Another Owens

We are always undeserving, yet the Lord persists in blessing us. We have a very special blessing at present whose little hand you may be able to hold sometime in July. I'll be keeping "Little Toot" mostly to myself until then, though. What a special time!

Moving on?

I thought about shutting down this blog and creating a new one. It's hard to pick up from Grandpa's death and keep going. I don't want the part of my life that has Grandpa in it to be over. But he isn't here and this life keeps moving. As Meredith once said you can let life drag you along in the dirt or you can try to run with it (loose paraphrase).

Even if we as a family do come to a point where it's "normal" for Grandpa not to be here, our lives will always be broken by his absence. Makes me look forward to the second coming more. And I suppose that will be the case with every death of a fellow believer.

Good bye, Grandpa.

Grandpa

Thank you, Jesus, for blessing the world with this man for eighty-eight years. Grandpa followed Christ from Harperville, Mississippi through medical school at Tulane in New Orleans during World War II. During his medical internship in Memphis, Tennessee, he met and married my grandma, Rebecca Lisanby. Together they survived Birmingham, Alabama, San Francisco, California, Clarksdale, Mississippi, and finally made their home in Cleveland, Mississippi for almost 60 years.

Samuel Duff Austin was a faithful, loving husband to his "Becca" for 63 years; he loved and provided for four children, Cathy, Susan, Richmond, and Melinda. He delighted and adored his nine grandchildren, always saying something sweet to the girls, taking the boys fishing, and sharing a Hershey's Kiss or Snickers bar with all his chocolate-loving family. He welcomed his first great-grandchild to the world on August 20, 2008.

His patient hands and listening ears administered grace and medical care to his patients during his over-60 year practice. God gifted him with the skills and abilities to be an excellent diagnostician, and in his practice, he served as a vehicle of God's grace and care to many who were suffering physically, mentally, and emotionally.

He has pictured Christ to his family and friends. Always present, always loving, always providing, always compassionate, always giving. His absence leaves a great void in our lives. Christ alone gives us peace while we miss Grandpa, just as Christ has already healed and completed Grandpa in his own, glorious presence.

When I was a little girl and would visit Grandpa, he always held his hand over his heart and told me that his heart was missing something when I was gone from him. On November 3, 2008, that earthly heart that he would hold his hand over failed him and failed his body. But his Lord Jesus has made his heart more whole than it ever was on this earth, and one day he will live in a new body without disease, and his whole family with him. And we will praise the LORD as we ought in that day.

Thank you, Jesus, for blessing us through Grandpa's life. Thank you for redeeming him and for claiming his whole family for your own. Thank you for loving him better than any of us, who love him so much. Come quickly.

Done!

Well, folks, I turned in everything for my internship yesterday, which means I'm (almost) completely done with the seminary/internship phase of life. Lord willing, presbytery will approve my internship as complete on Tuesday. I should be getting my degree from RTS on Dec. 13 or so.

The job hunt is still going, and it's slow. I'll be sending out more applications over the next few weeks. You are more than welcome to pray.

Please pray for Roy and Emily too, since he is now the only intern working with and responsible for the youth at Redeemer until they hire a youth pastor. They have a new baby as well.

This Ain't My American Dream

The current economic "crisis," combined with the tone of the political season, has brought up once again the term, "the American Dream." 

The causes of the crises we are in this week run deep. The majority of America wants to blame these events on the Bush administration and Republican dominance, yet we must admit that the sources of the current economic situation began working years ago, at least during the Clinton administration, possibly earlier than that, as mortgage laws and lending limits were made "easier."

I do wonder how much of the fear in Washington and on Wall Street, which has become panic in much of America, is merely perceived. What is the worst that could happen if the government doesn't intervene at all? Will it send us into another great depression? I don't think so. We aren't having a famine. The bank system is not going to collapse. And I highly doubt that Wall Street is 700 billion dollars in debt. If America merely had confidence in the economy and in Wall Street's ability to come back, would there be a need for a 700 billion-dollar bill? What is odd is that the government talks like this debt on Wall Street is going to be valuable some day. If that is the case, then why don't more private companies like JPMorgan (which bought out Washington Mutual, with its debt) take over?

Those are all interesting questions. What I am intrigued by is what the American Dream has become. In the 1800s and early 1900s, the American Dream was the idea that in America, if you worked hard, you could acheive whatever you wanted. This was markedly different in Europe and Asia, where class systems and oppressive governments prevented the rise of a middle class. In America, even if you were hated, you could achieve a measure of personal security; you could even own your own home and land, provided you worked hard enough and made some sacrifices.

America still rewards hard work. However, the American Dream has changed. The American Dream is now, "I can have, and deserve, anything I want," regardless of the amount of work I put into it. If I want a four-million dollar house, like the ones I see on MTV Cribs, then by-golly, I should have one. If I want a loan for $50000 so that I can trick out my car, then I should be able to get it.

The principle that "I can get nice things if I work hard for them" has fallen by the wayside, and it lies in a shallow grave next to, "If you do not work, neither shall you eat." Our welfare system communicates, "You don't have to work; we'll give you food, housing, and money for luxuries." Our healthcare system, especially where we are heading, communicates, "I deserve the best health care the world has to offer, even if I can't afford the procedures." "Even if I am a lazy, unproductive, self-centered leech, I deserve to be taken care of by those who are hard-working and succeed."

This baffles me. And one political candidate communicates this even more, to the extent that "everyone deserves a college education." I'm sorry, but health care, education, and luxuries are privileges we have because of a history of hard work. 

If I don't value education and don't study, then why on earth do I deserve a college education, and why should it be given to me? If, on the other hand, I am a hard worker, and have studied hard in school, then I can get the scholarships and aid I need to get into most state universities, at the very minimum a community college.

The American Dream has become an expectation of excess. Even those who are wealthy because of hard work expect to be able to buy anything their hearts desire, to gross and grotesque limits.

To Quote Switchfoot:

When success is equated with excess,

The ambition for excess wrecks us.

As top of the mind becomes the bottom line, when success is equated with excess 

When success is equated with excess,

When we're fighting for the Beamer, the Lexus, 

As the heart and soul breath in the company goals, where success is equated with excess

This ain't my American dream

I want to live and die for bigger things 

I'm tired of fighting for just me 

This ain't my American dream

Dressing Up

A while back my brother and his roommate had a costume/housewarming party. (They're Eagle VS Shark fans). I had youth group that night, so I stopped by afterwards, and I had no costume. The next day I started pondering about costumes that I might like to wear at some point in the future, if for no other reason than wearing a costume.

Hilary and I have been getting into Dragonball Z. My friends and I watched Dragonball Z regularly when we were in high school. After a while it got old. When most of the episodes include the same fight sequences, lots of explosions, and repetitious sequences of gawking at the enemy saying, "He's so powerful," it's not hard to imagine why. Still, it is very entertaining. The characters are probably the best part of the show. Anyway, Hilary has been getting just as addicted as I have been. We've kept netflix

 movies for at least a month without watching them, because of the addictive nature of the series. Thanks, Roy!

One night before I got my hair cut Hilary found some of my old hair gel, the type that says, 

"Xtreme: will not budge even after swimming, getting hit on the head with a cast iron skillet, and then run over by a semi." I guess she was bored and not ready for bed yet, because it was near 10:00pm. The next thing I know is she is putting it in my hair, making it stand on end. Then she doubles over laughing, saying that I look like Vegeta. Of course, being the dork that I am, I start shouting, "KAKAROOOOOOT!" in front of the mirror.

So, at some point after my brother's costume party, I started toying with the idea of putting together a Vegeta costume just for kicks and giggles. I just need a blue spandex suit, some white gauntlets, some white boots, and perhaps a motocross breastplate. It would probably cost more than $100 to put the outfit together. 

At this point, you might be thinking, "Trey, could you be a bigger nerd?" The answer is yes: yes, most definitely.

Since it would cost so much, I decided to do a search for Vegeta costumes. This was all I found. Then I remembered the word "cosplay." I had seen it around the internet, often on sites selling, or related to, anime merchandise. So I googled it. 

Apparently, Cosplay (short for costume play) is very, very, very big in Japan and also very popular on the West Coast. There are whole conventions for cosplay. What would one do at such a convention? Wear their favorite or latest costume, of course! The two main genres of costume for cosplay are Anime and Video Games. 

Then I hit the motherload, cosplay.com. First, I did a search for vegeta costumes. They were alright. Then I started clicking on other dragonball z-related costumes, and boy were there a lot of them. Then I found their featured cosplay list—oh my! Some people just have too much time on their hands.

Here are some of my favorites that I found. They made me gawk in wonder.

First, Frieza (first form) from season 3 of Dragonball Z:

Second, one of my favorite video game heroes EVER, Samus Aran:

Agent 47 from Hitman, simple, but amazing:

Ninjya, from Metal Gear Solid:

Spike, Cowboy Bebop:

Princess Zelda, from Twilight Princess

Link, of course:

A Forest Spirit, from Princess Mononoke:

And this is just ridiculous (Gigas, FFXII):

Some thoughts:

What is it about our modern society that makes us want to dress up in fantastic costumes and be someone else? It seems to me that we find our own lives dull and boring. We crave adventure and excitement, and we find it by becoming someone else. Becoming, why aren't we happy with the shape our lives are? Why do we retreat to worlds full of adventure and romance? We all do it. It may be through books. It may be through movies or TV. It may be through video games. 

There is something inherently dissatisfying in our day-to-day lives. I believe it is because we are a compartmentalized, materialistic, closed-system culture. We try to remove all the pain of life, which gives us the illusion that we are immortal. We live and work in concrete jungles, which gives us the illusion that life is mechanical. We live far away from famine, war, catastrophe, etc., though we see it every day; while the problems of the world may make us feel uncomfortable and make us wish we could do something, but we don't know how, and honestly, we would rather not try.

Ultimately, the problem is due to sin. We forget that God has created us as the crown of his creation. We forget we are a part of his grand historical story. We forget the conflict and wars of years gone by and that are being waged this very day. We forget that God is orchestrating it all. We forge that he has ordained all things. Therefore, all things happen for a reason. Boredom and dissatisfaction are results of the fall.

There will be no boredom in heaven. There will be no dissatisfaction in heaven. We will be completely and perfectly content. Life in heaven will be exciting and interesting, because God will be in our midst. We will be able to see clearly his work in us and in history. We will realize fully we are a part of it. Now, whether there will be costume parties in heaven, that remains to be seen.

Disco Baby, yeah!

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Fun Times

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just a picture

Frustration

Well, I have been trying (for ten whole minutes, I think) to load a fancy post with pictures of Amy and Pearce and appropriate text neatly lined up to a corresponding picture. I have found, however, that I am inept when it comes to loading pictures and neatly lined up text.

Some other time I will put up pictures, I guess. Maybe when I have more time and not at the end of a work day AND week when I'm about to lose it anyway. What I'd like right now is a comfy couch, my favorite throw, a good book or movie, and my Husby to snuggle. Not a stupid computer program that can't read my mind.

We had a nice cool spell today. I don't think it got past 80. Of course, this didn't make much difference to me from my vantage point of the freezing office. I was in my shawl as usual.

Trey is reading Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. I finished it last week and then blazed through Anne McCaffrey's first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series, Dragonflight. After that I picked up Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. As you can tell from the title, it's about something going wrong. I haven't gotten through the first chapter, and I'm so filled with dread that nothing has coaxed me to pick it up again. Trey tried to convince me that it will get better and be okay in the end. But I've read too many Russian novels to believe that. I used to love reading classic literature, but the past several years I haven't been able to bear anything more intense than Jane Austen. I'm not sure why this is. Some day I'd like to be able to get that M.A. I've always dreamed about, but if I can't read a short Russian novel, I don't see much hope there. I used to get really excited about engaging my mind with ideas and concepts that were new or that were expansions on my current understanding. Now all I worry about is doing the laundry and paying the bills on time.

Not sure I'm happy with the direction my priorities are taking.

Of course, Trey has been a good priority to establish. And I should mention that I still do discuss new ideas and concepts, and he is usually the one who instigates such discussions. I'd be totally lost without him; lost from my scholastic self, even.

I am just letting my brain get as out of shape as my muscles. They're so weak that it takes massive effort for even a small workout, which is so pitiful compared to what I used to be capable of that I just give up. Looks like I need self-discipline.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I didn't mean to go into all of this when I started this post, but it's been a nice moment of self-discovery---or self-revelation---or conviction---or something. Thanks.

Aunt Ree

Richmond Pearce Phillips was born by c-section Tuesday, August 20, 2008 at 6:05 a.m. He's adorable!! Amy Claire is absolutely exhausted. She labored 23 hours (that about what you did, April?). Pearce has a little black eye because he was trying to come out face first, and the nurses had Amy pushing for a good hour or more. The dr. didn't know whether he would have fit if he had been positioned correctly anyway (which is why the c-section happened). 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 21 1/2 inches. He already has little chub cheeks and is all pink and precious. So far he has been sleeping between nursings and has hardly fussed at all (but I haven't heard the report from last night). Auntie Ree got to change his myconeum diaper!!! I know I probably shouldn't be excited about changing a diaper, but it was so wonderful!

Hopefully I will put up a few pics of him soon. His eye and forehead are looking better in some ways (the swelling has gone down tremendously), but worse in others (the bruise is more black and blue).

I am trying to hang around and help as much as I can. Recovery will be slower because of the surgery, and Dad is still recovering from his pulled muscle (which means he's still semi-crippled), so poor Mommy will have her hands full.

Thanks for all your prayers and messages!

New Post!

Some day I hope to get back into semi-regular blogging. I had a few spurts of inspiration a few months ago, but squelched them for the option of sleep or reading and haven't really had any more blog-ish thoughts.

Here are a few random funnies for you:

My grandma and aunt hooked me up with a great eye doctor who identified the reason I haven't been able to wear contacts for about three months. I have dry eyes. I was not wearing the right contacts, and I was using nice, cheap Wal-Mart solution that effectively strips any remaining moisture off the surface of the lens. So now I have contacts for people with dry eyes and more expensive--but helpful--solution. So I've been wearing my contacts a lot the past week.

Everybody has been commenting on my hair. Considering I haven't had a haircut in almost three months, I now believe that my wearing glasses affects peoples' perception of my hair more than I ever realized. Oh, and all the hair comments have been positive. So whenever I want a new haircut, I'll just wear my glasses for a few days and then--presto-chango!--back to the contacts.

I got my car's oil changed on Friday. The car-man called me outside to tell me all the things that I needed to have replaced or changed, etc., and offered to install the windshield wipers I had sitting on my back seat. After instructing him to change the transmission fluid, I opened the driver side back door to get the wiper. A different man was leaning in the car through the front passenger side door. Our eyes met. He explained that the little, innocent white "wafers" he was dropping in my car were air fresheners. I went back to the waiting room until they had finished.

After paying for it all (eep!) I got in my car and almost had to get right back out. The baby powder-scented air "freshener" was a bit strong. I made it back to work and decided I would take the freshener out. I found one and read it. The instructions said something along the lines of placing ONE wafer under a seat. I rooted around and found four. Left my window cracked for the rest of the afternoon. On the way home from work, the "freshness" about killed me. My poor dry eyes were burning away, and my lungs began to constrict. I looked around after I got home and found two more. Saturday Trey and I drove around with the windows down. Sunday we took some kids home with us from church, and we all almost got sick from the fumes. Trey and I found four more of the rotten boogers.

Today I thought it would be better. hm. After suffering all the way home from work with the window rolled down all the way, I check again and found two more. sheesh!! Did he dump a whole box in there?! Anyway, I'll let y'all know if I find any more. I don't have any hope of not smelling baby powder when I go out to my car in the morning.

Speaking of baby powder. I need to wash my hands. I touched those things.

Job Hunt

The job hunt is on. Right now I am talking to three churches: Darwin Jordan's church in Ft. Worth, TX, Duncan Rankin's church in Evans, GA, and Billy Dempsey's church in Ft. Payne, AL.

Please be in prayer for Hilary and me as we interview and try to figure out where we want to be and where God wants us to be. We hope those two will be the same place.

Trey

Here's How

Read this first:

How Can Any Christian African American Vote for Obama? Throwing the Race Card on an All Black Table

This is a very thought-provoking article, and it is a must-read for my white brothers and sisters, who need to understand our black brothers and sisters. I really appreciated it. I would love to vote for Obama, but I cannot do it in good conscience. Race is the main thing he has going for him. He has very little experience in Washington (3 years). I also cannot support his socialistic tendencies or his positions on abortion and homosexual marriage. For Americans to vote for Obama solely based on the color of his skin is foolish, and in a sense, racist. If it is wrong to vote against Obama because of his skin, is it not just as wrong to vote for him because of his skin?

However, the main thing that bothers me about Obama is that he markets himself as a Messiah figure. Even as this article displays, the black community looks to Obama as the anointed one who will right all the wrongs committed against blacks in America. They look to him to be their savior, and he promises to be. Yet, there seems to be very little behind his pomp. He says "Change can happen!" but what kind of change are we talking about? Even more scary is that Obama runs for office as a man on a mission, and this mission is to be president. Once there, what will he do? Obama has some very powerful and influential backers. How else could he become the democratic nominee after only two years in the Senate before announcing his campaign for presidency. The Senate was merely a presidential springboard for him. When/if he becomes president, Obama will be strongly pulled by their pursestrings to enact legislation favorable to this mysterious group. In other words, Obama is not his own man: he is a figurehead for a group of political powerbrokers. These two things make Obama a very scary persona.

What scares me more is that America, more specifically African-America, looks to Obama as its savior. He has replaced Jesus Christ as the one who corrects injustice and makes all men equal. Only the sovereignty of Jesus can bring reconciliation and equality for black men and white men in the United States. I beg my African-American brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as my white brothers and sisters in Christ, to remember that Jesus Christ is our Messiah. No man, whether white or black, can fix the problems in America. Our hope must be in Jesus Christ. Political action and affirmative action have their place, but what America needs, what blacks and whites need, is the grace of Jesus Christ. We need revival.

I also cannot vote for McCain. To me he typifies the greedy, sleazy Republican. Issues of social justice are important, and should be. There is something wrong with politics that profit the wealthy but overlook the poor. I get the sense that McCain is only concerned about the typical fiscal conservatism of the right wing. McCain may be pro-life and against homosexual marriage, but I ask why? If McCain is truly pro-family, how can it be that he divorced his first wife after she was maimed in an automobile accident, even though she still adores him, and married a beautiful woman half his age? Does being a POW give him superior character and class? His campaign seems to think so.

Contra McCain, I do not support the war against terror or the war in Iraq. I do not think we can impose a Western form of government with American ideals on an Arabic, Islamic culture. No matter what America does in Iraq, there will be civil war and much bloodshed at the end. I think America should pull out as smoothly as possible as soon as possible. We are accomplishing nothing in Iraq. It is also foolish to wage war against an idea, because you can never kill an idea. You can only kill an enemy.

I cannot support a candidate merely because he fires on some issues that I support any more than I can support another because of his skin tone. I am convinced that we Christians need to start voting out of conscience rather than choosing the lesser of two evils. We need to vote for men—or women, come the day—of solid character, who we believe can run this country well. We need to vote for men who don't have all the answers, but who see the problems with our country. However, we can only do this if our hope is in Jesus Christ. Christian America has to realize that Jesus is the only one who gives us safety. He is the only one who can protect us. He is the only one who can bring justice and equality. Jesus alone is the Messiah, and he doesn't restrain himself to party lines. Jesus is bigger than Republican or Democrat. His followers need to be too.

We will never have the perfect presidential candidate. No man will ever save America, no man except Jesus Christ.

The modern world clamors to give us the appearance of safety and security. We have removed insecurity, poverty, illness, and death to the far corners of acceptable society. That is, we have removed them until they hit close to home, until the gas prices soar (as does everything else), until 9/11, or until someone we loves dies from cancer. We live in a fragile world.

Jesus Christ upholds the universe by the word of his power. Jesus Christ will never leave us or forsake us, but will be with us wherever we go. Jesus Christ is the shade at our right hand and our keeper; he will keep his children from all evil; he will keep our life. He will keep our going out and coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Brothers and sisters, we cannot forget this. Jesus is our only security and refuge. He is our only Savior. Only as we turn to him will we have hope, security, or success.

This means we need to repent of our idolatry and return to the Lord. We need God to work in our hearts. We need revival.

Star-disappointment

I have failed at my last few attempts to buy good coffee. The last bag of Community beans (medium roast) I got were a bit funny-tasting. Trey decided it must have just been a bad batch.

This time I decided I would try Starbucks coffee beans (forgetting for some reason that my husband's faithful employer, Seattle Drip, has no tolerance for Starbucks) because I've heard they have good beans; it's just that they burn them when they brew the coffee in the shop. I guess I should have made the connection that if people wanted the Starbucks taste and they weren't in the shop, the beans sold in Wal-Mart would have to produce a similar taste to the coffee brewed in the store.

Anyway, the coffee beans make exceptionally strong, burnt-tasting coffee.

I will have to try again next time.

In other news, Trey has been super sweet to me this week. He has made supper, cleaned the kitchen, put away dishes, and run two loads of laundry. And he gives me lots of hugs. He's the best husby.

FINISHED!

we finally FINISHED the two thousand piece puzzle that we've been working on for six months. . . except for the two pieces that don't exist.

AND

Trey beat Final Fantasy VII, which we have both (along with some friends at various times) enjoyed for around sixty hours now.

Yay!

but we've lost our two major sources of entertainment in one night. yipe!

Narnia Betrayed

Hilary and I just walked out of Prince Caspian. Yes, we walked out. It is the first movie either of us have ever walked out on.

Why?

What Disney (and I assume the producers of the movie) have done to the story of Prince Caspian is nothing less than betrayal. Now, I admit my feelings are strong because I just read the book a few weeks ago. However, I went to the movie expecting a few minor changes, even ridiculous ones like what Peter Jackson did to Faramir in The Return of the King.

Not only were there minor changes that are annoying to long time fans of C.S. Lewis, the whole story was changed. Beloved characters were altered. In my wife's words: if screenwriters and directors are going to use the name of a book and use the names of the characters, and then give you something totally different, it is deceptive. It is a betrayal of the author, and it is a betrayal of everyone who goes to see the movie that expects the story of Prince Caspian.

The movie was awful. It was offensive. It was lame. 

First, I can understand condensing the chronology of a long book to suit the silver screen. I can also understanding altering minor details to keep them simple and focus on the main story. I cannot understand, however, why the writers/director would condense Lewis' original tale to make room for an awful fabrication that is a betrayal of Lewis' characters and stories.

The rewriting created a battle scene. The cost was Peter's character, Caspian's character, and Aslan's part in the story. After all, people only go to movies to see action and battle scenes, right? In the book, Peter and Miraz duel. There is no organized battle. In fact, the Caspian and Peter want to avoid a big battle. But Caspian is too wounded and does not have enough of his uncle's respect to fight. That's not very interesting. 

Secondly, the movie stripped Peter of everything that is honorable. Adamson, the director, made Peter a shallow, self-assertive teenager with little memory of his former nobility as high king of Narnia. He isn't even consistent with the last movie! Instead of the wise and noble former High King of Narnia, we have a puerile teenager who "doesn't want to be a kid anymore." So, Peter does everything he can to prove that he is capable and a grown up. He doesn't even feel the need to wait on Aslan.

Why is it that Hollywood feels the need to strip men of character of everything admirable? They did the exact same thing in Lord of the Rings with Faramir, even with Aragorn to a lesser extent. In that story too, it led to a fabrication in the story that irritated those who knew the story! Do directors and producers feel like Americans cannot relate to someone who is wise and admirable? Is it too unrealistic for us to see a man who has a sense of moral direction and duty? Nope, we can't handle that! Instead, give us petty teenage boys who constantly argue and blame one another for their own faults! That's what we want.

Please!

Then there is the Susan/Caspian romance. Yes, just what we need, another sappy teenage love story. Hilary and I should have known what was coming when we walked into the wrong showing and saw Susan kissing Caspian at the end. We should have gotten our money back then. Or after we saw, "Based on the story by C.S. Lewis," appear at the opening title. Nothing cries unbelievable distortion more than, "based on the story..." What it should say, "We took an idea from this story and ran with it in the wrong direction."

Again, most of the movie was completely fabricated. It was a lie! It never happened!

Back when Titanic came out, a Christian company was sued for editing out the Model T sex scene and reselling the movie. The obvious charge was copyright infringement. Why is it that movie producers feel they can do the very same thing with classic works of literature? They use the same title and the same characters, but they change the story so that it says something completely different! In my opinion, it is completely unethical. I cannot imagine that Lewis would have approved of the screenplay. Were he alive, he probably would have sued Disney for defamation of character! 

Most mind-blowing of all is Disney's patent disregard for those of us who grew up in Narnia. Their primary audience. I have loved these four kids and their companions in Narnia since I was a small boy. I always looked up to Peter. I wanted to be an admirable and wise leader like he was. Disney has betrayed me! They took creative liberties with the story I loved and said, "Here's Prince Caspian, just like you always wanted." But instead I find two boys and a story I rather loathe. And it makes me loathe Disney.

Their interpretation of Prince Caspian isn't even that good. Their changes to the plot don't flow well. The directing is bad. The dialogue is bad. Even the acting is bad. If I had known how bad it was going to be, I would have waited for it to come out on dvd.

It would have been helpful if our friends would have merely said, "it wasn't true to the story." All we heard were great reviews. That I don't understand. 

It is high time Hollywood stops screwing with classic books and beloved characters! If you are going to market a favorite book that we have grown up on, for the consideration of your audience, give us a faithful interpretation of the story!  As Iron Man and Spiderman have shown, movies based on well-known books and stories are better and more well-received when they receive a true interpretation. We want the old story, the original story, not some cock-eyed, modern day, "relevant" interpretation of the story. 

Whether we are talking about comic books or classic books, The Incredible Hulk or Prince Caspian, the real movie fans, those who pay to see Iron Man twice (like me), want to see the stories and characters we love faithfully portrayed.

Potato Salad and other things

I just made my first potato salad. I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know if it's any good. But I put bacon in it just to make sure it will be edible.

We just read the first two books in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (well, I did. Trey is still working on the second). It's a bit like reading Monty Python, except the character and plot development are more thorough (or should I say, it has character and plot development---the characters are actually dynamic! yay!).

By the way, we borrowed these books from the Sauerweins; I still haven't broken my vow (much to Uncle Jim's chagrin). But, Uncle Jim, this should encourage you: Trey went to a youth leaders' conference these weekend and bought upwards of ten new books. We have a new stack!!

I have been fairly productive today, so I think I'll go see if I can do some leisure now.

Loss and Gain

Dearest friends and family, my friend Catherine is no longer suffering in this world. She will see earth again, but when it is new and free from bondage and when she has a whole body resurrected in righteousness.

Sometimes I wonder how time passes for those believers who have died and wait for the resurrection. Are they even bound by time? Does Catherine "wait" as we know it? If she does wait, it is in peace and in the presence of Jesus. What a gain for Catherine!

Please continue to pray for her family and many, many friends who experience loss now.

We wait for our time to gain. Lord Jesus, come!

Segway? I thought it was spelled "Segue"

Okay, my lesson is done, so I can post. 

What was I going to write about...? Hmm.

Hilary and I are fans of Arrested Development. We are on disc two of the second season; (so far, we think the first was better). Gob (pronounced "Job," like the Bible character), often travels around on a Segway in the series. It is a remarkable mode of transportation: zero emissions, goofy, fun, and expensive. 

Last night, Hilary and I went to see Iron Man. It was a great movie. I had a blast watching it. Hilary had a blast watching me watch it. In one scene Obadiah, Tony Stark's primary business associate, drives a Segway around the Stark Enterprises complex. Immediately Hilary and I thought of Gob from Arrested Development.

Well, I was talking to Matt Geisman in the library today, and being an avid A.D. fan, I mentioned the mode of transportation Obadiah used in the movie. Until then, I hadn't known the name of the thing. I was immediately motivated to search the internet for this product, and found it here. I also found the link to the one and only Segway retailer in the state of Mississippi, Gliding Easy, LLC, which happens to be about 2 miles from our apartment in Olde Towne Clinton, MS. [Edit:: There is a store in Tupelo, so this isn't the one and only. Thanks, Kurt!]

So I high-tailed on over to find this joint. Apparently, the "store" is a 7'x12' room across from the Judo dojo, where I used to train. Inside were 8 or so Segway models, but no people. I picked up a brochure and came home for lunch. Gliding Easy, LLC specializes in "glided" tours around Clinton, the Natchez Trace, and a few other locations. I couldn't find the price on any of the models there, and so I did a google search. 

The average price range for a new Segway is $4000-$6000. Yeah, that's a hefty sum for a fancy way of getting from one place to another. The battery life will take you 40 miles at up to 12.5 mph. They are also highly customizable. You can set them up as golf carts, offroad/camping transportation, and for public travel. There are even 2, yes two, police models. 

Part of me wants one for the novelty of it. Another part of me wants one because of the rising cost of gasoline. I could save a load over time in getting from my future home to my future church and back. The rest of me realizes that this is a wholly ludicrous proposition. Church members would certainly question the wisdom of a youth pastor with a $5000 toy scooter.

I want to post something new, but I have to write my youth group lesson first. It's on

MONEY!!!1!

book(s)

I have declared before that I would not buy any new books before reading the unread or disposing of the unreadable books I now possess. At least I think I have. That was a good idea. I've decided to reinstate that practice all because of a new book I bought and am reading. The irony is sickening, as Calvin would say.

It's a book about not letting clutter take over your house, and while I don't think I yet have a problem with clutter in general, I see a strong tendency to turn my book hording into clutter. Since I profess to have such appreciation of good literature and good writing, it hardly seems fitting for me to fill my shelves with unread "treasures," thereby reducing something "important" to an unwanted object taking up very precious shelf space (since my husband's calling requires many books, which he does frequently read and reference).

Besides, I've been letting the stack of unread books grow to such an extent that the thought of beginning the task of reading them all overwhelms me. Not very helpful to my object of developing my literacy.

Grandma is probably laughing at me right now, and wishing I would go get a bike instead of buying a new book on getting rid of clutter books. She also has a very developed library, but I dare say she has read all the books in hers.

by the way

Some people say "Trey" is French for three, but it isn't. "Trois" is French for three. "Trey" is just some southern nickname for the third namesake. He wants a fourth, too (assuming we get the option some day), but I can't figure out what his nickname would be. Any ideas?

Okay, and good ideas?

Yeah, yeah, but any usable ideas?

Well, but how about any ideas that wouldn't make our son hate us for calling him that?

#1

I always have trouble deciding what to write when I "blog." 

So often, blogs proliferate themselves as shrines to the egos and opinions of their creators. Somehow, if you post your opinion on the internet, it becomes authoritative, and none dare disagree. You become creative and witty, so that people love you. You emote and write poetry, so that people feel your agonizing existence and admire you. You vent and tirade and spew venom at anything you disagree with, so that you can say you have an effect on the world.

This was (is) apparent on Xanga, where I first opened a blog. I sensed all the pretentiousness of the intelligentsia of Belhaven College and its "honor's society" within its ranks. After a year or two of attempts at baring my soul to cyberspace, I finally resorted to a "word of the day" format that lasted inconsistently for two or three years. I realized I never used it because I didn't particularly like it, and so I shut it down last fall.

Now Hilary and I share a blog. What am I supposed to say? Do I attempt to communicate the ordinary, rather boring activities of my life in a witty, whimsical way? Do I bear the deep burdens of my soul to a captive internet audience? Do I reflect on things I have been learning or reading about? Do I contrive a theme or story to be continued? 

Honestly, I would like to be one of those bloggers who has profound, insightful things to communicate, things which would shape the world and change the lives of my readers. That's the preacher in me. Then there is the realist in me that realizes the ridiculousness of trying to do that via blogosphere. Who shall prevail? 

We Shall See.

"cleaning"

So, today I tried to straighten up downstairs. We have lots of beautiful pieces for display and just don't have room to display them all at once. However, since I have been occupied with other things than decorating, I had just stacked and jammed things on any available shelf space.

Today I worked on that.

I have rather minimalist tendencies. I like things comfortable and inviting, but with next to no clutter or clutter-ish type stuff laying around. Well, unfortunately, rather than make good decisions, I find myself using my 3-D aptitude to pack way too much stuff into closets and cabinets. This works fine if you can leave it there. But we're probably moving sometime, and it is not going to be fun when all that stuff comes out for me to pack into a box. AND I don't want my nice display pieces to get so buried that I never use/rotate them.

I should learn how to organize my storage.

will i live

I am on my way to join Trey and some other oldish people at a youth party at the church. The girls are all sleeping at Emily's; the guys will stay at the church and probably play video games rather than sleep.

Pray!

That is, if anyone still reads this. I have my doubts. Leaving a blog un-updated for over a month has disastrous consequences it seems.

blog failure

I've discovered blogging comes in seasons. I have failed to update my blog for a while now, AND all my favorite bloggers (except my faithful Sara/hs) have also become blogging failures. I am forced to use the phone and email now.

The other day I had a great idea for a blog. It had something to do with my husband, but I've forgotten it now.

We are happy in our little apt, trying to keep up with bills. I have one (only one!) thank you note to send, which I will do once I have the address. It's a little over six months since our wedding, so I've done tolerably well. We have been married six months! Some of my favorite times these days are remembering where Trey and I were last year at this time. I think we were about to break up because Trey was afraid we would get into sexual trouble. It's such a blessing on this side of the wedding bands.

I must resume my wifely duties. I read a lot this past week and hardly got anything done. Today I pay the price!

post

I saw a sign at the Baptist church: Jesus lives; so can you.

I was struck by how great a discrepancy exists between the seeingly insignificant placement of the subject and object. Compare the order of the sentence as written on the sign:

Jesus lives; so can you (live)

to what I think it should say:
Jesus lives; so you can (live).

Who says grammar doesn't matter??? The placement of "YOU" in the first sentence puts all the power of living in you! It's like saying, "If Trey can waste time, I can waste time, too." It becomes a matter of following example rather than being enabled.

Other news: I like cookbooks.

kids

Several of my friends from college are about to have their first kiddos. Trey and I have been attending a Sunday School class on childrearing based off the book Loving Obedience in the hopes of one day having our first (and second and third and fourth and, heck, maybe fifth and sixth!).

So I have been thinking about childrearing a bit more than usual. And just now I was thinking about public displays of nastiness, as I know must happen. I am going to have a huge struggle learning to discipline my kids for reasons other than my embarrassment. I don't want to teach them that "you can't do that because it embarrasses Mommy." I want them to learn to honor God, not make Mommy feel good about herself (because that will ultimately end in failure, and I don't want to set my kids up for that kind of failure). How does one do that when one is in a public place and Child #3 is making a spectacle of himself? I hope that I am able to sacrifice my own comfort and "reputation" to do what is best for my child's growth in grace (ha! you can tell that I haven't had to deal with kids much, can't you? I know I am very idealistic, but my God is a powerful, awesome, and gracious God; and He sanctifies me!). Does it mean you drop everything and deal with the issue? Does it mean you remove yourself and child (and possibly all the other kids, too), leaving your errand or meal or whatever unfinished, to deal with the issue?

Maybe further classes in Sunday school will deal with stuff like this. So far, we have been learning about feeding love-hunger in kids, and learning to identify and verbally appreciate things our kids do right (rather than just pointing out what they do wrong). Trey and I have been practicing on each other for the meantime. It really is wonderful to learn to notice what is good rather than dwelling so much on the things that are bad. There is so much good out there in the middle of the wickedness (because! God is a powerful, awesome, and gracious God; and He blesses us!).

Anyway, that's what I was thinking about at work today.

sick

Trey was sick all week, and I've been sick all weekend.

We don't know what we have, but it's our first "married" illness. Despite being miserable, we've been silly enough to enjoy the experience---on some level. Unfortunately for Trey, it took this experience for us to both learn that I can become emotionally unstable during times of high fever. We both made it through my explosions of tears relatively unscathed, though. Trey is a good nurse for his wifey.

Today my fever is lower, and I'm hoping it will be all gone by the end of the day so I can go to work tomorrow. It's the first time I've had a real fever in years.

That's all.

Words!

Meemaw and Grandma Noni gave Trey and me some Christmas money that we have happily spent up rather quickly. One of my splurges is the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (I think I recall Daniel telling me years ago that I should get this, which I wasn't able to do because of financial constraints. It isn't as pricey as the full-blown OED, but it's not cheap.) The OED is the definitive work on etymology and usage, current and historical, comprising twenty volumes for a price around $1200. The SOED is something that won't take up an entire bookshelf, for which I am sacrificing numerous entries. I probably will never read through all of the two volumes, but I'm sure I'll enjoy what I do read.

Anyway, it's supposed to arrive today! I got it on Amazon much cheaper than at Borders, in case any of you are tempted to splurge, too.

change what?

Occasionally, when I am unable to repress the thought, I wonder about what people in the workforce did before they had our modern technology. And I don't just mean word processors. We have email and telephone, not to mention the (mostly) reliable postal service. We can draft documents, circulate them to three different people for review, have a telephone conference, make further revisions, circulate again, correct a few typos, insert the correct amount, and finally send the document out for final execution (except even there we can often accept pdfs of signatured pages).

How did people do all this paperwork before? I wonder if people made fewer mistakes or if they just didn't correct as many typos. I wonder if the average time to complete and file a deed was more like six months instead of a week. If you mailed a document for someone to review, how long would you wait to hear back from them? Would you send another letter and wait two more weeks if you didn't?

I wonder.

Moving on

Trey did take down the tree. But it's still lying out next to the trash can. I don't think the trash people want it. I wonder how we're going to get rid of it.

Trey's in class this week. I'm munching on some M&M's from Kelley.

The Christmas colors had to go.

Work is piled up on my desk. I'm glad there's plenty to do.

I'm also glad that we are not in a living situation conducive to getting a cute kitty. Because I really want one right now. Maybe if I ever do get a cat, I can teach it how to use the people potty. I remember reading about cats doing that. But I wonder if you can really teach them how to flush. Ew.

I've started using my mixers. Bread, cookies, waffles, muffins. Mmm.

Trey has a chest of drawers for his mountains of clothes! I just cleaned it the other day. It looks nice. Thanks, Dad.

The end.

salad

Our Christmas tree is still up. I wouldn't let Trey take it down when we got back from our Christmas travels because I didn't feel I had spent enough time with it. Now he's lost the motivation to do anything with it, and I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever come down. Eventually all the needles will.

I actually read an entire book over New Year's weekend. I was beginning to fear I'd never accomplish that feat again, so my success came just in time to prevent my despair. The book is Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. It's a story about mother-daughter relationships, tradition, respect, and lots of the personal identity questioning themes typical of postmodern fiction. The story is related through first-hand narratives: four Chinese women who have emmigrated to San Francisco and their daughters who have grown up in America. There is one narrative at the end told by the protagonist's (of sorts) father. It's the only account from a man's perspective.

Woohoo! for new posts!