell her I know, I dragged the secret out of Mom.
Caramel Filled Chocolate (a book that makes you feel gooey inside)
Wafer-less Kit-Kat (a book that surprised you)
I was going to mention one of my first sci-fi books here, but instead I'm putting Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale instead. This book, unlike the sci-fi books which surprised me in a good way, surprised me in a not so good way. It was just really dry, which surprised and disappointed me, since the prequel was soooooo good. I was really surprised at how cookie-cutter it seemed, especially after the originality of the first book, Princess Academy.
*Snickers (a book you're going nuts about)
This is kind of hard, because there are books that I have gone nuts about before that I now am not so entranced with, and there are books that I would like to go nuts over, but haven't read them yet (e.g., The City, Divergent, etc.). That being said, I... don't really have an answer.Hot Chocolate with Mini-Marshmallows (a book you turn to for comfort)
A Box of Chocolates (a series you feel has something for everyone)
I think I would have to say the Fairy Tales Retold series. It has a little bit of romance, a little bit of adventure, and a little bit of religion. The religion part might annoy some people, but it's one of the highlights of the series to me.
Well there you have it!! My Chocolate Book list :) Look out for more posts in the near future.
*I king of feel like this should be called Nutty Bar, since you're going nuts over it?
Well there you have it!! My Chocolate Book list :) Look out for more posts in the near future.
*I king of feel like this should be called Nutty Bar, since you're going nuts over it?
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Open Letter to Cry Room Invaders
Dear Cry Room Invaders,
I would say you know who you are, but you obviously don't because of your behavior to all parents who correctly use the cry room. So allow me to let you know who you are.
You are the crazy people who come in with your 20-something year old children (who by the way, are NOT children) who are perfectly well-behaved. You are also the parents who come in with your children who are legitimately children but are perfect angels who obviously do NOT need to be in the cry room (there's a method to the madness of its name, people). You are also the random people who come just to sit because, I don't know, you think it's quieter? But why on earth would you think that, it's a CRY room!! You are also the people who are only in the cry room in order to hide until communion time. WHY?!
Never mind the fact that you are taking up seats and room for the people who actually use the cry room for its specific purpose, but you insist on rebuking those who come in to the cry room to use it for its full intent!!!!! 'Rebuking' is a nice name for your behavior towards those parents, but I'll just leave it at that.
But seriously, the cry room is made for parents when their children just will not stop banging the pews, or yelling about the fact that their older sibling is serving on the altar, why can't they? or just won't stop yelling and screaming in general. The parents of these children should be able to scoop the adorable but mischievous child up and go into the cry room, where they can participate in the Mass but be sure of not disrupting it.
You, my dear Cry Room Invaders obviously do not realize this. The parent of a loud child is usually already flustered that their kid was being super loud, and does not need to be flustered even more by you, insisting that their child is being loud, so they "really need to leave." NO! They DO NOT need to leave!! You do, if such behavior is distracting to you! If the child is being loud, they belong, and you do not. It is NOT your space, and if anything, these parents should be able to ask YOU to leave. But of course, they are wrestling a screaming child, so who can expect them to think of that?
And you parents who decide to bring your children here even when they are well-behaved, would you be kind enough to leave if you and your children are distracted by the little kid who keeps banging on all the chairs, or screaming, instead of telling the parent who is correctly using the cry room to leave? I know some churches have 'family rooms' (which are actually supposed to be used in the same way a cry room is) but this is a cry room, so please use it like one.
I'm sure that no church wants to have a volunteer position of 'cry room monitor' whose duty it is to kick the ineligible out of said cry room, so Cry Room Invaders, please do everyone (including yourselves) a favor and stay in the main room of the church? It's much nicer out there anyway (and quieter).
Thank you,
Ice Cream
I would say you know who you are, but you obviously don't because of your behavior to all parents who correctly use the cry room. So allow me to let you know who you are.
You are the crazy people who come in with your 20-something year old children (who by the way, are NOT children) who are perfectly well-behaved. You are also the parents who come in with your children who are legitimately children but are perfect angels who obviously do NOT need to be in the cry room (there's a method to the madness of its name, people). You are also the random people who come just to sit because, I don't know, you think it's quieter? But why on earth would you think that, it's a CRY room!! You are also the people who are only in the cry room in order to hide until communion time. WHY?!Never mind the fact that you are taking up seats and room for the people who actually use the cry room for its specific purpose, but you insist on rebuking those who come in to the cry room to use it for its full intent!!!!! 'Rebuking' is a nice name for your behavior towards those parents, but I'll just leave it at that.
But seriously, the cry room is made for parents when their children just will not stop banging the pews, or yelling about the fact that their older sibling is serving on the altar, why can't they? or just won't stop yelling and screaming in general. The parents of these children should be able to scoop the adorable but mischievous child up and go into the cry room, where they can participate in the Mass but be sure of not disrupting it.
You, my dear Cry Room Invaders obviously do not realize this. The parent of a loud child is usually already flustered that their kid was being super loud, and does not need to be flustered even more by you, insisting that their child is being loud, so they "really need to leave." NO! They DO NOT need to leave!! You do, if such behavior is distracting to you! If the child is being loud, they belong, and you do not. It is NOT your space, and if anything, these parents should be able to ask YOU to leave. But of course, they are wrestling a screaming child, so who can expect them to think of that?
And you parents who decide to bring your children here even when they are well-behaved, would you be kind enough to leave if you and your children are distracted by the little kid who keeps banging on all the chairs, or screaming, instead of telling the parent who is correctly using the cry room to leave? I know some churches have 'family rooms' (which are actually supposed to be used in the same way a cry room is) but this is a cry room, so please use it like one.
I'm sure that no church wants to have a volunteer position of 'cry room monitor' whose duty it is to kick the ineligible out of said cry room, so Cry Room Invaders, please do everyone (including yourselves) a favor and stay in the main room of the church? It's much nicer out there anyway (and quieter).
Thank you,
Ice Cream
Reading List
Yikes, my last post was almost three months ago :P
I suppose one reason that I haven't posted is because I haven't had anything to post about. My reading for school has been too much to leave room for some fun books, but lately I've had more time for fun reading, so I've decided to come up with a list and post it! Some of these books aren't actually what some people would consider 'fun' books. They are part of my unofficial Tolkien Study Reading List. And since I like reading books about Tolkien and his works, these make the list of my 'fun' books :)
So here's the list!
1. Following Gandalf by Matthew Dickerson
2. Island of the World by Michael O'Brien
I actually started this one a while ago, but it is such a hefty book that I'm still not done :P I am a pretty big O'Brien fan, and I was super excited when Mom got this one.
3. The City by Dean Koontz
Recommended by my friend Monica, of Spilled Ink :) My Grandmother has also read several Dean Koontz books and loves them, so I thought I'd give them a go.
4. Tolkien Man and Myth by Joseph Pearce
Another of my Tolkien study books. 'A literary life' makes it sound like a biography, and normally biographies are not my thing, so we'll see how that goes.
5. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Humphrey Carpenter
6. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
This is a re-read. After reading so many books about Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings, I missed reading the actual books and decided to start the trilogy again! But I'm just putting the first book on this list for now. I would've started with the Silmarillion, but our copy is falling apart :P Too many younger brothers left it out in weird places (isn't it amazing that by too many, I actually mean one?). But isn't the cover just so cool?! I know that in this picture if you look closely at the bottom, it says 'THE ART OF THE FELLOWHIP OF THE RING GART RUSSELL' in all its caps glory, but trust me, this is the cover for my copy of FotR.
So there you have it! My reading list. I might or might not be posting reviews, and I might or might not be reading the list in order. So no commitment over here, except for the commitment to finish this list.
I suppose one reason that I haven't posted is because I haven't had anything to post about. My reading for school has been too much to leave room for some fun books, but lately I've had more time for fun reading, so I've decided to come up with a list and post it! Some of these books aren't actually what some people would consider 'fun' books. They are part of my unofficial Tolkien Study Reading List. And since I like reading books about Tolkien and his works, these make the list of my 'fun' books :)
So here's the list!
1. Following Gandalf by Matthew Dickerson
I've actually already started this one, I like it so far. The title sounds cool, doesn't it?
2. Island of the World by Michael O'Brien
3. The City by Dean Koontz
4. Tolkien Man and Myth by Joseph Pearce
5. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Humphrey Carpenter
And another Tolkien study book. This is the last one for this list, don't worry :) This book is thicker than I thought it would be O.o But after reading it quoted in so many other books on Tolkien, I'm pretty eager to read the whole book.
So there you have it! My reading list. I might or might not be posting reviews, and I might or might not be reading the list in order. So no commitment over here, except for the commitment to finish this list.
Friday, August 8, 2014
Breed to Come
Okay, so my step-grandfather got me hooked on sci-fi books. It was an attempt to get me away from some of the more serious books that aren't actually stories (like 'Myth, Morality, and Religion' or 'The Philosophy of Tolkien') but it didn't work, because in one of books the author was talking about the relation between The Lord of the Rings and sci-fi books, so they were good examples :)
'Breed to Come' by Andre Norton (that's a nom-de-plume, her real name is Mary Norton) is a post-apocalyptic story, which is basically what you would get if you took evolution, Humans leaving earth, very advanced technology, cats, and rolled them all into one. Humans have been gone from our good planet Earth for quite some time. In those long, long years Cats, Dogs, Wild Boars, and Rats have evolved and become the four dominant species, all capable of reasoning and at the very least, using simple tools. The first three species are living very primitively near the ruins of a Human university. Cats have developed the ability to walk constantly on two legs, and they are able to use primitive tools and weapons. The Rats live in the ruins of the city, and not much is learned about them until the end of the book. They are very similar to Cats, though.
The hero of the story is a Cat named Furtig, whose ancestor Gammage left the Clans to live in the ruins of the Human university and discover their secrets. Furtig, after losing his chance at the Trials (a contest between the males so the females have a chance to choose their mate), decides to follow Gammage and the many Cats who followed him. When he finally arrives, Furtig discovers that Gammage and the Cats under him have made tremendous progress discovering how to use the Human's technology, and why the Humans left in the first place. Even so, Gammage is very concerned that the Humans will return, and soon, to reclaim their home planet.
The story is very complex, and there is so much about the technology of the Humans that is never explained. There is an extremely interesting plot twist, which I never really expected, but probably should have. I wish I could rant about it, but I'm going to restrain myself. There is not much conversation throughout the book, which is usually what it takes to keep me occupied with a book, otherwise I will read through three full pages without actually registering what was happening, then I have to go back and re-read. But the book kept my attention the whole way through! I absolutely could not put it down. If it was possible to read all the time (literally) I would have read this book while I slept!
I give this book an: A-
The book was really good, and I love, love, love the plot, however, nothing really relevant to the plot happens until you're almost half way through the book. Okay, stuff happens, it's just very slow. After reading more Andre Norton books I find this rather typical of her. There is also not a whole lot of character development, which in NOT typical of Andre Norton.
I would TOTALLY recommend this book!
Oh, and one thing I LOVE about Andre Norton's books is that she proves that romance is not required to make a good book :D
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| I am so glad I found the cool cover not the creepy one. |
The hero of the story is a Cat named Furtig, whose ancestor Gammage left the Clans to live in the ruins of the Human university and discover their secrets. Furtig, after losing his chance at the Trials (a contest between the males so the females have a chance to choose their mate), decides to follow Gammage and the many Cats who followed him. When he finally arrives, Furtig discovers that Gammage and the Cats under him have made tremendous progress discovering how to use the Human's technology, and why the Humans left in the first place. Even so, Gammage is very concerned that the Humans will return, and soon, to reclaim their home planet.
The story is very complex, and there is so much about the technology of the Humans that is never explained. There is an extremely interesting plot twist, which I never really expected, but probably should have. I wish I could rant about it, but I'm going to restrain myself. There is not much conversation throughout the book, which is usually what it takes to keep me occupied with a book, otherwise I will read through three full pages without actually registering what was happening, then I have to go back and re-read. But the book kept my attention the whole way through! I absolutely could not put it down. If it was possible to read all the time (literally) I would have read this book while I slept!
I give this book an: A-
The book was really good, and I love, love, love the plot, however, nothing really relevant to the plot happens until you're almost half way through the book. Okay, stuff happens, it's just very slow. After reading more Andre Norton books I find this rather typical of her. There is also not a whole lot of character development, which in NOT typical of Andre Norton.
I would TOTALLY recommend this book!
Oh, and one thing I LOVE about Andre Norton's books is that she proves that romance is not required to make a good book :D
Sunday, August 3, 2014
In Defense of Frodo
So recently I was at a summer camp, and while there I was talking with a group of girls, and we got into the subject of The Lord of the Rings, one of my favorite subjects. While on this subject, one of the girls started gushing about Sam in a manner such as the following:
"Sam is sooooo awesome! I love Sam so much, he is so cool, he is the best character in LotR!" etc. Then she moves on to Sam's counterpart, Frodo: "Frodo on the other hand is soooooo annoying, he's all greedy, and mean to Sam, and an educated snob!! He's always acting above Sam!!
Now hold on. I like Sam and Frodo, they are both really cool. For different reasons. Which is as it should be. Now I am not going to point out Sam's character flaws in this post, I shall devote a small post to that later. But for now:
In Defense of Frodo:
First things first: Frodo is NOT greedy. If by 'greedy' you are referring to his being possessive of the Ring, possessive is not the same as greedy. This possessiveness is also not part of Frodo, it comes as a side effect of The Ring. Anyone can become affected in this way by it, including but not limited to Boromir, Gollum/Smeagol, Bilbo, oh, and Sam was definitely hesitant before he gave the Ring back to Frodo after he rescued him from the Orc tower.
Second: Frodo is NOT mean to Sam. He may be a bit snappish towards the end of the quest, but again, that's a side effect of The Ring.
When does Frodo act like a snob? Is this part of the whole 'he's mean and greedy' thing? Because we already debunked that. He also doesn't act above Sam. Sam is Frodo's closest friend! It's also not Frodo's fault that he has an opportunity to be more educated than Sam. Also, Sam isn't as not educated as some might think. In the books it mentions Sam spending lots of time with Bilbo and listening to him. Don't you think he might've learned something from him?
Now that I have done my best at justifying Frodo, I'm now going to justify all those fanpeople who love Sam and strongly dislike Frodo.
In Defense of All Those Who Love Sam and Dislike Frodo:
This is perfectly normal for people to love Sam. That's kind of the way that Tolkien set it up. Sam is the character whom Tolkien made to be most similar to the average Joe. He has regular person characteristics, and reacts to most situations in the same ways that a regular person would. The real thing is, that despite the fact that Sam is similar to a regular person, he does do many quite heroic things, including, but not limited to, carrying Frodo (literally and mentally), providing for the material needs of himself and Frodo, going off with Frodo when Frodo was going to go alone, saving the Shire, helping to defend Frodo from Gollum, rescuing Frodo from an orc tower, taking on a gigantic spider that I have nightmares about (sorry diehard Sam fans, he didn't ever actually kill it), and etc. This heroicness while still being ordinary is what appeals to so many people who read The Lord of the Rings.
Frodo is not like this, because he had to be one of the higher characters. It was a consequence of his choosing to carry the Ring. Frodo had to become more than an ordinary person, because of his more than ordinary burden. Frodo says to Sam, "We set out to save the Shire, and it has been saved. But not for me." That reflects the fact that Frodo has grown since his quest, and he has been hurt. The Shire can no longer hold Frodo, he is not at peace there, so he has to go across the sea into the Undying Lands. He will eventually die there, by the way, just because the Undying Lands are undying doesn't mean that Frodo won't die.
I think that Frodo is a tragic character, who had the right to be honored, and should have been mourned. I honestly feel sorry for Frodo. I still like Sam, I think he's great example of courage in the ordinary person, but just because you like Sam doesn't mean you should bash on Frodo. In fact, you should probably love Frodo just as much as Sam did. After all, if it wasn't for his love for Frodo, Sam wouldn't have become the hero that he is.
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| I'd like to suggest that he does, at least in the fan world |
Now hold on. I like Sam and Frodo, they are both really cool. For different reasons. Which is as it should be. Now I am not going to point out Sam's character flaws in this post, I shall devote a small post to that later. But for now:
In Defense of Frodo:
First things first: Frodo is NOT greedy. If by 'greedy' you are referring to his being possessive of the Ring, possessive is not the same as greedy. This possessiveness is also not part of Frodo, it comes as a side effect of The Ring. Anyone can become affected in this way by it, including but not limited to Boromir, Gollum/Smeagol, Bilbo, oh, and Sam was definitely hesitant before he gave the Ring back to Frodo after he rescued him from the Orc tower.
Second: Frodo is NOT mean to Sam. He may be a bit snappish towards the end of the quest, but again, that's a side effect of The Ring.When does Frodo act like a snob? Is this part of the whole 'he's mean and greedy' thing? Because we already debunked that. He also doesn't act above Sam. Sam is Frodo's closest friend! It's also not Frodo's fault that he has an opportunity to be more educated than Sam. Also, Sam isn't as not educated as some might think. In the books it mentions Sam spending lots of time with Bilbo and listening to him. Don't you think he might've learned something from him?
Now that I have done my best at justifying Frodo, I'm now going to justify all those fanpeople who love Sam and strongly dislike Frodo.
In Defense of All Those Who Love Sam and Dislike Frodo:
This is perfectly normal for people to love Sam. That's kind of the way that Tolkien set it up. Sam is the character whom Tolkien made to be most similar to the average Joe. He has regular person characteristics, and reacts to most situations in the same ways that a regular person would. The real thing is, that despite the fact that Sam is similar to a regular person, he does do many quite heroic things, including, but not limited to, carrying Frodo (literally and mentally), providing for the material needs of himself and Frodo, going off with Frodo when Frodo was going to go alone, saving the Shire, helping to defend Frodo from Gollum, rescuing Frodo from an orc tower, taking on a gigantic spider that I have nightmares about (sorry diehard Sam fans, he didn't ever actually kill it), and etc. This heroicness while still being ordinary is what appeals to so many people who read The Lord of the Rings.
Frodo is not like this, because he had to be one of the higher characters. It was a consequence of his choosing to carry the Ring. Frodo had to become more than an ordinary person, because of his more than ordinary burden. Frodo says to Sam, "We set out to save the Shire, and it has been saved. But not for me." That reflects the fact that Frodo has grown since his quest, and he has been hurt. The Shire can no longer hold Frodo, he is not at peace there, so he has to go across the sea into the Undying Lands. He will eventually die there, by the way, just because the Undying Lands are undying doesn't mean that Frodo won't die.
I think that Frodo is a tragic character, who had the right to be honored, and should have been mourned. I honestly feel sorry for Frodo. I still like Sam, I think he's great example of courage in the ordinary person, but just because you like Sam doesn't mean you should bash on Frodo. In fact, you should probably love Frodo just as much as Sam did. After all, if it wasn't for his love for Frodo, Sam wouldn't have become the hero that he is.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Bucket List Tag!
So I was tagged by my dear friend Monica at Spilled Ink for the Bucket List Tag! Thanks Monica! I shall now list the ten things I wish to do before I kick the bucket (translation: before I die).
Oh, and by the way, I have close to three reviews I want to get out, plus another post on the side, but almost NO TIME to do so. What's that rhyme in The Hobbit, it brings down mountains and eats up people, etc.? Yeah, it also prevents me from posting on here. Ah, the many abilities of time.
- Start a Pro-Life group
- Become an OB-GYN (a pro-life one!)
- Go sky-diving, bungee-jumping, and/or deep sea scuba-diving!
- Read every bit of writing that Tolkien ever wrote
- Eat a dessert pizza
- Remember all of my friends' birthdays for at least one year
- Go to Europe and see the sights, Catholic and secular!
- Cook all the meals for my family for at least one day (technically I could, I just have never done it yet)
- Own a horse!
- Win a blue ribbon at a horse show (lots of red second place ribbons, never a beautiful blue first place ribbon)
- Whoa, that's it? I guess so!
Oh, and by the way, I have close to three reviews I want to get out, plus another post on the side, but almost NO TIME to do so. What's that rhyme in The Hobbit, it brings down mountains and eats up people, etc.? Yeah, it also prevents me from posting on here. Ah, the many abilities of time.
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