Thursday, September 12, 2013

Book Review: The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man & the Sea. By Ernest Hemingway


Time for a book review!

I haven't actually read that many books lately. Not novels anyways.

As you know, I am on vacation! and I found this book in our beach house by my night stand. I peeked at it and thought, you know, I feel like reading a classic. I'm on the beach and here is this book about the sea. I should read it. And so I did.



It was a quick read, which I liked. It has no chapters, you just read the book. But it felt good to read it. The language isn't difficult by any means. It's simple. But for some reason the story has stuck with me. Simple yet powerful. I'm sure many people would say the same.

"The Old Man and the Sea won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it likely cinched the Nobel Prize for Hemingway in 1954, as it was cited for particular recognition by the Nobel Academy. It was the last novel published in his lifetime." (from Spark Notes)

You know how I like to post pictures, so I Googled The Old Man and the Sea and found a ton of beautiful pictures. The hard part was choosing the ones I liked best.





I looked up the Spark Notes for this because, especially with classics, I like to know the significance of certain things.

Here is an example of why I enjoyed the book so much: "Hemingway’s strength and mastery lies in his ability to render concrete but still poetic images using familiar words and simple vocabulary." There is a scene where the Old Man has to kill a fish and he hits it on the head, "but for kindness"... "Hemmingway described this technique as the “iceberg principle,” for he believed that the simplest writing, when done well, would hint at the greatest human truths, just as the tip of an iceberg hinted at the terrific frozen mass that rested underwater." And that's definitely true. I got a clear sense of the characters even when they weren't explained in detail. 







The copy that I found was similar to this in style. Although it had no picture. Old looking. Very cool to hold in my hand and read by the sea.


And that is all. I would recommend it.


I found this little Youtube short video. Check it out:  The Old Man and the Sea





Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Beach Time! Time for vacation!



I see other people's blogs and I keep thinking 'I could do that!' but I just keep on not doing it. I've found that it's hard for me to do things. haha

I took a month of work to come down to Cape San Blas Florida for a month to spend with my mom and other friends and family down south. It's been really wonderful to take the time off work and relax and just spend relaxing time with family.

 


I've been going a little crazy with the pictures but that's what you're supposed to do on vacation right?
I haven't had a REAL vacation since high school... well, I guess I did get some vacations in college too.. but it was harder with having a job and all that stuff. So I've been saving my hours and I took a whole month! It's been so incredibly wonderful. I'll post more soon. I've seen some really fun animal life here that I'd love to share. The internet here isn't always working so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures. These were the ones I've managed to pull off facebook.




I've been doing more than relaxing however. I've been working out! Yes sir Yes ma'am! I've been doing Shaun T's Focus T25 workout. I'd been debating whether or not to get it just because of the price but I decided to just go for it. And I'm glad I did. I love it! For only 25 minutes you get a great workout. I can't find any excuse not to work out for 25 minutes a day and I feel like I still get my butt kicked so I don't feel like I wasted my time. I did Insanity and TapOut and I've done a few of Shaun's Assylum workouts that my friend has. Insanity is my favorite besides T25. It's just SO long!

My problem has been that I work out and eat really well for awhile but then I start slacking and for some reason I just give up and go back to eating poorly again. Every time I feel like this time I'm gonna do better but it never sticks. I hope that this time it does. I hope that with T25 I can stick it out and keep going til I get back this annoying phase I'm in and over the hump.



There are a lot of things I want to share on here. I'm still learning a lot about healthy eating and living and what our bodies need and crave in order to thrive. It's something I'm working on organizing. I have a lot of things floating around in my head but I seem to have a problem putting them down on paper or onto a computer screen.

Here's a lovely kale smoothie pic on the balcony at the beach :)

EAT MORE KALE!

cheers!



Monday, July 29, 2013

We Are Funding Society's Violence

I have returned from MTYC - Montana Youth Conference. I wasn't able to attend the whole event this year due to work, but I still enjoyed the time I spent there immensely.

At this very moment I am finding myself incredibly frustrated. I really do love my job but many a time I find that dealing with others is difficult. Yes, the kids are difficult, but that isn't what I'm referring to. I'm referring to the people I work with. Without getting all whiny and specific I will just say that everyone knows best and knows everything. It's hard to stay centered on what is important when my mind is full of annoyance.

I hoped that if I could get on here and talk about some really GOOD things that maybe my dark cloud would lift for a time.

You may know that I have a lot to say about Hollywood and the "Illuminati". I've not always felt the same way about it. Previously I had the idea that it was up to the parents to watch what their kids are exposed to. I still hold true to that idea. And I still think that parents are ultimately responsible. However, I am coming to the conclusion that ...

if society wants to complain about how violent the world is becoming they need to stop glorifying the violence.
 
It's a constant topic of discussion. The world is becoming increasingly violent and selfish. We all realize this. Atheist and Christian alike. Both parties admit that there is a lot of violence and negativity in the world today. There's a lot of disease and pain. We all complain about it, but then march our happy little butts to the theater to watch Saw 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7!
 
We complain about sexual immorality. Men and women are increasingly promiscuous and blame each other for it.
 
I just watched a movie the other day (Dark Skies PG-13). A scary flick about this family who is terrorized by an unseen force... All of the obvious negativity just mentioned aside... one of the things that really struck me was this; there is a scene where a young boy is watching a movie. The boy is about 13. He watches this scene where a boy about his age grabs another girl's boob. Of course when you see this it zooms right in on it as if it were you watching the movie yourself. What disgusted me the most was this whole aspect of the movie had absolutely NOTHING to do with the plot. It was just thrown in there for good measure; just to have sexuality in the movie. And it's not geared towards adults, it's geared towards adolescents. Barely teenage kids.
 
I don't understand why parents allow their children to watch these things. Oh wait... Yes I do. It's because they themselves have become desensitized to the sexuality and violence.
 
We need to stop complaining about the violence in the world and then funding it!
 
There are people who say that watching sex and violence on tv doesn't affect them. I beg to differ.
 
"Here is a key principle of the Christian faith – beholding with open face the glory of the Lord, we become changed into the same image. As we behold Christ, (John 1:29) as we feed upon Him, (John 6:51) meditate upon Him and consider Him, (Heb 12:3) we receive of His Spirit (John 15:26) and we become like Him in character"
 
Even Non-Christians have the same things to say about what we put into our minds...
 
Buddha says - "We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves."
 
"Change your thoughts and you change your world." - Norman Vincent Peale
 
"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes". Mahatma Gandhi
 
It seems clear to me that when our minds take in this sexual content and violence we become changed. WE CHANGE. Psychologists talk about it and if I had more time and energy I would look it up.
 
"It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence".
 
 
That is all I have to say about that for right now. I kindof went off on a tangent about media and that was not my aim, but it's what happened. I started talking about focusing on GOOD things and ended up talking about sex and violence. I guess you know what's been on MY mind lately! haha.
 
I am going to take some moments to think about my Kinsman Redeamer and what He has done for me :)
 
 
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On a sidenote that's not really a sidenote I'd like to share an article that Stephen Bohr wrote about going to see movies in the theater. Here it is..
 
 

Thursday, June 20, 2013

God's Theater of Grace

Ok I know I said I was gonna write about Health & Behavior but I went to SDA Camp meeting in Bozeman last week and I acquired some excellent reading materials and I'm just so excited about some of them that I had to share it first.

I'm only on chapter 2 of Abandon Ship? by Ty Gibson, but I am seriously enjoying it. Have you ever had a thought enter your mind and it's so complicated that the more you think about it the more confused and enlightened you get at the same time? That's how I feel about the Bible. Sometimes reading it is so confusing. I think it's so fantastic that there are people out there that can explain the themes of the Bible without taking anything away from it; without making things up themselves. Because that's important. It's important not to decide for ourselves what the Bible is saying. THE BIBLE INTERPRETS ITSELF! That's one of those thoughts that makes my head spin.

But that's not what I desire to write about today.

As I said, I'm only on chapter two so I can't yet speak for the whole book, but let me give you a little overview about what this book is about.

Have you ever wondered about organized religion? Have you ever been frustrated with it? Been frustrated with the way people treat each other in the church and wonder WHAT'S THE POINT? This book speaks to those frustrations. Specifically in the Seventh Day Adventist church; because Ty Gibson is a Seventh Day Adventist. I suppose that makes sense :)

I've often thought to myself...

If God can see the future and he knew sin would be found in Lucifer and he would become Satan and Satan would deceive the world and as humans we would suffer tremendously, why ever would God even go ahead with creating us?!?!

That's one of those mind-bending things I think about. The answer, to put it simply, is Love. And I know that doesn't make sense because why would God allow us to suffer if He loves us so much? I know. It doesn't make sense. However, if you desire to find the answer to this you can. And it DOES make sense.

In a nutshell, we, humans, on planet dirt, are basically on display for the universe. God would have no credibility if he chose to just not create us in the first place. That would prove nothing except that He has ultimate power and that He is a dictator. Which is not how God is! Yes He has ultimate power, but he does not force anyone to worship Him. Oh it's so complicated! I cannot explain it fully. I can only wonder at how amazing and interwoven it all is.

Basically, God is waiting for "the Grace of Christ to mold our entire being". "it's triumph will not be complete until the heavenly universe shall witness HABITUAL TENDERNESS of feeling, CHRISTLIKE LOVE, and holy deed in the character of the children of God." (from Abandon Ship?).

God is the head of the church, the church is the body. As the church we are supposed to be the head's hands and feet and be the ACTION of the mind of God. Wow! We are on display, in a theater if you will, to act out what Christ does in the the lives of the people God created. To PROVE that Satan is wrong! That God is NOT a forceful dictator. What an honor. No wonder we suffer. Satan is trying his hardest to make things difficult for the church & it's people.

I feel as if I have come to a sufficient ending point in this entry. I know that I didn't explain things very well but  it's one of those things that is difficult to explain. Elizabeth Talbot wrote a book called "Surprised by Love" and it does a great job of explaining some of these things. If you click the link it takes you to the free audio book.

May your mind continue to spin with the amazing things that you can learn from the Bible!




Saturday, May 25, 2013

...aaand I'm a slacker!

I am such a slacker. If you know me at all you probably know that when things are sticky I tend to disappear, or at least I stop putting my feelings out there publicly... except for the usual sarcastic snarky facebook post from someecards.com. Somehow they always know how I'm feeling :)

This time I'm not even gonna bother promising to write more. I'm just gonna write when I feel like it.

So... updates... I can't remember if I'd moved since I posted last. I think I had because I was listening to The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite on drives to and from work and I remember driving on the road I live on now as I listened. I'm still in Hamilton, living in quite an awesome location in my opinion, although I'm a little nervous about fire season this year. :/ ... work is the same; ups and downs... of which I cannot post because I wouldn't want the wrong person to read it and think I were talking about them :) I have enough drama in my life. But work is going well overall. ... I've made some new friends, lost some as well. Still single.. calm yourself!

My walk with the Lord has taken some wrong turns of late. It really quite frustrating. To go from walking so closely to really struggling. I realize that it's all me. I'm the one who has turned away. The prince of earth (aka Satan) has done quite an excellent job of making this world a very distracting place to live. I could blame him entirely but I am the one with the brain and the ability to make my own choices. Fortunately God is longsuffering and eternally patient. No doubt He is frustrated with me however.

So here I am, pondering life and love and work and friendships. I have nothing more exciting to write about. I'm not even reading any...... no wait.... I did read some pretty good books actually. I'd forgotten about that. I read one about Health & Behavior... I'd been planning to write about it. I don't have my notes with me, but it will be my next project on here.

Being called weird is like being called limited edition, meaning you’re something people don’t see that often. Remember that.
-unknown-
 
stay tuned!
and here's a funny for you grammar nazis...