[we only watch British television and old movies now]

Hi, long time no see.
Last time I signed into Blogger, I read the announcement about the design change that was coming for the "Dashboard" part of it. Now I find that it has changed and I DON'T LIKE IT ONE BIT.
It's more confusing than it was before.
Oh hey, kind of like Facebook.
Sigh.

Never mind that.
I'm almost serious about the title of this post. There's not much American television I like anyway, though there are a few shows I love, like Once Upon a Time, Switched at Birth, and Bones. Other than that, we tend to watch Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Keeping Up Appearances, Mr. Bean, and other shows like that
Of course, one cannot forget the always stunning Masterpiece Theatre, especially the Classic part. Downton Abbey is my favorite, and last night I watched part one of Birdsong, which takes place before and during WWI. It was absolutely excellent, though I'm not sure how I feel about Eddie Redmayne playing Lieutenant Stephen Raysford . He always looks vacant and it's kind of weird. Clemence Poesy, who played Fleur Delacour in Harry Potter, is wonderful as the French woman Wraysford has an affair with. So far, having seen part one, I can say this is definitely not for younger viewers, as there is some graphic war violence and sexual scenes, and I would imagine next week's episode will be the same way. The make of this film might bother some people, because it appears to move through the scenes rather fast, with very little dialogue at some points, and an almost exclusively piano soundtrack, but it made me think somewhat of Scorsese's adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence. Something about the aura, I guess.
Other than that, I tend to watch a lot of Turner Classic Movies. Rarely have I watched something on there that I didn't like. It's probably my favorite channel.

I'd tell you what I'm reading, but that would infringe upon what I wrote on my book blog earlier today!

*********************

Since Mother Nature can't seem to make up her mind, I haven't done much gardening yet, though my purple tulips that I planted last fall look beautiful! I might mow the grass this afternoon, too, but I want to pick the myriad dandelion heads first. Maybe. I have a recipe for Dandelion Wine and I feel like trying it. Though I don't have all the ingredients yet, so maybe mowing will have to wait.

I have a lot of empty coffee cans that I am going to turn into pots for the herbs I'm going to plant, and I bought three cutesy pots yesterday, once of which is a huge teacup. I think I'll plant the chamomile in there!

My vegetable garden needs a lot of work...I can't even see the dirt for all the weeds. Eugh. Not looking forward to tackling that. Thankfully, I have plenty of time, since I don't want to plant my veggies for another month yet.

**********************

I had intended to include photos with this post, but perhaps I'll add them later, since I haven't actually taken any yet. Oops.

I hope April has treated you well. After all,

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
- - - T. S. Eliot "The Waste Land"

[another unexcused absence]

Who reads this blog anyway?
No one, just me.
So I don't know what the point is.
Currently I don't have any excuse not to update this blog regularly, though, so I suppose I'll do my best and hopefully get at least a few followers.
That last bit is unlikely. :/

***************

Guten tag, everyone! I realize that I never did get around to reviewing The Hunger Games trilogy, but time got away from me as I was planing my wedding and trying to move all my effects (mostly books...) to Wisconsin. That was quite a chore, whew! But, as this is not my personal blog, I will stick to books.
What I will say about The Hunger Games and its subsequent books is this: the first book was excellent and I couldn't put it down, so enthralled was I by the tale and Katniss' views on it. Actually, I just loved Katniss. What a strong female character! Her name was perfect, too. Catching Fire was equal to its prequel, but Mockingjay seemed to me to fall short by the end. I read all three books in rapid succession without putting them down except to continue normal life functions, but by the time I reached the end, I realized the ending just wasn't what I hoped would happen. I have felt this way before about other books, but I don't know. I probably should read the trilogy again, especially since I have yet to see the film (which I don't have high hopes for, but there's a post on my personal blog about that kind of thing).
Maybe once I've reread the books, I'll feel differently. At any rate, I'll be able to give more clear reasons as to why I felt this way, since I can't really remember why at this point.

****************

All right, so I obviously read more books between reading The Hunger Games last summer and now. I'm having difficulty remembering what I read, though I do remember reading The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger, last December. But of course, that was after my wedding. My head has been a little clearer since then. I probably did some rereading of favorite books or something like that. I can't remember, though I wish I had kept a better record. That's what this blog was for, by the way.
Funny how that didn't work out.

This year, however, I have been blissfully reading almost nonstop. Seriously. Not being in college anymore has finally given me the time to "catch up" on missed reading opportunities from the last five years. Yep. I'm enjoying it immensely, especially since the weather hasn't been all that nice yet. When the weather does finally get nice, I might try some audiobooks so that I can still basically read while I do yardwork. (They work well for housework, too!)

Okay, so what have I been reading this year?
Well, here is the complete list of what I've read since 2012 began.

One trip to the library found me checking out these:

• Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov (Strange, but good. I like his writing style quite a lot.)
• The Camel Bookmobile, by Masha Hamilton (Excellent novel about introducing literacy to African bush tribes. I seriously loved this book. It only took me a day to read.)
• Island of Wings, by Karin Altenburg (I can't say enough about this book! So I won't say much. It's historical fiction, based on true life missionaries that went to the outermost part of the Hebrides, St. Kilda, in the 1830s. Of course, now there is yet another place on my travel list!)
• The Girl With No Shadow, by Joanne Harris. (This is the sequel to Chocolat, which I adored, so of course I had to pick this up! It takes place in Paris and is as lovely a modern fairytale as anyone could ask for. I want so badly to visit Paris, and this book reinforced that feeling....)
• Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden. (Lyrical, beautiful, and compelling. This book took me almost a week to read, since it's rather long, but I was in love with it the entire time. It has made me want to learn more about the life of geisha in Japan. Also, the film does not do it justice. It's choppy and doesn't make much sense.)

 The above books were all really good; the only one I had planned on checking out that day was Lolita, the rest were just really lucky finds!

I went to the library again last week and here are the books I will be reading next:

• A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (Already started this, and so far I'm not super enthralled or anything, but it is definitely promising. Besides, fantasy is my first love when it comes to reading.)
• The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (I feel like this was inspired by Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, so I'm probably going to have a lot of preconceived ideas about this particular novel, since I love, love, love, Bradbury. Anyway. It looks good.)
• City of Bones and City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare. (I haven't read any YA supernatural fiction in kind of a while, other than The Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer which almost doesn't count because it's Twilight related, so...yeah. People on Tumblr love Cassandra Clare, and these were in at the library, so I guess that's reason enough.)
• The Host, by Stephenie Meyer. (Okay, yeah, I know. But this isn't Twilight related, and it's technically an adult novel. I want to see if she's actually a good writer, since Twilight isn't that great, story or writing. [Yes, I liked them, but they're my "fluff" reading.] The premise of this one is intriguing, too.)

Apparently I was on a historical fiction kick during my first visit to the library and the second time it was back to fantasy. Interesting. I suppose the first book I pick up will always have some bearing on what else I check out.

I am also reading through the Bible, which sadly fell by the wayside...I need to keep up on this!!! I have no excuses. At least not good ones. The other book I am slogging my way through is The German Genius, by Peter Watson. I'm only maybe 150 pages in, and it's almost 1000 pages long. But I figured maybe I should try reading some nonfiction again, and my husband had bought this last year sometime. After he bought it, it sat on the shelf in the living room looking all enticing and interesting and since he wasn't reading it yet, I decided to.
Then, of course, I got a Kindle.
And went to the library.
Don't get me wrong, going to the library wasn't a mistake or anything, but I have so many books to read already!!!!! Speaking of which, I just bought a signed copy of The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, which is another wildly popular YA novel about dealing with cancer, so I will probably read that after A Game of Thrones. It will probably only take a day anyway.

Whew, that was a loooooonnnnnnnng post. Sorry about that.
Now, I will positively try to remember to review A Game of Thrones when I finish it.
Thank you and have a good day.

Genesis 1:1-3:24 [February 4th]

In three days I have read the first eleven chapters of Genesis.

In those eleven chapters is contained the history of the beginning of the world.

I will take a few blog posts to write a short bit about each chapter.

Here is the first one!


Chapter 1
God created the world.
With His voice.
If that's not awe-inspiring, I don't know what is.
When I think about how perfect the world was at the very beginning, I can't help but feel wistful.
At the same time, I feel hopeful. God created us in His image, perfect in every way, perfect in ways we cannot even imagine. And that's what heaven will be like.
Truly, I cannot wait.


Chapter 2
God rested after creating the universe, giving His children a reason to also rest at least one day a week.
I feel like this isn't taken seriously anymore, now that even more of the world has turned away from the Lord. A day of rest is a gift. Now, I realize that it isn't possible in every profession to always take Sunday off as a day of rest. My husband can't even do that. But the point is that humanity needs to slow down and reflect -- on God's Word. That is one of my prayers, albeit a not very hopeful one.
And then there is the detailed description of the creation of Man and Woman. The creation on the sixth day is mentioned briefly at the end of chapter 1, but because humans are the most important of God's creation (the world was made for us), the account gets another section. We are God's children, created in His image to live in the world He gave us. How beautiful!

Chapter 3
And so begins the saddest event in all Creation. Yes, Jesus Christ dying on the cross for us was also one of the saddest events in the history of the world, but think about it this way: He wouldn't have needed to die if not for the Fall into sin.
A sobering thought.
Yet, fall into sin we did. The first temptation, brought forth by Satan, was the temptation to doubt the Word of God. It wasn't the eating of the fruit; that was merely a result. Well, maybe not merely, but my point is that when you realize that the first sin was questioning God, that you realize it's no wonder the world is where it's at today. Original sin makes complete sense, though it is horrid.
And yet, God does not immediately give up and start over. (Yet -- there is the Flood!)
Yes, God tells Adam and Eve (and the serpent, for that matter) that they are cursed because of their sin, but He gives them a Promise right away.
And God never breaks His promises, no matter what people might believe.

reading the Bible in one year

Yes, January 2012 is behind us and February is well under way. This is a year that I have promised to myself will be a year of good things and a healthy body, mind, and soul. I'm working on the healthy body by working out, doing some yoga, and eating right. My mind is always nourished by reading books, especially those that fall under the classification of Great Books. My soul is nourished every Sunday morning when I attend church, but during the week I have been guilty of not paying attention to it. My soul, that is.

Thus, I have decided that it will be this year that I read the entire Bible. I have read most of it in the past, yes, but never the entire thing. At least I don't think so. The point is that I need to read it more often, and in a studious kind of way, not just opening the book and reading the first pages I come to. That method is not terrible, because everything in the Holy Scriptures is important and can be applied to my life; however, I need a way to focus better. So, beginning in Genesis, at the beginning, I am going to read the whole book!

Perhaps I will be through the Old Testament by July or August.

Many individuals meditate when they do yoga. Meditation is not all bad; you have to know what to meditate on. I choose to meditate on the Holy Word of God, to further enrich my soul on this earth.

If I can keep up with this blog in a more regular fashion *coughcough*maybe impossible*coughcough*, I shall update as I read, giving you my thoughts.

Also, any encouragement is greatly welcomed!

disenchantment

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines disenchant as "to free from illusion".
Well, I'm here to state that though I have never been fully enchanted by the popular culture today, I am disenchanted by it in almost all aspects.
What we need today is a true disenchantment with Hollywood, the "music" industry, and even the world of politics. The latter is not something I will rant about today.

My true disenchantment with Hollywood became complete when a few of my favorite wholesome books were realized in the utterly wrong way onscreen. After viewing The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I felt nothing but disappointment, ire, and sadness. The filmmakers took a wonderful Christian story and turned it into New Age spiritual nonsense about defeating the darkness inside yourself. Instead of being a beautiful journey to the End of the World and Aslan's Table, it became a completely me-centered adventure. The themes of sacrifice and redemption were almost nonexistent. To be brutally honest, I was appalled. Why did Hollywood have to change the story at all?

As far as the last installment of Harry Potter goes, I don't actually want to get into that. But I will say one thing: for the entire series, I was upset because Hollywood changed things and left huge gaps in the story. Yet when it came to Deathly Hallows Part Two, I was shocked at how empty it felt. Again, the underlying themes which are so obvious in J.K. Rowling's books were just not there. Why?

Well, Hollywood, it's because you don't even know what sacrifice, redemption, and true love look like.
I pray for celebrities as a whole, but it's hard to allow a smidgen of hope for most of the actors and singers and talent-less socialites that make up Beverly Hills and more.
You know why I sometimes wish for old Hollywood?
For the actors and actresses that played parts in black and white films?
Because at least they didn't flaunt their perverted and screwed up lives.
It wasn't "okay to be gay" and even though some of those men were, they didn't make it obvious.
It wasn't okay to be promiscuous and have children out of wedlock, so things were kept under wraps.
I'm certainly not trying to say that old Hollywood had better morals than today; in reality they were no different.
They just kept things clean on the outside, for the most part.
Films didn't need an R rating, or heaven forbid, an NC-17.
Television wasn't so graphic that all you see is body parts and buckets of blood.
Nudity wasn't acceptable onscreen.
Profanity was kept to a minimum.
Yeah, okay, everyone smoked and drank, but I think that's minor compared to other things.

What has happened to America? To the world? I do not find it acceptable when I go to a movie theater and the teenagers in the row in front of me are talking in such a way that their entire conversation should be bleeped out. On Sunday my pastor talked about going to sporting events and feeling like he should be wearing headphones, or even sitting in a coffee shop and feeling the same way. I know exactly how he feels.

I know I mentioned the "music" industry at the beginning of this post, but I'll save that for another day.
What I will say is that when we have people like Lady Gaga and her horrible song called "Judas", rock groups and rappers that scream strings of profanities and glorify drugs and pre-marital sex and same-sex relationships, I actually am half-okay with someone like Justin Bieber. At least he is still clean, for the most part. I just pray he doesn't go the way of Miley Cyrus and the rest of them.

My prayer and hope is that one day soon America will grow disenchanted with its own popular culture. The comments I read on YouTube videos and internet news stories show that this isn't going to happen to the general public anytime soon. I will place blame partially on education, because so many of the people that spend their time commenting online clearly don't know what they're talking about.

But now I charge my fellow Christians with something. Please, please, please stop trying to make yourself, your church, your music, and God "culturally relevant". That's not the point. Peter writes the following:


"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belong to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9).


Two verses later, he charges Christians with this:

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (1 Peter 2:11-12).


Always remember that we are set apart from the world because of Christ's sacrifice for us. This sacrifice and our subsequent salvation gives us cause to live good lives and do good deeds. Christ gave His all that we might stand before God in heaven and be washed clean. Why do we not remember this more and show it during our lives here on earth?

I may be disenchanted with popular culture in general, but I think the time has come to allow an even greater disenchantment: Christians need to step away from being culturally relevant and hold the Gospel high. We need to show Hollywood and the rest of the world that we are different. If all we do is try to fit in, then that's all we ever will be: conformists.

And we shouldn't be.
Let the world be disenchanted by bubblegum Christianity.
Let the harshness of the Law be brought to light that the power of the Gospel may shine all the more.
I, for one, will gladly proclaim my Savior's grace and mercy everywhere I go.

musings no.6 [wedding registries and feelings of selfishness]

One of my favorite things about the wedding planning so far has been creating wedding gift registries.
It's fun to browse the internet and add all sorts of awesome home things to a list that people will pick from.
Honestly, it feels a little selfish.
I mean, really, how much is too much?
How expensive is too expensive?
Is registering for personal items allowed?
Hard to say.
In the end, though, as long as the necessary items are on the lists, I suppose anything else is fair game.

I certainly find it amusing how the ratio of items for each room/section of our new house differs.
The room that has the most items is obviously the kitchen.
Now's the time for me to get all those random kitchen gadgets that will be tons of fun to use!
Yeah...I'm a sucker for kitchen stuff.

But really, the idea of a gift registry for new couples makes so much sense.
It would be rather insane to expect a newly married couple to buy everything they need to start a life together.
And with a registry, then they're more likely to receive items they actually like.
It's fun, and kind of addicting, even.
I only wish it didn't feel like I'm being selfish by "wanting" all these things.
My conscience needs to take a break while I'm planning my wedding.

"By the shores of Gitche Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water"

Does it make sense to have a deep longing for seeing a place again?

In the same way that one longs for the company of a close friend who they have not seen in many days?

I like to think it does make sense.

I have a deep longing for places I have never even set foot in, except possibly in my dreams.

I think I am meant to travel.

To new places.

But right now, I specifically want to return.

I want to feel the cool of Lake Superior on my skin.

I want to feast my eyes upon the glory that is the sunset God paints above the water.

I want to be there, among the splendor that God has created.

Obviously, the splendor that God has created is all around us, but there is something special about Gitche Gumee, the shining Big-Sea-Water.

I don't know what, exactly.

I also don't think it matters.

My heart just wants to be there.