The Da Vinci Code effect

This article about this movie is pretty interesting.

The book caused so much confusion among non-Christians and Christians alike, that now, producing a movie that follows the ideas from that fiction novel is appropriate.

I am so glad that my faith is not dependent upon American pop culture.

Poisonwood Bible

I recently finished The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It's incredibly well-written and very interesting, as it ties in true historical events from the Congo with a fictional American family who serve there as missionaries.

Kingsolver has created a tale that is told from the perspectives of the five women in this family - the mother and her four daughters. Each chapter is narrated by one of them, alternating so the reader hears certain events from multiple views. The daughters range in age from six to sixteen, so each one has her own unique style of speaking, mistaken phrases and issues to sort through. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates intriguing writing styles and story lines.

Two of my favorite quotes from the novel:

"To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness...I've found only sorrow." p. 385 (italics are added)

"We constructed our lives around a misunderstanding, and if I ever tried to pull it out and fix it now, I would fall flat. Misunderstanding is my cornerstone...Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization." p. 532

Colossal, not to be confused with giant

BBC News keeps me up to date on what's happening around the world, even if I only remember to check out the web site every few days.

Today's Antarctic news revolves around a Colossal Squid captured in Antarctic waters. This brief article is worth the read if only for the diagram of the size of this ginormous ocean creature.

The diagram shows the Colossal squid at 20 metres, and for those of us who can't do metre to feet conversions in our heads, I used Google's amazing conversion ability to figure out that 20 metres is over 65 1/2 feet long. Or 21.8 yards, just over two first downs in football.

I hope I get to see this guy in a museum some day. I can't even really picture how huge he is.

Look at this damage?

Even if I was blind I could still feel that this is really damaged!

Pictures of Sophia's demise.

Sitting outside of my office window, she smiled whimsically, contentedly at the novel she was reading. She alone was privy to the secrets of that tale, to the world at her fingertips.

Oh, how I longed to be her at that moment!

Series of unfortunate events

Sophia was blinded today in one eye.

She was an innocent bystander, and it wasn't even until after the primary event took place that the blindness took hold.

What happened was this. Some people got in a snowball fight. Actually it was more like 1 snowball per the other person's 25. Sophia was being used for protection from the onslaught and a snowball caught her directly in the left eye, or side-mirror, as it may be.

After a short jaunt to Muncie and halfway back, Sophie lost her eye. It just flew right off, banged against her side and was gone into the darkness of the night. Even streetlights couldn't illuminate where it went.

I was stunned. At first I didn't know what hit me (literally, the side of the car). Then, as I glanced at Sophie's left mirror, I saw nothing but a dry socket, nothing but a gadget with wires. No light. No reflection.

Once the shock wore off, I couldn't help but laugh. Of course this would happen to me and my lovely midnight blue beast. Poor Sophia. Innocent that she is.

But she will forgive me. It's too funny for her to hold a grudge. A SNOWBALL, people. One little snowball. Knocked out her eye.

Snowbound

I was truly snowbound for 2 days last week. I didn't leave my house. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't want to leave and I, at least, had company for a few hours both days. My car was definitely stuck in the driveway and I've been forced for a week to use the front door, which I had never used on a regular basis prior to the blizz (short for blizzard).

I promised Calli that I'd post some pictures of the drifts, but by the time I got around to it yesterday, the weather was a balmy 39 and lots (not all, and not most, but some) of the snow had already melted. Here are the pictures of my yard and neighborhood, nonetheless. (my camera has a snow setting, which is awesome, so hopefully the pictures are good.)

From my front door
The neighbors and I are separated by a 2 1/2 foot drift.

The side door that I can no longer use was held shut by a 3 foot drift, now (as you can see) much diminished.
Across my yard past the neighbor's. Mary Ellen is in her 70's, I would guess, and I know she didn't leave her house for at least 4 days. When I got back from Chicago yesterday, her driveway was dry as a bone, and I wondered why the same person didn't plow/shovel mine, since it was obviously in need.

Thankfully, the warm weather (43 today and 48 tomorrow) should melt all of the treacherous ice from my drive and sidewalk.

Too early

It's far too early in the day for me to process how dumb this saying is, but a girl just walked in with a tote bag that read:

HOOSIER MAMA

News must be slow in Asia-Pacific

Most ridiculous headline of the day care of BBC News:

Karaoke marathon as South Korean woman sings for 60 hours

Here's the entire (brief) article.

As much as I complain about this day...

it sure is nice to have someone rescue you in a blizzard by shoveling out your car and a path to your front door.

Pancakes for lunch are nice, too.

Guess I lucked out, then.

While walking through the stacks this afternoon...

I passed a video that looked like it was from the 1980's entitled 18 Ways to Make a Baby.
I did a double take.

It's a NOVA documentary film. And they have a complementary web site that further explains the new world of reproduction.

Depressing revelation

When I walked outside this morning, I thought to myself, It's warm out! I don't really even need to wear my coat.

It was TWENTY degrees outside, folks.

And I hear we're supposed to get dumped on with 12+ inches of snow within the next 2 1/2 days. Oh my gosh. Could winter be over yet?

Five Things....

I was tagged by a friend and thus challenged to divulge my darkest secrets…or at least 5 things that you don’t know about me.

This is quite difficult, as I have varying levels of friends and acquaintances reading this, meaning what Elaine, Liz, Cat, and Mike already know, other’s may not. I wonder if I really want too many other people to know these sorts of things. We’ll see how it turns out.

1) I’m still afraid of the dark. This fear stems from the fact that my eyes are pretty much worthless and I can’t see very well at night with my contacts or glasses, let alone without them. For me, sleeping is the most vulnerable time because not only would I be groggy if awakened and forced to defend myself, but I also wouldn’t be able to see anything, can’t really make out shapes or colors, and therefore, what use would I be in defense of myself? In conjunction with this theme of not seeing well, I don’t see well when driving beginning right before dusk and lasting through all hours of darkness. Alas, I still drive.

2) I’m a bad liar. I used to be able to pull one over on anybody. I lied up and down, forwards and backwards, sideways and any other way you could think. I was good at lying, well-practiced and convincing. I’ve snuck around and done some pretty ridiculous things, all the while lying through my teeth. I was convinced no one knew what was going on, but perhaps the only person I was successful at tricking was myself. My own delusions. Recently, I’ve been told by two good friends that I suck at lying. And here’s what I’ve deduced. My skill is diminishing because I trust people now. Before I decided it was worth it to invest in people (meaning prior to age 22), I lied to protect myself. From being hurt, from the possibilities that others might take advantage of my sensitivities, from being ridiculed because I was different. I lied because I needed control. The difference now is that people don’t scare me as much. Most people are good and won’t purposefully try to screw you over. Those that will try to do that, usually you can smell them from a distance, enough to stay away, to choose other confidantes. The other reason that I am not good at lying is because my face gives everything away. When I was, for all intents and purposes, dead on the inside, so was my face. This is not the case anymore, and the transparency of my emotions via my face is the result.

3) I want to be a mom. A good one, which is why for years I didn’t want kids. I couldn’t imagine that I’d be a good one, so I swore off the possibility. After watching my sister become a mother and building a friendship with my mom, I’ve realized how incredible this job is and how fulfilling it could be. Not that it also isn’t a lot of frustration and feelings of hopelessness. But if we’re going to be experiencing those feelings anyway (inevitably, I will no matter what I’m doing), there might as well be a reward for it – watching a baby turn into a person and, hopefully, into a friend. My family is the most important group of people in my life. I want to have that sort of support, that kind of joy, when I’m my parents’ age.

4) I’m a die-hard romantic. Despite my efforts to be extremely practical, there are images of happily-ever-afters in my mind, in my heart. Loves songs and love poems never cease to touch me, as do cheesy romantic comedies.

5) I am content. For the first time in my life, I have found true happiness. Since I was small, I’ve wanted to be 25, have a job, a place of my own, a life. Now that I have it, and I’m almost 25, I realize that all of the depression, the hate, the endless schooling, the unreasonable living situations—they were all to bring me to this place. They are stories, pieces of my journey here. I have the presence of mind to know that this sentiment, this feeling will not last forever. But for now, for this season however short it may be, I love my life. I would not trade it for another. I’m grateful for each of you who have brought me this far.

Thus ends my post with five things you may or may not have known about me. Hope you have a great weekend!

Tonight didn't help. Cancel #456 of this week. Makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

At least Mike was willing to talk to me for hours. What are friends for, anyways.

Friday has never been more welcome

I love my job. I do.

But this week has been strange. Round about Wednesday I got thrown off my even keel, and I'm not sure why or how or why it persists into today. I struggle to regain control of my mind.

I can't wait for this weekend to be half over, and for my Sunday/Monday relaxation to take hold.

Pray for me, yeah? please?

Don't Come Easy

I can't claim that I discovered this song. Liz introduced me. But this song...it's perfect. This is the antithesis to my previous post about Valentine's Day and whatever it's promoting.

Patty Griffin is one of my favorite artists of all time. Top 5. Her words are almost always beautiful and perfect. I appreciate her ability to paint detailed pictures with her words. So few can succeed like she does. She's a master artist.

You can find a video of the on YouTube, however I'm not posting it because it is a soap opera edit version and I don't feel like promoting CBS soaps.


Don't Come Easy

Red lights are flashing on the highway
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home tonight
Everywhere the waters getting rough
Your best intentions may not be enough
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home tonight

But if you break down
I'll drive out and find you
If you forget my love
I'll try to remind you
And stay by you when it don't come easy

I don't know nothing except change will come
Year after year what we do is undone
Time keeps moving from a crawl to a run
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home

You're out there walking down a highway
And all of the signs got blown away
Sometimes you wonder if you're walking in the wrong direction

But if you break down
I'll drive out and find you
If you forget my love
I'll try to remind you
And stay by you when it don't come easy

When it don’t come easy. Ohh.

So many things that I had before
That don't matter to me now
Tonight I cry for the love that I've lost
And the love I've never found
When the last bird falls
And the last siren sounds
Someone will say what's been said before
Some love we were looking for

When you break down
I'll drive out and find you
When you forget my love
I'll try to remind you
And stay by you when it don't come easy

Pure happiness. Absolute contentment.

She's full of s'mores. Hugging a baby blanket from her aunt's childhood. She's lost in the maze of the campfire. She's sleepy and satisfied.

Oh, how I love this little girl.

EASY TO FORGET

To keep my life in order, I make lists. My sister, Leslie, recently blogged about the necessity of lists in her life, so I'm tempted to pass off the affinity/need for lists as hereditary. As kids, we always had lists of chores, lists of thank you's to write, lists, lists, lists. All of us got into the habit and now, even Evan does it on a regular basis (I think). Conditioning might be a better word than hereditary.

I exist at home, at work, in my mind by lists. What do I need to accomplish today? This week? This term? This year? Who do I need to see today? Tomorrow? This year? Soon? All of these questions are answered by lists found on post-its, corners of napkins, legal pads of paper, smaller pads of paper, documents on my computer and emails in my inbox.

Having recently begun my first job and being newly moved in to an office that can only be described as haphazard, I've been a bit forgetful of things not on lists. Things that shouldn't be on lists during normal times of life, but that perhaps should be at this transitional time in my life.

Last week, I wore my aunt's opal ring from her days in high school. I love this ring and the matching earrings and necklace that my aunt and grandparents got for me. I never leave the ring on when I wash my hands, being that opals are so very delicate and sensitive to soaps, etc. A few minutes before I left work that day, I washed my hands, taking off my ring and setting it beside the sink. I dried off, arranged my clothes and left, without a single, fleeting thought toward that ring.

As I de-jeweled myself at home, I realized the ring was not there...it was nowhere. It was not in my pockets. It was not in my gloves (why would it be there? I don't know, but I looked nonetheless.). I started panicking. I called my colleague who was still at the library, asking her to check the bathroom. No ring. But a note, saying the director's secretary had found a ring.

I still had to wait until the next morning before I was reassured the ring she found was mine and regained possession of it. I was immensely relieved and yet I feel on edge every time I wear a ring now. Every time I wash my hands and remove my rings. Will I forget it this time? What if I don't have pockets in which to place the ring while washing my hands?

I've been thinking that I wish I had some sort of device or something like a mental post-it note that is always before me. Upon which I can write the things that I must keep in mind all of the time - like, where is your ring? Is it on your finger? Did you leave it by the sink? Or in another vein, do you have food in your teeth? Or Are you really listening to the person you're conversing with?

My brain is too scattered for me to stay on top of everything. I'm an organized person, but moving, starting a new job, and beginning an entirely different life from anything I've ever experienced has stifled my usual organizational mania, my ability to stay on track. Just enough to keep me on my toes, I suppose.

WHY I HATE FEBRUARY

I believe it has something (or everything) to do with being overcrowded by hideous montages of pink, red, and white trinkets of no value, of candy repackaged in said colors, redesigned for the "special" occasion, and disturbingly decorated lingerie--the stuff with fake feathers, bows, and hearts all interwoven and printed everywhere.

I do, kind of hate Valentine's day on principal. Why did we need to create a holiday that allows people to get by with neglecting sharing their feelings the rest of the year? One that encourages people to give meaningless gifts, cliched flowers, and chocolate by the pound.

How is this a holiday and what are we celebrating? It's the same as every other Americanized holiday: all the same things are being sold, but this time they are slathered with red, white, and pink--all at once.

I wonder if we're supposed to be celebrating love. Is that what all of this means? If by love, you mean giving gifts to offset this mindset, "I know I've been an ass for the 364 days of this past year, so here's something pretty that might inspire you to live with me for yet another long, ordinary year."

The food industry also makes a killing off of holidays, especially this one, where the guys are supposed to be responsible for being all romantic and creating "The Mood." Restaurants get to charge astronomical prices for the same dishes, dressed up in colorful sauces, paired with expensive wines and desserts. It's a pretty good set up. They get credit for the idea of going out. Girls don't have to cook or clean up. Neither do the guys.

Is it possible that this day is more of an Ameriholidays than any other?

It guilts people into giving, into believing pretenses, into thinking that love is some how equated with, even measured by, gifts, romantic notions, and sweets.

Perhaps those who have found their soul mate have a different perspective. Perhaps they like this day because it provides a forum for mutual appreciation, for expressing things that often get buried in the day-to-day jumble of work, family, and leisure. Maybe one day my mind will change. Until then, this is the humble cultural observation of a single 2o-something.

WINTER STORM WARNING

When I got up this morning, my browser indicated our area was having "Severe Weather Conditions," which I could plainly hear outside my bedroom window.

I checked out accuweather.com to see what they had to say about it, and here is what I found:

"Dangerous weather conditions will occur today through Monday. VERY STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH THE FRIGID TEMPERATURES TO PRODUCE LIFE THREATENING WIND CHILL VALUES AND SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. PEOPLE NEED TO STAY INDOORS AND RESTRICT UNNECESSARY TRAVEL. EXPOSED FLESH WILL EXPERIENCE FROSTBITE IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. BLOWING SNOW WILL CAUSE WHITE OUT CONDITIONS AND SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL ON NORTH SOUTH ROADS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.

I was instantly nervous, as I had already ventured out to the grocery for some Kahlua cake staples. Had I contracted frostbite? Had I put my life and others' in danger?

Directly following this very stern warning, was another posting...

WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT.

A blizzard...?

This February is turning out to be awesome!