Friday, December 17, 2010

How to Train Your Dragon

          Earlier this summer, I gladly found myself at our local theater with friends, purchasing soda and M&M’s, and sitting down for an enjoyable evening of viewing How to Train Your Dragon.
          Though my mom enjoyed the movie, she wasn’t too impressed…but I don’t really think this is a movie meant for the specific enjoyment of an adult audience…more of a family movie that the kids will love.
          Myself, I laughed and had a great time, and give the movie a 4.5 out of 5...awesome.
          Though not the same kind of awesome as Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen with its CG mayhem; being a fan of dragons and movies like Shrek and Lilo and Stitch I immensely enjoyed How to Train Your Dragon in all its quirky, dragons and Viking, family fun.

          If you’re a dragon junkie, or just like family movies…this is one to add to your list.
          My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas Tree Memories

Today, we put up the Christmas tree.

Years ago, when my brother and I were younger, we would put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.
Over the years, that has dwindled all the way down to mom only wanting it up for three days (which means, put it up Christmas Eve and take it down the day after Christmas) because the cats tend to climb in it and chew on ornaments (yes, our cats are...interesting...but more on that some other time).

Last year, we didn't put it up at all. I didn't want to take care of it and neither did anyone else. So we just did without.

We've had the same Christmas tree (with the exception of one or two times when we've had real ones) for my whole life.
This tree has memories
After I was born my mom decided they had better buy a small, plastic Christmas tree to have in the house.
So almost needless to say, this tree is in pretty bad shape.
The fact that we have to improvise new ways every year to make the boughs stay on says something in itself.
But this tree, this tree has memories.

Camping out under the Christmas tree, it being there with presents under it on Christmas morning.
Good memories.
Childhood, Christmas, memories.

What are some of your favorite Christmas memories?



Girls Who Kick Butt: Jacky Faber



(book one: Bloody Jack)Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas. There's only one problem: Jacky is a "girl." And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught. . .



(book two: Curse of the Blue Tattoo) In the follow up to Bloody Jack Mary "Jacky" Faber is forced to leave the Dolphin and attend an elite school for girls in Boston. But growing up on the streets of London and fighting pirates never prepared Jacky for her toughest battle yet: learning how to be a lady.
Everything she does is wrong. Her embroidery is deplorable, her French is atrocious, and her table manners -- disgusting! Then there's the small matter of her blue anchor tattoo . . .
Despite her best efforts, Jacky can't seem to stay out of trouble long enough to dedicate herself to being ladylike. But what fun would that be, anyway?


(book three: Under the Jolly Roger) After leaving the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston -- under dire circumstances, of course -- Jacky Faber boards a whaling ship bound for London, where she hopes to find her beloved Jaimy. But things don't go as planned, and soon Jacky is off on a wild misadventure at sea. She thwarts the lecherous advances of a crazy captain, rallies sailors to her side, and ultimately gains command of a ship in His Majesty's Royal Navy. But Jacky's adventures don't end there . . .


(book four: In the Belly of the Bloodhound) The British crown has placed a price on Jacky's head, and so she returns to the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston to lay low. But laying low isn't in the cards for a spunky lass who finds trouble even when she's not looking for it. A school outing goes awry as Jacky and her classmates are abducted and forced into the hold of the Bloodhound, a ship bound for the slave markets on the Barbary Coast. All of Jacky's ingenuity, determination, and plain old good luck will be put to the test as she rallies her classmates to fight together to avoid being sold on the auction block.


(book five: Mississippi Jack) The intrepid Jacky Farber, having once again eluded British authorities, heads west, hoping that no one will recognize her in the wilds of America. Soon shes finding adventure on the mighty Mississippi as she makes her way to New Orleans.


(book six: My Bonny Light Horseman) The infamous pirate, riverboat seductress, master of disguise, and street-urchin-turned-sailor Jacky Faber has been captured by the French and beheaded in full view of her friends and crew. Inconceivable? Yes! The truth is she's secretly forced to pose as an American dancer behind enemy lines in Paris, where she entices a French general into revealing military secretsall to save her dear friends. Then, in intrepid Jacky Faber style, she dons male clothing and worms her way into a post as galloper with the French army, ultimately leading a team of men to fight alongside the great Napoleon. In this sixth installment of the Bloody Jack Adventures series, love and war collide as the irrepressible Jacky Faber sets off on a daring adventure she vowed she'd never take.


(book seven: Rapture of the Deep On the very day that Jacky Faber is to wed her true love, she is kidnapped by British Naval Intelligence and forced to embark on yet another daring mission--this time to search for sunken Spanish gold. But when Jacky is involved, things don't always go as planned.


(book eight: The Wake of the Lorelei Lee) Believing she has been absolved of past sins against the Crown, Jacky Faber docks in London to take on her crew, but is instead arrested and sentenced to life in the newly formed penal colony in Australia.

          Mary Faber was nothing but a pathetic street urchin.
         Her parents and younger sister died in the plague when she was young, leaving no relatives, no means...little Mary out on the streets of old-timey London.
          But after the death...or rather, murder of the leader of the street gang that took her in, she decides to get away.
          Taking the clothes and shiv (knife) of her fallen friend, she cuts her hair, setting out as a boy.
          Finding herself at the wharfs, Mary enlists into the British Navy, as Jacky Faber.
          Now a ships boy on the HMS Dolphin Jacky begins her whirlwind adventure that spans across many a country, many a continent, though war and fire, love and hate, the hick towns of the wild west, the carriage of Napoleon Bonaparte himself, the deck of more than one ship she comes to command, from ships boy to Privateer, with many more a tale to come.

          Want more? Well then...make sure to check out the Bloody Jack Adventure series by L.A. Meyer...you won't be disappointed.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Capturing Creation Photo Challenge Day 5

Day 5: Let There Be Sea Creatures and Birds

"Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of of living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." " --Genesis 1:20


Being not only landlocked, but an absolutely shoddy photographer when it comes to anything living (except my strangely photogenic cat that will pose for me...but thats another story...) I'm going with what I got.

The closest photo I have to anything birdy is this fluffy little feather that fluttered and fell on top of this rusty...well, I forget what it is but I just thought its such a lovely contrast and had to take a picture.


The closest I can get to the sea, is my river.
This picture was actually taken when it was down to its original level for the first time in over twenty years.
It was known for its treacherous rapids and falls for almost a century before the dam was put in, drawing the water level up and evening things out.
Where I was standing when I took this picture, I would've (to put in terms of building height) been about a story or two underwater normally.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Words for Snow

White Light  (entry version)

the bells toll
the sound ignites

the full moon
the snow
the nights scant light

the inky darkness
closing in
smothering
glowering
moving in

but suddenly
opened
blossomed
free
by snow
catching light
flying free

the snow burns
white
in the night

the quiet forest
the whispering trees
the cold wind
the chilly breeze

the crystal flakes
alight
aflash
the silent guardians
snow
angels
adrift in the night
to shed a small
scant

white light


HorseFeathers


This is my entry for Olivia (@HorseFeathers) Words for Snow winter art contest.

White Light  (original version)

the bells toll
the sound ignites
the full moon
the nights scant light

the inky darkness
closing in
smothering
glowering
moving in

the moon burns
white
in the
black

the silent forest
the whispering trees
the balmy wind
the chilly breeze

the shooting stars
alight
aflash

the silent guardians
adrift in the night
to shed a small
scant

white light

Interestingly enough, snow isn't the original premise of this poem.
When I originally wrote White Light, it was merely several lines long (whereas the entry version to the left is probably doubled in overall length) and was just a random throw-together of words that contradict each other (as you can read, to the right).

Hoping you're all having a wonderfully snowy winter!

Twitter

For some, inexplicable reason, I am now on Twitter.

Yes, yes...shocking I know.

In fact it really rather...okay completely surprised myself as well.

I never really thought that I'd create a Twitter account. In fact its just about been the furthest thing from my mind.
But this morning, I just did...it was quick, simple and easy and I'm still wondering why!

So all you tweeters...or twitterers or whatever it is click over to the 'follow me on twitter' button in my sidebar why don't cha?

I meanwhile, will be wracking my brains for something creative to tweet...or more likely, trying to make sense of CSS.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Impact

While I listen to Justice & Mercy from Flyleaf's new Remember to Live EP, I flip to the back of my Bible and find one of my favorite quotes penned by my former writing mentor, Shannon Kubiak Primicerio in her book God Called a Girl:

"Some of us may reach the masses with our lives; others may only influence a handful of people. But it's not the numbers that matter--it's the fact that we are impacting people for the kingdom of God. Never underestimate the value of impacting just one person. Their whole eternity could be altered as a result of your impact--that's a huge thing!"

So often all of us, as bloggers, as writers, get caught up in the numbers, in the stats and the appearances.

So often we lose sight of what we're really living for.

Whether it's in our writing, our blogs or our everyday lives, there are times when each of us has gotten caught up in what this world says is important and impacting.

I know often, for me, I make it too much about "being better" about seeming smarter, faster and more fashionable than everyone else...and the thing is, I never much succeed at that.

It's just a pointless venture, and empty reason to base life on.
So often we lose sight of what we're really living for.

Our world, our culture, is living and moving at a fast, "fashionable", and frivolous pace that is not only unattainable, but depressingly hard to even attempt to keep up with.

It tells us what things are "worthwhile" and how we should be living our lives as the social and cultural norm.

But this, is a lie.

Our culture says that how far we make it in life is directly proportional to how we look.
The beauty we see portrayed by run way models and in make-up ads is fake. Sure, the mirror doesn't lie, but our culture does.

The purpose for life we are told, by our culture, is to be wealthy, and make oneself into someone everyone else wants to be.
But in reality, money (though not always) corrupts, and while it can make life easier, it is definitely not something to base life on.
Not something to live for.

Our culture says that how famous, how worthwhile we are is defined not only by its idea of "beauty", and expansive "wealth", but also by how many people are our "friends", how popular we are and all those numbers and statistics.

But that too, is a lie.
never doubt the impact your life has; here in the bloggie world, and the great big one outside your window
You and I may never become household or front page names.

We may never be known as one of the richest people on the planet.

And we may never be as "beautiful" as that photoshopped woman in that magazine.

But when we make the decision to say a kind word, to be there for a friend through thick and thin, to spend some time with our family or by making a statement that we're not going to conform, we are impacting someone and we are a part of Gods plan.

So you and I, though we may not have 1000, or even 10 followers on our blogs, (I am thankful and amazed by my wonderful 9) never doubt the impact your life has; here in the bloggie world, and the great big one outside your window.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

A Message from Lacey Mosley

I love this message from Lacey Mosley of Flyleaf.
Please, I ask that  you watch it.







blessings this week!

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