It is the nature of love to give oaths, vows, and solemn promises, to swear itself to eternity, to death, to things not humanly possible, to see forever and always and everything.
But is it the nature of love to fulfill these rose-colored promises?
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Saturday, July 02, 2005
What is Romantic Love?
I've thought about love about as much as the average person (if you take my sister out of the equation, 'cause she spent her whole undergraduate career on it. And I mean that seriously, not in a bad way.). I had a whole class on it first semester, what it is, and how it relates to our relationship with God, and what qualities we desire in a mate, and what drives us to pick who we pick. After all this thinking and wondering and comparing different situations, I think I've come up with something.
The only kind of love that exists is the kind you believe in. If you believe in love at first sight, then love at first sight exists. If you believe love doesn't last, your love won't last. Sure, there are exceptions, but the love you give and take is so colored by your perception of what love is, it will be conformed to your ideals. Love is like faith - love is a kind of faith. It is what you make it, what you believe in, what ideals you've created for yourself. Someone might try to tell you otherwise, but in the end, you know that what you believe in your heart is true.
The only kind of love that exists is the kind you believe in. If you believe in love at first sight, then love at first sight exists. If you believe love doesn't last, your love won't last. Sure, there are exceptions, but the love you give and take is so colored by your perception of what love is, it will be conformed to your ideals. Love is like faith - love is a kind of faith. It is what you make it, what you believe in, what ideals you've created for yourself. Someone might try to tell you otherwise, but in the end, you know that what you believe in your heart is true.
Google It!
Yes, I'll admit, I've Googled myself.
But it's a lot funnier to find out Cheryl Shank's done it, too.
But it's a lot funnier to find out Cheryl Shank's done it, too.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Summer Reading 2005
Unfortunately, my summer job doesn't allow for much summer reading. However, I got (too many) books out from the library the other day and thought that I'd compile a sort of list as a goal. Writers must be readers, after all.
A Clash of Kings (George R. R. Martin) - I love the characters in this seriers, the plot, the world, everything. I gave up this book last summer after getting frustrated with some of his choices. This story is so compelling, though, I really want to know what happens. So I'm giving it a second try.
Angela's Ashes - I don't know much about this book besides it's won a Pulitzer, is set in Ireland, and the people of Limerick don't like it because it makes them look bad.
Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief - Saw it on the shelf and just had to get it. If stealing weren't illegal and wrong, you'd better believe I'd be a jewel thief.
Memoirs of a Geisha - My sister really liked this book. I think it should be really interesting, learning about the culture and some of its darker sides.
The Wizard of Earthsea - I really wanted to try Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series, but they didn't have this book at the library. I got her Earthsea short story collection, though.
The Handmaid's Tale - I haven't heard much about this either, but it sounds dark and compelling. A book to read on my way to becoming a well-read individual.
The Hours - I'd like to read either the novelization of the movie, the book it was mostely based on (if there is one; I'm not too sure on my details about the movie), or something else by Virgina Wolfe.
I doubt I'll get through all those, but just in case, here are some other books I'm interested in:
Catch 22
451 degrees
Paradise Lost
Age of Innocence
The Soung and the Fury
Clarisse
Brave New World
The War of the Worlds
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Atlas Shrugged
And let's not forget all those good books just sitting there on the library shelves, undiscovered. Everyone should delve into a little bit of summer reading. Nothing improves the mind like a good book.
A Clash of Kings (George R. R. Martin) - I love the characters in this seriers, the plot, the world, everything. I gave up this book last summer after getting frustrated with some of his choices. This story is so compelling, though, I really want to know what happens. So I'm giving it a second try.
Angela's Ashes - I don't know much about this book besides it's won a Pulitzer, is set in Ireland, and the people of Limerick don't like it because it makes them look bad.
Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief - Saw it on the shelf and just had to get it. If stealing weren't illegal and wrong, you'd better believe I'd be a jewel thief.
Memoirs of a Geisha - My sister really liked this book. I think it should be really interesting, learning about the culture and some of its darker sides.
The Wizard of Earthsea - I really wanted to try Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series, but they didn't have this book at the library. I got her Earthsea short story collection, though.
The Handmaid's Tale - I haven't heard much about this either, but it sounds dark and compelling. A book to read on my way to becoming a well-read individual.
The Hours - I'd like to read either the novelization of the movie, the book it was mostely based on (if there is one; I'm not too sure on my details about the movie), or something else by Virgina Wolfe.
I doubt I'll get through all those, but just in case, here are some other books I'm interested in:
Catch 22
451 degrees
Paradise Lost
Age of Innocence
The Soung and the Fury
Clarisse
Brave New World
The War of the Worlds
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Atlas Shrugged
And let's not forget all those good books just sitting there on the library shelves, undiscovered. Everyone should delve into a little bit of summer reading. Nothing improves the mind like a good book.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
All the new colors...
I'm trying to give the blog a little make over. It's sticky; I'm not too saavy with the code. I'm making some progress though. I've learned how to completely manipulate the sidebar.
Speaking of the sidebar, I'd like to point out a few new links. My sister's blog, Diotima, is gone because the site no longer exists. That's ok; you can get more of the opinionated old Butler girl (soon to be Nardo girl, eek!) in this month's issue of First Things. I have to find myself a copy sometime here soon.
I've added two e-zines to the bar. These, my friends, are the way of the future. Nothing beats print magazines, having the feel and smell of stories, but the appeal of most e-zines is that they're free. I've been frequenting Deep Magic for a few years now. They are the top e-zine of fantasy and science fiction. Amazing quality. I've contributed a few stories of my own in the past, and just recently I've become one of their copy editors. It's exciting to be involved in this e-zine. They've recently made the upgrade to a paying magazine, so while you can still download the current issue for free, to get the past three years of DM goodness, you need to become a subscriber. There are also many other benefits to becoming a subscriber, and Deep Magic is more than worth it.
The other one listed is an up and coming e-zine that I was lucky to get into as an assistant editor while it was still young and growing (it still is young and growing). This is a great place for beginning authors. It is a quality fantasy, science fiction, and "more" e-zine with many different genres to submit to. Bill Snodgrass has the site looking great, and we're working on ways to improve the features of the e-zine every day.
Both e-zines have some amazing opportunties, for readers and writers alike, and I highly recommend them.
Speaking of the sidebar, I'd like to point out a few new links. My sister's blog, Diotima, is gone because the site no longer exists. That's ok; you can get more of the opinionated old Butler girl (soon to be Nardo girl, eek!) in this month's issue of First Things. I have to find myself a copy sometime here soon.
I've added two e-zines to the bar. These, my friends, are the way of the future. Nothing beats print magazines, having the feel and smell of stories, but the appeal of most e-zines is that they're free. I've been frequenting Deep Magic for a few years now. They are the top e-zine of fantasy and science fiction. Amazing quality. I've contributed a few stories of my own in the past, and just recently I've become one of their copy editors. It's exciting to be involved in this e-zine. They've recently made the upgrade to a paying magazine, so while you can still download the current issue for free, to get the past three years of DM goodness, you need to become a subscriber. There are also many other benefits to becoming a subscriber, and Deep Magic is more than worth it.
The other one listed is an up and coming e-zine that I was lucky to get into as an assistant editor while it was still young and growing (it still is young and growing). This is a great place for beginning authors. It is a quality fantasy, science fiction, and "more" e-zine with many different genres to submit to. Bill Snodgrass has the site looking great, and we're working on ways to improve the features of the e-zine every day.
Both e-zines have some amazing opportunties, for readers and writers alike, and I highly recommend them.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Friday, July 09, 2004
Summer Reading, II
Yesterday I finished Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. An enjoyable book, though some times the visions of my imaginations where influenced by flashes from the educational show Wishbone (isn't it a pity how most of the educational shows I used to watch and love aren't on anymore? Actually, a lot of kids watched Wishbone. It was a good show.). My boyfriend said Mark Twain is hilarious. While I wouldn't use hilarious to describe Tom Sawyer (perhaps that is because of my personal definition of hilarious. To say it is hilaroius is to say that the reader should be cracking up once or twice every chapter), there are still very funny parts. The afterword said, though, that often The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is praised more then Tom Sawyer, so one day I might perhaps read Huck Finn. However, now it is on to Dune Messiah, if I can get to the library before Sunday.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Time v. Talk Radio!
Michael Moore gets his first doubtful approval from me with the quote in this article, saying “I don’t like this film being reduced to Bush vs. Kerry.” However, that's not what this post is about.
From TIME:
"Today people get their news and, just as important, their attitudes from more rambunctious sources: from the polarized polemicists on talk radio and cable news channels, from comedians and webmasters. That’s poli-tainment, and as practiced by Rush Limbaugh and a host of right-wing radio hosts, and by Matt Drudge on the internet, it hounded Bill Clinton’s presidency while spicing and coarsening the standards of political discourse, Corliss writes."
Ouch. Play nice, kids! Notice, of course, that it's only the "right-wing radio hosts" that are slandered as "poli-tainment" and Matt Drudge, who, if you notice, posts links to articles (does he write anything on his website himself? Hmm, pretty hard to pull of poli-tainment if you're not doing any writing EDIT]: I may be wrong there. I think Drudge does write short articles, but a lot of his stuff is just links to other articles). The sources cited here do have their opinions, and they speak up about them. Oh, my! They don't claim to be indifferent, but they aren't in the entertainment industry. To these right-wingers, the facts are the most important part of what they do. I'm sure it's the same with many left-wingers out there too.
Just a question, sirs. What is Michael Moore's movie? An unbiased documentary? I find that highly doubtful. I'm sure it crosses that "poli-tainment" line.
http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,660927,00.html via drudgereport.com
From TIME:
"Today people get their news and, just as important, their attitudes from more rambunctious sources: from the polarized polemicists on talk radio and cable news channels, from comedians and webmasters. That’s poli-tainment, and as practiced by Rush Limbaugh and a host of right-wing radio hosts, and by Matt Drudge on the internet, it hounded Bill Clinton’s presidency while spicing and coarsening the standards of political discourse, Corliss writes."
Ouch. Play nice, kids! Notice, of course, that it's only the "right-wing radio hosts" that are slandered as "poli-tainment" and Matt Drudge, who, if you notice, posts links to articles (does he write anything on his website himself? Hmm, pretty hard to pull of poli-tainment if you're not doing any writing EDIT]: I may be wrong there. I think Drudge does write short articles, but a lot of his stuff is just links to other articles). The sources cited here do have their opinions, and they speak up about them. Oh, my! They don't claim to be indifferent, but they aren't in the entertainment industry. To these right-wingers, the facts are the most important part of what they do. I'm sure it's the same with many left-wingers out there too.
Just a question, sirs. What is Michael Moore's movie? An unbiased documentary? I find that highly doubtful. I'm sure it crosses that "poli-tainment" line.
http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,660927,00.html via drudgereport.com
Iraq
Congratulations to the new government in Iraq. If anyone didn't notice (and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't), power was handed over to the Iraqis -
two days before the deadline.
two days before the deadline.
Hate Speech and Voting Responsibly
Ah, Campaign 2004. The joy, the insanity. The hate speech.
I walked into Barnes and Nobles today, and in a prominent display they had dozens of political books. All well and good. Here are a few of the titles: "The Bush Hater's Handguide," "The I Hate George W. Bush Reader (Apparently, there's a whole series of these, from attacking the President's cabinet to attacking the whole GOP)." These books might very well make good points. But the titles just turn me off right away. To proclaim such extreme hate is to show that you blind partiality. If you hate something, nothing will change your mind about it, nothing will quench your raging rhetoric, and everything is available for you to twist and use in your hate reign.
The hate campaign is a terrible thing, a terrible thing for Democrats, a terrible thing for Republicans, for homosexuals or heterosexuals, for pro-life or pro-choice. It's just not right.
Vote for Kerry. Vote for Nader. Vote for Bush. By all means, vote for who you think is right. But don't you dare cast a hate vote. Don't you dare ruin democracy that way. You step back and think about this rationally, think about who you're voting for and why. "Anybody but Bush" is a sick mantra. How can we sink to such mindless, degrading hate speech? And degrading is what it is. Can we not put enough effort into this year's election to know why we're voting for who we're voting for? Are the inflammatory words of a few impassioned people going to shift our foundations, our beliefs and our convictions? Are we going to forsake our honor?
It shames the country when we cast hate votes. It shames America because that is not the way our republic democracy is supposed to work. We insult the election when we do that, we insult the candidates, and we insult our fellow countrymen, because we try to steal their votes because of our senseless hate.
Take the hate out of this year's election. Put intelligence and honor back in.
I walked into Barnes and Nobles today, and in a prominent display they had dozens of political books. All well and good. Here are a few of the titles: "The Bush Hater's Handguide," "The I Hate George W. Bush Reader (Apparently, there's a whole series of these, from attacking the President's cabinet to attacking the whole GOP)." These books might very well make good points. But the titles just turn me off right away. To proclaim such extreme hate is to show that you blind partiality. If you hate something, nothing will change your mind about it, nothing will quench your raging rhetoric, and everything is available for you to twist and use in your hate reign.
The hate campaign is a terrible thing, a terrible thing for Democrats, a terrible thing for Republicans, for homosexuals or heterosexuals, for pro-life or pro-choice. It's just not right.
Vote for Kerry. Vote for Nader. Vote for Bush. By all means, vote for who you think is right. But don't you dare cast a hate vote. Don't you dare ruin democracy that way. You step back and think about this rationally, think about who you're voting for and why. "Anybody but Bush" is a sick mantra. How can we sink to such mindless, degrading hate speech? And degrading is what it is. Can we not put enough effort into this year's election to know why we're voting for who we're voting for? Are the inflammatory words of a few impassioned people going to shift our foundations, our beliefs and our convictions? Are we going to forsake our honor?
It shames the country when we cast hate votes. It shames America because that is not the way our republic democracy is supposed to work. We insult the election when we do that, we insult the candidates, and we insult our fellow countrymen, because we try to steal their votes because of our senseless hate.
Take the hate out of this year's election. Put intelligence and honor back in.
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