I am the biggest wuss when it comes to spicy food.  I'm having Staggs Chili, and my mouth is on FIRE.  There was one time Ben came back from a dinner thing, and he brought me some hot wings.  They were SO spicy my gums were burning, and I had to get a wet washcloth and wipe my gums off. 

It's really pathetic.  :)  Mild is the worst I can do with salsa.  I remember another time someone (who claimed he was a great chef...unlikely) made a salsa from scratch for a party, and used a whole jalepeno for a bowl, and I had one bite...and I couldn't taste anything for about 2 hours.  My tongue was just absolutely numb.

Anywho, I'm just working on a nibea.com page.  I'm hoping to release a work site for myself, and when I'm done I highly expect a mad rush to see it.  :)

 

Dr. Falken is David's father!!  They waited 25 years to tell us!

Okay, not really, but it was a good showing.  The theatre was pretty empty, which isn't surprising since we're not in Silicon Valley anymore.  But there were a few geeks who joined us.  Ben was worried when we got up to get popcorn that we'd lose our seats...and I assured him they were safe (they were). 

The funny thing is it was a streaming video.  Halfway through the movie it stopped, and the Windows bar showed up on the bottom of the screen, and the audience (all 10 of us) erupted in laughter.  I asked if anyone wanted to go help them out  :)  So the video quality wasn't the best, and it was a little dark, but we made it to the end, and everyone lived happily ever after. 

The interviews in the beginning were interesting though.  Matthew Broderick said he was good at nerdy roles because he appeared intelligent and geeky, but he said, "emphasis on appeared."  Apparently they had to teach him to type for the role, and become a wiz at playing video games (which he said he believed at the time to be the most crucial part for his role).  The funny thing (for me) is that he was 20 at the time.  Which means he was about 25 when he did Ferris Bueller.

That last post was so boring I don't even want to re-read it.  For any of you who made it through:

I was watching Dora the Explorer with the kids this morning, and they were going through the land of fairytales, where "everyone is welcome!"  And I thought: well of course everyone is welcome...they're all being captured in candy houses or put to sleep in towers.  And then I thought: why are good marriages called fairytale marriages, if fairytales are always wrought with strife?  The endings of fairytales are usually happy...but not all.  "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (arguably not a fairytale) ended with Esmerelda and Q. dead in a pit in the streets (that didn't make the Disney cut, and I have never seen the Disney version because I'm still upset), "The Little Mermaid" ended with the prince marrying a woman from a neighboring town, and Ariel's soul was sent to travel on the wind for eternity.  Real fairytales are really scary...so people's perceptions that Disney has created/fabricated is unfortunate.

Now...this is coming from a literature snob, okay?  I realize that it doesn't really make that big a difference in the big picture.  I mean, "The Sword in the Stone" is an adaption of "The Last and Future King," which is an AMAZING book, and I was very pleased to realize that Disney has a few great moments.  I did just make a wishlist on Amazon to replace many Disney VHS tapes that have been eaten or recorded over (Alice in Wonderland is now 4 hours of news).  

This was really just a fleeting thought as I was putting grippy tape on the backs of kitchen rugs.

BTW, Linens and Things is going out of business.  I have gotten many many good things (kitchen rugs, sheets, culinary torch ftw), plus Christmas gifts, very very cheap.  Just throwin that out there for the ladies...or for the guys, if you want to score some gold stars wit' yo woman.  ("honey, what do you think about going linen shopping after dinner?  Maybe we could get a raspberry frappucino afterwards?"  I mean, that's gold). 

Hokay, back to house stuff.  I really need to get the covers back on the couch.  For serious.

I'm just going to comment on some things in the news...and you might be offended.  Just a caveat.

Sherri Shepherd is an Emmy award winning comedian and a co-host on ABC morning talk show The View. The television celebrity recently sat down for an interview with the black Christian women’s magazine Precious Times.

Shepherd shared the fact that before she converted to Christianity, she led a promiscuous lifestyle.

“I was in a very abusive relations. I was sleeping with a lot of guys and had more abortions that I would like to count. I have very low self esteem and just wanted to die.”

The comedian is apparently very worried about the state of Barbara Walters soul. She may have made a major blunder in sharing the following sentiment about her sometimes prickly boss:

“Oh, sometimes I say, ‘Lord, Juanita Bynum or Joyce Myers would be so good at this table. They could lay hands on Barbara Walters and get her saved. I ask the Lord ‘Why am I here?’ I have to trust God when he says ‘Because I said so.’”

Some comments about this article:

"Nestea: Irritating fact about "born agains" is their propensity to try to save everyone in sight and "witness" and all that. Farking annoying, I don't ask people for a few minutes so I can talk to them about Satan or anything like that.

Eh, I suppose. My problem with that is that too many of us keep a sort of running "salvation ticker", then compare stories about the people we've helped convert. I don't find that to be the right way of looking at it. Sitting down with a non-Christian isn't supposed to be a battle of wits, or leading someone by the nose to the conclusion that God exists. I find it to be more about showing the empathy, love, and understanding that we always seem to yak about, but aren't shown demonstrating very often."

I have never watched "The View" primarily because I don't watch much TV, nor the news.  The news these days has come to be a group of individuals bickering as loudly as possible with few sticking points, until they are finished, or there is a commercial break.  I don't care if Bill O'Reilly has the cure for cancer: he is a horrible person and treats people with such disrespect, I cannot believe he is promoting any justice.  I think it is disgraceful how immature the newscasters are allowed to act for ratings.  And furthermore, it pains my soul to watch 4 women represent womanhood on "The View" in such blaringly catty behavior.  I don't understand why they are able to get away with it...but that's just my perspective.  I'm hopeful that there are people in their audience who walk away with something substantial.

Henceforth, I had no idea who Sherri Shepherd was and I had to look her up.  I propose the question: is it within her Christian responsibility to convert Ms. Walters?

It is a difficult situation for Christians, because it does say in the scriptures that we are to share the good news.  Evangelicalism is a touchy subject, because sometimes it is very welcomed.  If a person has questions about faith, while mourning, they have stepped away from God and would like to go back to church...these are situations that are easy to talk about God and Jesus.  On the other hand, where is the line of "forcing my beliefs down your throat"? 

It is a difficult boundary to find, because if you are going through a personal breakthrough, and you have found a happiness and a joy in your life that lifted burdens of shame, guilt, remorse, unforgiveness, etc...most of the time, people are so ecstatic that they want to tell the world.  But sometimes (most times) the world just isn't at the same place of euphoria, and it comes off much differently than you intended.  Sometimes there are people who believe that if you are unsaved, you are going to Hell tomorrow and it is their very aggressive job to keep this event from taking place.  This situation is very touchy, because it could really go two ways: the person being sought may be a fragile person, and follow in fear.  They will attend church, they will follow the flock, but they don't fully understand what they claim to believe in, because their faith is based in fear.  If they leave church, they believe they will be shunned from their new community as being a moral outcast, and furthermore they are going to burn in Hell.  This is not a healthy situation, and it is not honoring God.  The other way this could go is the aggressive Christian will permanently turn the person they are seeking off from faith.  "If this is what Chirstianity is, forget it."  Another unhealthy, and unfortunate, situation, and definitely not honoring God.

I have an opinion on the matter (amazingly):  Not everyone will be saved.  Even during the 1000 years in Revelations when mankind lives in New Jerusalem, not everyone is saved (there will be people born in that time, and some will not believe).  And I firmly believe that to force Christians into the belief that everyone must be saved is irresponsible and unjust, because although it is within the boundaries of our responsibility as Christians to share God’s word, it is actually not our responsibility to bring them to God or save them.

It’s not our job.  

That is the job of the Holy Spirit.  We are to share, teach, instruct and continue learning and maturing...but we, ourselves, have never converted one person.

John MacArthur points this out wonderfully:
“When I was a young man preaching around the country, I received constant requests for messages on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Christians talked about walking in the Spirit and what it was to be filled with the Spirit. The manifestation and use of spiritual gifts was a topic of great interest.

However that has changed. The Holy Spirit now seems to be the forgotten member of the Trinity. Therefore the priority of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church must again be asserted. Galatians 3 does just that.

A. The Passage

In verses 1-3 the apostle Paul says, "You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?"

B. The Problem

All Christians acknowledge that life in Christ begins by the work of the Spirit. It cannot be perfected or brought to maturity through the flesh. Yet many in the church today seem to believe that it can. In Galatians 3:1-3, Paul wants his readers to understand that sanctification comes by trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit by faith. He called the Galatians foolish for trusting in God for salvation, yet compromising the gospel of grace by relying on human effort for personal holiness and spiritual maturity.

Paul asks in verse 1 whether the Galatians have been "bewitched" (Gk., baskaino [baskaino], "to fascinate" or "charm someone in a misleading way"). They had been mislead by people who told them that sanctification was something they needed to accomplish on their own. The Galatians had by faith received and been empowered by the Holy Spirit, but were now willing victims of a flesh-pleasing brand of sanctification.

C. The Point

If a person receives eternal salvation and the fullness of the indwelling Holy Spirit through wholeheartedly trusting in the crucified Christ, why in the world would he trade in supernatural power for human effort? That's what Paul wanted to know in Galatians 3. You cannot achieve a spiritual goal by natural means. The Holy Spirit produces spiritual life initially and He also sustains it. The Holy Spirit is to the Christian what the Creator is to the creation.

Without God the world would never have come into existence. And without His sustaining it, the world would go out of existence. Similarly, without the Holy Spirit none of us would ever become saved. And without His constant sanctifying, sustaining, and preserving work, the spiritual life of the Christian would drop back into the spiritual deadness whence it came. Paul said, "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). Indeed, "we live by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25).

In the evangelical church today so many are attempting to perfect in the flesh what was begun by the Spirit. Systematically and subtly, the Holy Spirit is being eliminated from the matter of sanctification. That poses a monumental threat to the church. Unless we are perfected by the Holy Spirit, all our efforts are in vain.”

So my question was: is it Ms. Shepherd's responsibility to convert Ms. Walters?  The answer is no.  She can share her faith with her peers, and she can promote the glory of God as much as she wants; but she will never convert Ms. Walters.  Hence, I disagree with her comment, " They could lay hands on Barbara Walters and get her saved."  She misunderstands that the power of faith does not reside in us, but in God. 

I have accomplished quite a bit today, and I'm taking a break.  My profile makes me out to be a very boring person.  I'm level headed, optimistic while still seeing the bad side of things, and I'm not nearly as silly as I used to be.  Gaah.  I'm going to go dress up like Peter Pan and rent a pizza.

Quiz: Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist?

Sunday July 20, 2008

From The Generous Husband series Things That Destroy Marriages ~

From Paul (husband) to the husbands:
     Not caring, not caring enough to do anything, not caring more than you care for your own wants, needs, goals and dreams - all these are a lack of compassion.  I see a disturbing lack of compassion in marriages, and it seems to be getting worse over time.  A total lack of compassion will kill a marriage very quickly, but even a minor lack of compassion will cause significant damage over time.  In fact, having compassion but not enough, or only having it some of the time, is destructive.
     Some folks are just lacking in compassion, but much of the time a lack of compassion is a side effect of some other issue.  When we are stressed, tired, worried, hurried or otherwise not at our best it is far more difficult to care, to show compassion.  If you don't show your bride the compassion you should, figure out the the reason, and then deal with that reason. 

My thoughts: 
     I think the last part about being stressed, tired, worried, etc. is a large part of the problem for most of us gals.  It's hard to care about others when you are tired and overworked.  Who cares whether the drawing is a dinosaur or a cow when there are three loads of laundry left to do, you desperately need a shower and the dog just threw up on the carpet.
     IMO, the solution starts with healthy self care, then moves through to some very hard thinking about priorities and ends in some very hard choices about time use.  We can not do it all.  We must simplify our lives so that we have the time and energy to care about those around us and do the things in life that are really the most important to us.
     The other night, my husband and I took a break to play a game with our son.  He's 17 and we'd all like to have some good memories of these years.  We took a break to have some fun during our busiest time of year (we're coming up on conference season for our day job), not to mention the ongoing construction of our living quarters.  It seemed like an expensive time move for us (we're all feeling the push, push of responsibility), but we all needed the break and we needed the family time.  We could have said we were too busy, but instead we said this is more important. 
     If you want to be compassionate and caring toward your husband (and others), you have to shape your life so that you have the personal/emotional energy and the time to do so.  It's likely to mean some very tough choices. 

     Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.  What we need is to love without getting tired.  Mother Teresa

Your pregnancy: 10 weeks

How your baby's growing:

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

It's been 9 years since this!  I was a mere 20 years old when Ben swooped upon me and convinced me to marry him.  I remember when he asked me, because he had the entire day planned out, and I just had no idea.  He took me to San Francisco, he took us to our favorite restaurant (Zare, on Haight).  I remember at one moment thinking he was really spoiling me, because he got me an $8 magazine (I still think that's a little much).  But when we got home, he turned left instead of right on the off ramp to our place, and I was just confused; but he said he wanted to go for a walk (he doesn't like going for walks...I drag him on walks).  And then he took me to the first place we ever kissed...and I, being completely oblivious to what was going on still, had to find a bathroom first.  I'm terribly romantic.  So out I come, and Ben is standing on the corner under the stars, and he begins to tell me how much he loves me, how much I mean to him, how wonderful life is when we're together...and suddenly my life flashes before my eyes.  Seriously, after this everything is in slow motion and he gets on one knee and asks me to marry him.  I was nearly in tears and could only say, "yes." 

And then we both sat down on the curb and held each other, because that was WAY more emotionally exciting than we anticipated.  And then we went home and I woke everyone up at 11pm and told them the great news.  My dad was the funniest, because HE ALREADY KNEW.  Ben and my brother, Neil, had already gone over how to break it to my dad that Ben wanted to marry me.  Ben was trying to figure out small talk and Neil was coaching him.  So he gets on the phone, and after a few pleasantries he says, "well, to cut to the chase..."  and Neil rolls his eyes and groans (I was told all this after the fact, of course).  But he said yes, so when I called him...he just seemed way too happy.  I didn't even get to tell him, I figured it out and I said, "Wait a minute, you already know!!"  My dad broke down and laughed and said, "Yes!!  He called me yesterday, and I had to tell SOMEONE, so I called Sheri in the LA office, because I figured she was far enough away that she wouldn't tell anyone up here!"  :)  It was a great day, and I am so thankful for the memories.

  On one hand it seems like we just got married, but on the other hand it feels like we've been married forever.  Either way, they have been the best 9 years of my life, and I am so grateful to have spent them with such a wonderful man as Ben.  He is an enormously devoted husband, a loving and faithful father, and he even let me pick out the linoleum for our bathroom.  That's love, my friends.  We have 2 children and one on the way, the dog, 2 cars, a home we can call our own, and a marriage that will last forever. 

I toast Ben Rockwood: the best husband in the world!

Chapter 1

I have been trying to write a book for years now; and I have many outlines ready, but I have a ton of ideas, and it is difficult to write one book when halfway through the first chapter, I am violently interrupted with another great idea.  Actually, right now I am learning how to knit while listening to Donald Miller’s audio book, “Blue Like Jazz,” and all I can think of is the narrative for another book of my own.  It’s annoying and frustrating, and I’m sure this is a gift from God in some way...but it sure is difficult to get anything accomplished.  My scarf is never going to get finished, but the little bit of fluffy purple yarn is very pretty; you’re going to have to trust me.

    Here is my situation:  I am a suburban housewife with a degree in Literature, two kids (maybe more in the future), buff cocker spaniel named Captain (his Christian name is Captain America), a husband, Ben, I met in German class in high school, we have a rented house, two cars and IKEA furniture.  It is so idyllic it is difficult to be counter-culture, which is what my soul yearns to do.  I am 29 and I like Big Band and Jazz, not because it is edgy, but because the songs they sing are out of touch with now.  The love they talk about is not the “Good Charlotte” love born on skateboards and grown in parents’ basements on tweed couches.  I am not really interested in music, which is something I don’t tell many people because it is such an odd characteristic.  It is almost as odd as the fact that I usually can’t smell anything (which the following question is normally, “can you taste okay?”  Yes, my sense of taste is fine).  But if I turn the radio on I feel like the people are talking at me.  They are implanting all of their ideas on love and life and politics in me, and I am uncomfortable with that because I don’t have the ability to tell them my ideas, and there is no communication and there is no relationship; and I turn the radio off because I don’t think it’s fair.  I think this entire idea of why I don’t like music is so strange and maybe even immature; but I also believe that I am not the only one who feels this way.  I have found that the weirdest concepts I harbor have some audience somewhere.  Jazz and Big Band are out of date and out of touch, and most of the time it is a song redone.  I feel comfortable with this, because it feels like they aren’t peddling their feelings at me, but singing because they need to sing.  Like there is some musical force inside them that needs an outlet, and I can appreciate this.  That is why I write poetry.

    I write poetry because there is some poetic force inside me that needs an outlet.  Without this outlet, I start talking in poetic terms, and no one can understand what on earth I am talking about.  My honest poetry is ambiguous and vague, and usually very nature-esque.  My favorite poets are Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson.  Frost was a man who wrote about what he saw, no matter how painful.  He wrote about the breakdown of his marriage after his son died; and that is painful to read.  Emily was a recluse, and I appreciate that.  If I could, I would move to a ranch in Montana and pay someone else to raise sheep, cows and horses for me.  I would be too busy writing and reading.  And I love that Emily wrote without grammar.  If you ever read her poetry and it uses commas, it is not her true writing.  I am reading a book of her poems right now, and it is completely grammatically correct, and it feels kind of wrong.  But I’m halfway through, and I figure I might as well finish it.  Both Frost and Emily wrote about what happened on their front lawn, what happened in their hearts, what they saw with their eyes.  That is what great poets do, and it is very hard to do.

(got this in email today...it used to be nicely formatted with color, but it comes out here just as black text.  The whole "billion" part was the most interesting to me)

 How many zeros in a billion?  This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.


 A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.  


While this thought is still fresh in our brain... let's take a look at New Orleans ...  It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.  

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250  BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans .  Interesting number... what does it mean?

A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of  New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets  $1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four...  your family gets  $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C   < HELLO! > Are all your calculators broken??

 Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
 CDL License Tax
 Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
 Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
 Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
 Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
 Luxury Tax
 Marriage License Tax
 Medicare Tax
 Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
 Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
 Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax


 STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell 'politicians! ' And I still have to press '1' for English.


I hope this goes around the USA

I was drawn to this because of the part about academic shame.  I have found that I am much more comfortable with not knowing something now than I was at the beginning of my college experience.  Granted there were a few instances where professors would berate the class for not knowing something, and that may have influenced me to learn more quicker to stay ahead of the rants (it was a phil. class, and we didn't know what the word "empirical" meant.  I had just never heard it before, and I was 18).  This entire blog post was just written better than I could put it.  I can't understand why a person who is able to educate themselves will refuse to do so.  Maybe education just isn't well marketed these days, who knows.  It is more than simply understanding a trade or a skill, but it is seeing a bigger picture of life and where we have been and have come from, and understanding how things work together.  Understanding art is vital to understanding how cultures have changed over time.  Understanding literature is absolutely crucial to understanding the social history of the world.  The social commentary in the first half of "Les Miserables" is a monument of time that history books cannot replicate.  Reading the trials of women in the Old Testament who withstood barrenness is a moral epicenter for women facing infertility now.  I believe educating yourself is as crucial as eating well.  If you don't learn about life as a big picture, leading your own path through the mists of years is going to be a hit and miss struggle to understanding the purpose of your own mortality.

Paul Spears
Education
06.30.2008

Freedom is such a buzz-word these days, the real meaning kind of gets lost in the buzz.  So I'll just share some of my thoughts about freedom:

I am grateful I live in USA because of the freedoms I share with my fellow citizens.  As a woman of 2008, I have the freedom to vote.  Despite how few vote, the reality is that in 1908 it would be illegal for me to vote.  It wasn't until 1920 that women were allowed to cast a vote for their country, and I am very grateful for this freedom, and have voted every single time.  It is something I am happy and proud in which to participate. My family has the freedom to attend any church we want, and further to buy books on further informing us of other religious ideas.  This is a freedom definitely not shared around the globe, and I am extremely grateful for this.  I am free to have as many children as I want, and provide a safe, loving, educational environment for them.  My family does not live in fear of death, we do not live in fear of the government, we do not live in fear period because of the stability set up by our government and communities.  There are always flaws and grievances with any system of governing, and although I have my own list of articles of dissent, I am grateful for the streetlights, the roads in the city, the police and firefighters who are a call away, for the social services who provide help for those who cannot fend for themselves, and for the structure of laws which keep order in a city of hundreds of thousands.  This is not a small feat...being the teacher for +20 kids at times, you realize how difficult it is to keep order among masses, and I have always found that structure and rules keep order the best. 

I enjoy USA's place in the world, despite mistakes the authorities may have made.  We are still seen as a land of opportunity, which is why we have floods of immigrants coming here to find their own door to open. 

I enjoy USA's diverse land.  I've always lived in cities, but I vacation in the middle of nowhere...and there is nowhere more beautiful than here (I believe).  I love this country because of the freedoms we have here.  I could be a farmer, a painter, an engineer or a stay at home mom of 3.  I can do anything, and it is because I live in a great country. 

Happy Independence Day

Card for you

I was waiting for the negative reviews to come out for "Wall-E," and right on schedule they are here, hot as your grandma's communist doughnuts.  So, here is my review:

This is a pretty straight-forward science-fiction movie.  Humanity has reaped what it sowed not due to natural forces or catastrophes, but due to overwhelming social stampeeding.  Bradbury's, "Farenheit 451" was a great example of this when society decided over time that books were evil, and those supporting books were evil.  It was the whole of society that decided this, and they believed it was the right thing to do.  In the same fashion, the society in "Wall-E" believed that by buying more from BnL was the best thing for them, and afterwards they believed that leaving Earth to let it be cleaned by Wall-E's was the best plan for humanity.  The decisions were ill-devised, but they were not malicious.  And it is conclusive that if there is a utopia on board the Axiom, there is no reason for mankind to desire anything different; hence why the individuals were happily complacent in their cancer-free, disease-free utopia of morbidly obese inactivity.  Similarly in another science fiction story of "The Matrix," mankind is given a utopia of living as battery cells with the psychological facade of "reality."  If reality is stable, there is no need for mutiny on the Axiom, and there is no need to take the red pill in the Matrix.

I absolutely enjoyed the movie.  It was sweet, it was clever, it was imaginative and it was very different.  I anticipated people's negative reaction towards mankind's demise in the movie, though.  But here is a little bit of reality: I am overweight because I eat too much.  Lots of people are overweight because they eat too much.  We generally eat too much because for $.49 more, we can double what we are purchasing for food.  We are thinking with our wallets and not with our bodies, and in doing so we are justifying our gluttonous actions; and rightly so.  Money is very tight for just about everyone these days, and if we can get more for less, it isn't foolish to do so.  There are just consequences as a result.


link“Two denizens of National Review ­ Greg Pollowitz and Shannen Coffin ­ think Pixar’s latest is a bit of ‘leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind,’ as Coffin puts it.

‘It was like a 90-minute lecture on the dangers of over consumption, big corporations, and the destruction of the environment,’ Pollowitz writes at Planet Gore, National Review’s global-warming blog.”

Another reviewer in the same article notes that “The real tragedy of these callous conservative critics is that they are missing the real lessons of the movie,

<!- just a personal side note here...when I hear name calling and "missing the real point," I automatically discredit the person speaking.  If they believe I am too stupid to understand the basic thesis of a movie, I don't see how rational discussion can remotely continue.  Just throwing that out there>

ones I found immediately attractive to a traditional conservative,” Ford writes. “In the film, it becomes clear that mass consumerism is not just the product of big business, but of big business wedded with big government. In fact, the two are indistinguishable in WALL-E’s future. The government unilaterally provided its citizens with everything they needed, and this lack of variety led to Earth’s downfall.” (this is a very socialist/communist oriented social-structure, although I didn't catch that while I was watching the movie, and honestly I doubt Pixar was trying to make that statement at all.  It seems they were just trying to tell a science-fiction story to me)

 He continues:

    "Another lesson missed is portrayed perfectly in Coffin’s claim that WALL-E points out the ‘evils of mankind.’ The only evils of mankind portrayed are those that come about from losing touch with our own humanity. Staples of small-town conservative life such as the small farm, the “atomic family,” and old-fashioned and wholesome entertainment like “Hello, Dolly” are looked upon by the suddenly awakened humans as beautiful and desirable. By steering conservative families away from WALL-E, these commentators are doing their readers a great disservice.’”

Again, although this reviewer holds a valid analytical point, I have a hard time swallowing the pill saying Pixar is forcing conservative family values down their audiences throats.  I say this because it is clear the population is growing in Axiom, because there is a nursery of babies.  But they are being raised in a utopia, and there is no discord among families (which, I didn't even see families..just adults and babies, so I also don't think Pixar was trying to make a point about families at all).  The structure was about "humanity," not about individuals or smaller social structures such as mom/dad/kids.  I think critics are looking for any way to discredit this movie, even to the point of creating tension.

I thought the message of the movie was great: maybe even though ease is at your fingertips, and you don't "have" to do things in your life, you "should" because it remind you of what it means to be human.  Growing food, participating in a community, connecting with others through activities and personal interaction.  The captain of the Axiom realized what he was missing once he started reading about what humans used to do.  That is the purpose of science fiction: to remind us of what we are and what we could be, for good or bad.  I was hopeful at the end of the movie that maybe it would encourage peple to find what it means to be human for them.  The trouble with this, of course, is that this meaning is different for everyone.  While I identified with the captain, of returning to our agricultural roots (I have a small herb garden and grew some carrots this year, although I have greater plans for next Spring with my new garden), would the 19 year old hooked on MySpace and texting relate the same way?  It's doubtful, but you never know.  It's just an interesting prospect of "what does humanity mean to you."  I think "Wall-E" helped show the importance of this question when he discovered it on his own, as a robot.  Data, in Star Trek: The Next Genereation, constantly had these questions and aspirations; especially when he created a daughter, Lal, and mankind determined that he actually merely created another android, not a daughter.  These are questions the genre of science-fiction addresses, because they cannot be fully addressed in Nora Roberts fiction (no offense to the prolific Ms. Roberts).

So, that's my view of things.

I just took a test on msnbc.com, "could you pass the USA citizenship test?"  I did pretty well.  I was really split on the Wilson/Harding question, because I remembered that Wilson was the 31st president, when really he was the 28th.  So that threw my dates off.  And I almost said Speaker of the House would be the next President...but then I thought, isn't that the VP?  So that's why I said Secretary of State.  But the Speaker of the House is Pelosi (which I knew).  I'm trying to figure out where I got messed up with that one.

    1. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?   
    Correct
Thomas Jefferson   
    2. When was the Constitution written?   
     Correct.
1787    
    3. What are the first words of the Constitution?    
    Correct
We the People   
    4. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?   
    Correct
The Bill of Rights    
    5. Which of the following is NOT a right outlined in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence?    
    Correct
Right to bear arms    
    6. Which one of these is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment?   
    Correct
Freedom of the press    
    7. How many amendments does the Constitution have?   
    Correct
27    
    8. Why does the United States flag have 13 stripes?   
    Correct
They represent the 13 original colonies    
    9. Which of these was NOT among the original states?   
    Correct
Maine   
    10. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?    
    Correct
Louisiana   
    11. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. Which of the following is NOT a federal power?   
    Correct
To provide education   
    12. Which of the following is NOT one of the three branches of the government?   
    Correct
Federal   
    13. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?    
    Correct
435   
    14. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?    
    Correct
6   
    15. In what month do we vote for President?    
    Correct
November   
    16. If both the President and Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?    
    Secretary of State is not correct.
The Speaker of the House   
    17. Who was president during World War I?    
    Warrant G. Harding is not correct.
Woodrow Wilson   
    18. How many justices are there on the U.S. Supreme Court?    
    Correct
9   
    19. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?
   
    Correct
John G. Roberts, Jr   
    20. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
   
    Correct
Fought for women’s rights