weekend roundup

Starting with going to Sweeney Todd on Friday night, Nate and I had a very good weekend. Perhaps I shouldn't say a good weekend so much as a relaxing and fun-filled weekend. This doesn't happen all the time. We always do something with a few friends, which usually involves a couple of beers and some excellent conversation, but we don't always actually get out.

This past weekend, however, was quite nice. And I'm not talking about the weather, even though that was definitely nice! On Friday evening, before we went to Sheboygan to see Sweeney Todd, we were attempting to find a place to get a fish fry that wasn't super busy since we only had an hour and a half. I had worked until 4, the play was at 7:30, and it took some time to get ready. Only to be expected, of course! Anyway, our usual Friday night haunt, Lynn's Creekside, was most likely busy and was the opposite direction of where we were headed, so that was clearly out. Our second usual haunt when Creekside is packed, Benson's Hideaway, was also the opposite direction, though it wouldn't have been as busy. So basically, we started driving towards Sheboygan in the hopes that we discovered some new place and wouldn't have to stop at Subway! (It's the only fast food I'll eat.) This was probably the best thing we could have done, because we came across a little place called Twisted Root just outside of Sheboygan Falls. It didn't look too busy, so we decided to at least stop for a drink and find out if we'd be able to order and eat right away. The waitstaff were wonderful and did rush us through, which only worked because it looked like we got there right before the evening influx of people. The food was superb, and so was my beer. As usual, I tried something new; this time it was New Glarus Black Top, which was a very dark beer, very full-bodied, and it went excellently with my fish and chips. Nate had his usual, an Old-Fashioned, but at Twisted Root, some of the bartenders know how to make them from scratch, which always makes for a better drink. All in all, we've decided it's a neat place and we'll have to go back. As for the musical, it was also excellent. See my previous post for a review.

Saturday was a typical Saturday; Nate hauled milk in the morning while I did housework. We went to a flea market/farmer's market and brat fry on Saturday afternoon, and hung out with a friend at Creekside for a while, and made it an early evening because Nate had to start work at 2 am. That worked out nicely because he stopped back home around 5:30 for breakfast. I made scrambled eggs and sausage. The eggs were farm fresh (I had bought them at the farmer's market), and man were they delicious. Then he went back to working and I went to church, which was an all morning affair because choir sang at 8:00, then I went to Bible class, and the confirmation service was at 10:30. It being Pentecost, I certainly didn't mind being in church twice! Not that I ever mind being in church twice, haha.

That afternoon we attended a confirmation party, where I was able to see a dear friend of mine who was in town since her sister was being confirmed. (I actually sat with them at the late service.) Jaimie, Nate, and I all sat in the sun and chatted for a little over an hour, during which time I tried yet another craft beer (this past weekend was a good one for trying new drinks!) from Furthermore Beer that was brewed with cracked black pepper. It was weird, but actually really good.

And on Sunday evening, we went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness, which was stunning and intense and I loved it. Perhaps I'll write a separate review, we shall see. But I'm definitely loving this reboot of the classic series. It's beautiful and quite heart-wrenching at times.

That was a long post to basically say that we had a great weekend, and I guess that's the start of our summer. :)

To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one. ~Chinese saying

Greetings, my friends.

Yes, I have created another blog. I have two already, one for my thoughts and nonsense, and the other for the poetry that I write. This one, however, is where I will record the books I read and what I think about them, and of course, if I would recommend them to you. I probably won't update this blog often, especially while in the midst of college, but I shall do my best. This first post is going to pay homage to a series which became an instant classic when the first book was released --

Harry Potter.

I reread (again!) the entire series in a month, just shy of a month ago. Let me tell you, seven books is a lot to read in that amount of time. But I had set myself a goal of finishing book seven before classes began. Unfortunately, I did not quite meet that goal, but I was finished within the first week of class! Now, I reread this series not only because the first part of the seventh movie is being released in November, but because this is a series which holds such a dear place in my heart. I feel as if Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are my best friends. I don't include Hermione Granger in this merely because I feel as if I am her. In all the literature that I've read in my life, there hasn't been a character I could identify more closely with. Maybe a close second would be Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables, or perhaps Jo March in Little Women.
Why is it that stories like that of Harry Potter and his struggles against Lord Voldemort stick out so strongly in our minds? I think it is because in stories like these, good triumphs over evil in the end. The bad guys may win some of the battles, but they don't win the war. That's not the way it works. We as humans want something like this. In spite of all the bad things in our world, we want to know that good will win out. We want to have that hope.
Being a Christian, I do have that hope. It is the hope for eternity, that all that is unclean and "bad" will be destroyed in the end. So many Christians who see the Harry Potter series as promoting the occult need to look more closely. These are not books about the magic specifically; the world the story is set in is magical, but there are clearly defined lines between good magic and Dark magic. This is no different than Chronicles of Narnia, or Lord of the Rings.

My point is, I love the Harry Potter series and the characters as if they were my own friends and family. I can return to Hogwarts School at any time in my mind if I just open one of the books. I think this is what great books are supposed to be -- close friends that we may turn to at any moment we need them.