tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26409431182826182692024-03-12T20:46:22.607-04:00Lore and LiteratureExploring the connections between folklore and other folk tales, literature, and the current scene.Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-7525244551719268902019-12-14T14:13:00.001-05:002019-12-14T14:15:17.145-05:00The Wedding is coming!I'm used to late night tears alone when reality creeps in upon me.<br />
<br />
I felt like a puzzle piece that didn't fit into any puzzle or with any other piece. A random piece with no explanation, no purpose, maybe to some it looked a little pretty but all in all, a lonely unhappy piece.<br />
<br />
In my sadness, lyrics came to me.<br />
<br />
"I see you dressed in white,<br />
Every wrong made right..."<br />
<br />
Oh, beautiful.<br />
<br />
My mind picked up on what I'd told myself before, "No, this song is not for you, this is not you. You're not beautiful, especially on the inside." I'd even wondered at times, "Why did God chose me? I haven't amounted to anything."<br />
<br />
But my heart and mind then grasped something they had been missing.<br />
<br />
I countered, "No, this song is for me! It's not me now, but it's my future!"<br />
<br />
The song played in my head and the words sunk in. "Yes, yes!" My heart cried.<br />
<br />
"I see you dressed in white,<br />
every wrong made right"<br />
<br />
Yes! I will be a bride! I'm a part of the Church, the Bride of Christ.<br />
<br />
"I see a rose in bloom,<br />
At the sight of you.<br />
Oh, so priceless." <br />
At this great future wedding, that will be me. I will be a rose in bloom, at the wedding. Finally, that beautiful young blushing bride, oh, could it be? That dream on earth that can no longer be fulfilled. Yes, yes, it could in heaven and be so much better than my earthly dreams of a wedding. This verse came to mind, "For outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day."(2 Corinthians 4:16)<br />
<br />
I began to cry.<br />
<br />
I realized though that these were not the tears of angry despair and resignation that come while reflecting on a lonely future, a future with no white dress, no children, no dearest beloved husband. These were tears of <i>joy</i> and <i>relief</i> instead.<br />
<br />
I am being made perfect and one day will be at the bridal supper of Christ! Celebrating, happy in this deep love where nothing else mattered. I'm loved and cherished. Someday, there will be no sin to mar for a moment our intimacy.<br />
<br />
"I see a rose in bloom,<br />
At the sight of you.<br />
Oh, so priceless." <br />
<br />
Christ loves me! Would a bride-to-be question why her husband had chosen her? No. She knows he loves her and she know she's beautiful.<br />
<br />
Isaiah 54 has been a chapter of comfort to my grieving heart. Read now though, these words of the Lord:<br />
<br />
<span class="block-indent"><span class="ln-group">“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;</span><br /><span class="indent">be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">for you will forget the shame of your youth,</span><br /><span class="indent">and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.</span><br />
<span class="reftext"></span><span class="ln-group">For your Maker is your husband,</span><br /><span class="indent">the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> of hosts is his name;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,</span><br /><span class="indent">the God of the whole earth he is called.</span><br />
<span class="reftext"></span><span class="ln-group">For the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> has called you</span><br /><span class="indent">like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">like a wife of youth when she is cast off,</span><br /><span class="indent">says your God.</span><br />
<span class="reftext"></span><span class="ln-group">For a brief moment I deserted you,</span><br /><span class="indent">but with great compassion I will gather you.</span><br />
<span class="reftext"></span><span class="ln-group">In overflowing anger for a moment</span><br /><span class="indent">I hid my face from you,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”</span><br /><span class="indent">says the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, your Redeemer.</span></span> <br />
<br />
(vs 4-8)<br />
<br />
"Perfect love casts out fear." I John4:18<br />
<br />
He is Perfect Love and He took my fear and cast it out of my heart! Because of his love, there was no more fear for the future, only a joyful anticipation of his promises coming true!<br />
-Written in 2018-<br />
<br />
<br />Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-51964223358440727052018-03-28T17:05:00.001-04:002018-03-28T17:31:13.411-04:0028<br />
Today is my golden birthday. I turned 28 on the 28th. <br />
<br />
<br />
So...I rented a limo on the preceding Saturday and had it take us downtown to see the Renaissance Center which is a place that I love.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhPPAnw3s_5_MLQcIGbfEsXQVYhKMasT7HaVFkt1hECSebmPJTMBVz5DHGL_7ZGBR6IIvqFahe_2HU_r2bkitm7X303FtgAVO38FMPnzfCfPFjC8Rhx0KEBHkrncL1zYjnIY7bcOZ6MsN/s1600/IMG_20180324_203627808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="1600" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhPPAnw3s_5_MLQcIGbfEsXQVYhKMasT7HaVFkt1hECSebmPJTMBVz5DHGL_7ZGBR6IIvqFahe_2HU_r2bkitm7X303FtgAVO38FMPnzfCfPFjC8Rhx0KEBHkrncL1zYjnIY7bcOZ6MsN/s320/IMG_20180324_203627808.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Limo</td></tr>
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My mom also made this fancy tiered cake for us all to enjoy!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday Cake</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
I also did my hair with live flowers. (See below.) <br />
You only have one Golden Birthday, so I thought I would go a little crazy this year. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OSpZCRRLTmEnYzK2zZxEfwqq1ysYojP1mnkUTRJ8UvY8XIH5oNPZyXh6W5WAJlHkPQZE9glL53s0qWSGhVHgpXeJ85Wkp7-U6P3C806wcFOGKgu9OHD3Ujxmk6iRfOO7M4CnaReGXcEe/s1600/birthdayhair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OSpZCRRLTmEnYzK2zZxEfwqq1ysYojP1mnkUTRJ8UvY8XIH5oNPZyXh6W5WAJlHkPQZE9glL53s0qWSGhVHgpXeJ85Wkp7-U6P3C806wcFOGKgu9OHD3Ujxmk6iRfOO7M4CnaReGXcEe/s200/birthdayhair.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-45126657629228814742017-11-21T00:02:00.002-05:002017-11-21T00:03:36.335-05:00The Real Meaning of Thanksgiving - Coming to a Theatre Near YouNo, there is no release of such a film anytime soon, but perhaps it's time for one. It seems to me that the meaning of Thanksgiving is being forgotten, undermined, and slowly buried. Here are five ways this is happening:<br />
<br />
1. The recent appearance of "Thanksgivingclapback" memes. I think these memes are divisive and instead of getting people thinking about the true meaning of Thanksgiving, they subtly encourage people to think negatively of others. I get it, maybe your family is full of nosy, overbearing jerks and you're not looking forward to the cruel comments they have for you. However, instead of thinking about how to score one on these jerks: think about what you have to be grateful for instead. And if you really have a problem with someone, take them aside and address it.<br />
<br />
2. Gluttony. Nothing wrong with enjoying a good meal. However, there's been an undertone ever since I can remember that this is <i>national pig-out day</i>, mainly heard in conversation from the adults around me and phrases like, "gobble til you wobble."<br />
<br />
3. "Happy Turkey Day." This phrase take the emphasis off from the real purpose of the holiday (to give thanks) and shifts it too the eating of turkey. (A "poulty" thing to celebrate in comparison.) <br />
<br />
4. Black Friday. I don't think Black Friday is necessarily a bad thing. It brings many businesses back into the black, plus people are able to buy more for their dollar on that day. However, it's being done wrong by many. Some stores start their sales on Thanksgiving and many people turn ugly on Black Friday in total contrast to the day of thankfulness beforehand. It's sad that our country has a holiday that is supposed to be about giving thanks that is followed by a day where people get trampled to death for materialism. How does that reflect on our nation?<br />
<br />
5. Early Christmas decorating, music, and sale of Christmas items. I don't want to emphasis Thanksgiving over remembering the birth of Jesus, but the pre-thanksgiving Christmas push is more about making a profit. Plus, is it getting people thinking about the birth of Christ and why he came to this earth? Probably not... Thanksgiving gets glossed over in the Christmas hype and the real meaning of two holidays are lost in consumerism.Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-83059557537276962272017-09-12T23:50:00.001-04:002017-09-12T23:50:28.129-04:00The Balloon BouquetI let my imagination run away with me...<br />
<br />
The Balloon Bouquet<br />
<br />
Once I was a little girl standing in my minty frock and in my hand I held a balloon bouquet. They were all the colors of the rainbow. Red, yellow, green, and purple, blue, and gold; orange, pink, and fuscia. Translucent balloons with an iredescent sheen, and tied with white string. There were so many: I thought these dreams would carry me away. The future seemed so fun and light.<br />
But one by one, I found, as time dragged on, they slowly slipped my grip and floated away.<br />
Others withered as I grew older still. And one or two I released to fly unattainably high in the pale blue sky.<br />
Yet other balloons came my way. Some bright, but more of sombre hues like velvety mists: green, blue, burgundy. My pack was thinning still, and still, these drifted away.<br />
Yet I chose some silver balloons, and some of lighter and darker grays. Then one came. A pink floating heart. With an outstretched white hand, I grasped its string. It came to me so easily. I loved that dream, and yet it slowly faded into gray. Sometimes it would glimmer with pink hue and golden sheen and I would live again those darling memories of you and I and our first times of fun together when we were wondering if we could love each other. I clung to the thread to keep that shadow of what might have been, but that dream too, floated away into a dreary sky, gray on gray, while I cried no tears because I'd cried them already.<br />
And alone I stood with no more. All dreams were gone.<br />
There was no more balloon bouquet.Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-21327812834999184462017-03-28T06:54:00.000-04:002017-03-28T06:54:29.083-04:00Twenty-SevenToday is my twenty-seventh birthday. And so, I leave you with John Watson's encouraging reflection upon this age. <br />
<br />
"She must be seven-and-twenty now,—a sweet age, when youth has lost its self-consciousness and become a little sobered by experience." -Dr. John Watson, reflecting on Mary Morstan (The Sign of Four).Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-89553640443250271442016-11-04T22:18:00.001-04:002016-11-29T20:31:24.396-05:00Reflections on being a single during the holidays<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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be hard. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Birthdays were a day of
celebration, now they can be a time of regret, a time where you remember that
you’re still waiting for the big things in life, you’re still just as confused
about life and love as last year…and you’re still celebrating this birthday
alone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I try to forget about my age
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now for Christmas, I think there are many reasons</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. The winter holidays
don’t have the magic they used to have. Christmas is not as exciting when you
can buy yourself what you want when you want (within reason.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Times change.
People change. People pass away. Those Christmases of the golden dawn of youth
when your grandparents were still young and also still with you can never
return.<span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3. You don’t have
your own family. No children to train in decorating or making Christmas
cookies. No little eyes to watch light up as they open they unload their
stockings and open the presents you selected for them. No one other half to
kiss under the mistletoe or buy presents for. Just a nomad. You don’t really
fit in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4. Like Birthdays,
it’s another time of year where you wonder what you did wrong again.</span></div>
Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-57105864771759266402016-04-05T23:31:00.001-04:002016-04-06T01:39:10.509-04:00When you end up crying in the arms of a stranger at the grocery store...Another GlimmerHere's a glimmer from 2014. (See previous post for what a Glimmer is.)<br />
<br />
It was a Sunday. I'd been in that lonesome Meijer all day, surrounded by people who didn't want to hear about whisks. I didn't want to be there. I wasn't near my quota but I was on the verge of tears. I'd been doing direct-marketing for several months now and occasionally I'd have a Sunday off and I'd go to church. On this particular day I was feeling guilty because I felt like I should have requested a Sunday off, just so I could go to church. I didn't think he was asking me to take all Sundays off, but I thought I should go to church more often. I let the fear of asking for time off stop me. I knew my priorities were out of line. So, that day I felt that I had "let God down."<br />
<br />
But God didn't let go of me and here's how He showed me:<br />
<br />
I had just done a show to a small crowd and no one wanted these whisks. I stepped behind my display booth and banner as I was no longer just on the verge of tears...<br />
<br />
Then one of the people got my attention and had some questions about the product. Trying to stifle my tears I spoke with them. They stepped away, but this girl about my age came up to red-eyed me and said, "I can see you're experiencing a lot of turmoil."<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZY_MTCvoc0jJW1H2uTjQztePZG-2j20xf2V80_kpKZprcYXEK_zNigwOgG0ieb3KZCCgm8-PAjXWinAoROKY7ZaP-Ny-gssDpE_443BHANOkAFk6EC113h_z0cpIc0f_ZkZ44t4kTJgLS/s1600/WP_20150119_11_20_57_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZY_MTCvoc0jJW1H2uTjQztePZG-2j20xf2V80_kpKZprcYXEK_zNigwOgG0ieb3KZCCgm8-PAjXWinAoROKY7ZaP-Ny-gssDpE_443BHANOkAFk6EC113h_z0cpIc0f_ZkZ44t4kTJgLS/s200/WP_20150119_11_20_57_Pro.jpg" width="111" /></a>She told me she was a Christian and I told her I was too. She wrapped her arms around me in a hug and as I cried in her arms, she said, "He's got you."<br />
<br />
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, no angels, nor principalities, not things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39<br />
<br />
***Not related to the glimmer but just to save my professional dignity a little bit, I did go on to sell the most whisks in the nation for 4 days in a row.****Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-863676165373440972016-04-05T23:04:00.001-04:002016-04-17T22:31:43.236-04:00The Power of Exhoration...A GlimmerWhat's a glimmer? It's what I call a moment in which a much larger law of the universe is represented. In these moments, that serve as a metaphor or a microcosm, a truth that has been accepted in the mind becomes known in the heart.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZMlSQkGTtzE9Cx03dhelyEkKPt-9I3nfIc_H81Tch5gMLHfCy_lSArTqVyzBS3c4Hj3PNJIstO1bVg9s0xd_0-_e4c6y50F0UczWXpxQGtGCWkx4vdPK5FAAOTl50m57UnFtrYrIlWUK/s1600/Glimmer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZMlSQkGTtzE9Cx03dhelyEkKPt-9I3nfIc_H81Tch5gMLHfCy_lSArTqVyzBS3c4Hj3PNJIstO1bVg9s0xd_0-_e4c6y50F0UczWXpxQGtGCWkx4vdPK5FAAOTl50m57UnFtrYrIlWUK/s320/Glimmer.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Here's the glimmer I had tonight...<br />
<br />
I've known that two people are stronger than one, it's kind of obvious and there are a lot of verses pointing to this: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Proverbs 27:17. And in addition to the principle, we're told to support and exhort others : Galatians 6:2, Hebrews 10:24-25. But, tonight these truths sunk into my heart. <br />
<br />
At Krav Maga class, we were holding plank position. My back hurt and my abs hurt and I arched my back which really isn't plank position. It hurt so much I was seething my breath in and out through my teeth, even emitting soft cries, and whimpering although I refused to drop a knee. Then I heard the matter-of-fact voice of a class mate (also holding plank, I might add.) "Put your butt down." I struggled to flatten my back. He continued to talk me through it, "That's better. Come on, you got this. Put your butt down. Better. More." I felt relief as he continued to talk to me, giving me something to focus on other than the pain, plus knowing that he and the others were experiencing the same thing helped too. Gratefully I listened. If I had been left with no exhortation, I very well may have caved and dropped a knee, or continued with an arched back instead of pushing myself to do the drill properly. His words let me know I was not alone, and gave me the encouragement to try harder and push myself to the limits and to not give in.<br />
<br />
Hardly a flattering moment for me, but still a moment of triumph and a new understanding of what these verses mean.<br />
<br />
It even gave me a knew understanding of Christ and what He did for us!<br />
<br />
<br />Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-15385987584663129262016-03-17T05:39:00.000-04:002016-03-17T05:39:11.492-04:00What does St. Patrick's Day mean to me? I'm an Evangelical Christian. If you are too, then this post is for you.<br />
<br />
What does St. Patrick's Day mean to me?<br />
<br />
For me, it's not a day for drinking. Drunkenness is a sin (although drinking is not, and is a matter of personal conviction.) For more on drunkenness in The Bible: Ephesians 5:18, Romans 13:13, 1 Peter 4:3.<br />
<br />
For me, it's a day to remember Patrick and his life. He was a Briton captured by the Irish and forced into slavery. Eventually he returned to Britain, became a Christian and then returned to Ireland to share the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ the Son of God. He was a missionary. I remember him for living out the words of Jesus, "<span class="text Matt-28-19" id="en-NASB-24215"><span class="woj">Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,</span></span> <span class="text Matt-28-20" id="en-NASB-24216"><span class="woj">teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-19, NASB)</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-28-20" id="en-NASB-24216"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-28-20" id="en-NASB-24216"><span class="woj">He lived out his Faith, and in turn it inspires me. "</span></span>Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses
surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin
which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against
Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB)<br />
<br />
One final thought: I said I was an Evangelical Christian. For me, St. Patrick's Day is not a day to pray to a Saint. I only pray
to God as I don't see anywhere in The Bible that we are to pray to
anyone but God.<br />
<br />
Previous St. Patrick's Day posts:<br />
<a href="http://loreandlit.blogspot.com/2012/03/personal-reflections-of-st-patrick.html" target="_blank">Personal Reflections on St. Patrick's Day</a><br />
<a href="http://loreandlit.blogspot.com/2013/03/happy-st-patricks-day.html" target="_blank">Happy St. Patrick's Day - Bad situations with good results</a> <br />
<br />
<br />
Note:<br />
NASB = New American Standard Bible<br />
<br />Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-53970960154214577172016-01-18T21:14:00.000-05:002016-01-19T23:54:36.470-05:00Where does poetry come from?<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Poetry is formed in the human heart like diamonds are formed in the earth.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Diamonds are formed 90 miles deep in the earth in places where temperatures reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Poetry is formed in the depths of the heart, at times when passions blaze hot.</span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Diamonds are formed under great pressure with the weight of the earth pressing down on them. </span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Poetry is often formed under the pressures of life and great mental duress. </span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Diamonds are expulsed from the depths of the earth by volcanic eruptions. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Poetry spews
forth when the pressure is too great, and can no longer be bottled-up but has been kept inside just long enough. Or the emotions well worth,
like oozing lava, and with them comes sometimes a poem or two. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">But this is not the only way diamonds and poetry are made.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Diamonds are are also birthed when asteroids crash into the earth. Poetry is born when something touches your life with great impact.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Diamonds are formed when ocean meets earth. Poetry is sometimes formed when a new thought takes hold in your mind and the realization is crystallized. </span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true">Diamonds and poems can appear clear and bright, like a star, distant and cold, yet burning white. The beauty of diamonds belie the extreme conditions under which they were formed while poetry captures them in a frozen moment. In a poem flashes facets of human passion, thought, and feeling crystallized into a drop of beauty. </span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><a href="http://geology.com/articles/diamonds-from-coal/" target="_blank">Diamond Formation Information</a></span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="blppk-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span>Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-10071832973134892322015-11-10T22:49:00.002-05:002015-11-14T10:19:05.832-05:00The Acrobats<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Two long, sturdy strips of cloth hung from a fixed
point above the stage. A broad-shouldered man and a lithe woman climbed these
pieces of cloth with creative tricks and soon they were both high in the air
while the polished wood floor of the stage was dangerously far below. Already,
we were impressed, they did a few tricks and arranged themselves, and then…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They swung gracefully out over our heads, the long
strands of cloth trailing. They flew, his larger frame behind hers, she leaning
against him. They walked in the invisible air, side by side, stepping lightly
and in synchronization, delicately pointing their toes. He took her in his
arms, crossed her quickly over his body and in various dramatic skater’s poses,
they continued to fly around and around above our heads. He let her go and caught
her with his feet as our hearts jumped into our mouths.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was struck with the thought, “I want to get
married.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To me, it was a beautiful picture of marriage, one
that I wanted to imitate. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was beautiful, it was romantic. Yet, it was so
dangerous. If he dropped her, if she fell…the results were unthinkable. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If they fell, they would likely be killed, and if
not, then grievously injured. Yet not only they were in danger, but those
watching. The audience to<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">o</span> could be injured: physically if they fell onto the
audience, emotionally if they fell on the stage. Just like a failed marriage,
not only would it hurt the couple, but all those near too. And think of the
emotional guilt he would feel for having dropped his partner.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To fly like this required strength and trust. Both
must possess these qualities, but the man especially the strength as he bore
her weight and his own, and she the trust as he at times lifted or caught her
as they swung through the air, almost touching the ceiling. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In Ephesians 5:22-27, we learn, “Wives, submit
yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is
the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to
their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved
the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the
washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant
church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless,”
(Ephesians 5:22-27). The wife is to submit to her husband. If I’m to submit to
someone, I want a man I can trust with my life, just as this woman trusted him
to catch her. The husband is to help his wife heavenward, just as the male
acrobat lifted her, and helped her stay high on the cloths. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">~August 2014. Beijing, China.</span></div>
Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-10876705737008220952015-08-18T00:48:00.002-04:002015-11-10T22:35:54.214-05:00Bills are BlessingsLately I've realized that I have had an abundance of blessings poured into my lap. I finally have a full-time office job with fun co-workers who "get" my weird sense of humor. I bought my own car. I started Krav Maga where I am learning to fight and it's great to have a safe place to channel one's anger. The first day I went, the instructor told us to get angry and hit the pads as hard as we could. I was hooked and signed up for the membership after the class. Back in the fall of last year, I purchased a smartphone. Now, with monthly payments needing to made for all these blessings, (which I would not have if I was not blessed to have a job to be able to afford these things), I realized that I love bills. Wow! All these bills! I'm so excited about having bills, it's like my proof of adulthood. "Look at me, I'm being a grown-up!" <br />
<br />
Yes, I am thankful for these bills. They are a blessing, I might not always be able to have these things, but while I do, I am so thankful to God for providing them, and even if they are taken away I know He will provide for me and I am thankful for that as well.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-29986358081623887742015-08-18T00:43:00.000-04:002015-08-18T00:43:18.343-04:00Through my storm He reached out to meI was reading some of my journal entries from this past year. It's interesting to look back and remember where I was and how I've grown.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I found an entry from a little while ago that I want to share. A few months ago I was feeling restless, unsettled, useless. With a need to do <i>SOMETHING </i>to fight it and fight my fears of growing into a boring old adult, I ran out into the warm, dark, night air and swung myself up into the maple. I enjoyed the feeling of pain as the sawn-off branch jabbed me hard in the torso and the rough bark scraped my wrists. I climbed higher into the tree and then stood still, leaning against the slender forked branches. I looked straight ahead and I saw a full white moon through a square frame of leaves and a lattice of trees in the distance. This little square was the perfect size for the snowy moon and it's white aura. The lovely shape of the leaves, black against the deep dark royal blue of night. Behind the leafy frame of pointed maple leaves, flat against the night sky like a delicate Chinese papercut rose the crisscrossing arches of tall trees beyond in other yards and behind the moon according to my depth perception. I took in this little picture and silently was thankful to God that in the middle of my restless, caged-up feelings, He gave me this picture. It was as if it was saying to me,"I'm here. I made this picture for you. Just you. It's tiny and personal. Just the way I often remind you I am here."<br />
<br />
You see, for a detail-oriented person, the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2640943118282618269#editor/target=post;postID=1396847734095437538;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=8;src=postname" target="_blank">details</a> mean so much.Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-39282651710121687112015-07-28T20:52:00.001-04:002015-07-28T20:52:13.509-04:00The Artwork of The Tale of Princess KaguyaThe film seems to be set in the Heian period of Japan. A quick glance at the emaki (scrolls with artwork on them) show the fashion and interior design of the period which is clearly transcribed in the film. The animators did not, however, put the main action off in the corner and split the scene diagonally with a birds-eye view over walls, as typical of of these illustrations.<br />
The governess in particular looked like she stepped right out of The Tale of Genji Scrolls, from her clothing, face shape, long black hair, and the shape of her skull when her head is bent.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6NV2kLfi8ZtDvFVBXdwhj20NGrvqIjeyyzwrtiUzjlLMcNe8dzSHhEIyaaWuk-YfHR-OX3ljajBFNKONF5L74-KSNR2jXFBtcuBFJXAY7RkJ2s2O_9hBSOirK7G7fBoOM2zNimhrkOeEg/s1600/PrincessKaguya.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6NV2kLfi8ZtDvFVBXdwhj20NGrvqIjeyyzwrtiUzjlLMcNe8dzSHhEIyaaWuk-YfHR-OX3ljajBFNKONF5L74-KSNR2jXFBtcuBFJXAY7RkJ2s2O_9hBSOirK7G7fBoOM2zNimhrkOeEg/s320/PrincessKaguya.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tale of Princess Kaguya</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5QlDqKv4ZIRCP2d5XbGuMsuNPi6DYvWvVWg-rEfZKenYd4PxcD4si-Yjbbo2DT0j_MjQKFnBPl_h_nbcmH8HdbPTZOvU7aU7D9332mrs2A8yhbt8eyUeNRz8Y1JOD5pFmTzu8Gx-4eGM/s1600/Genji_emaki_azumaya+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5QlDqKv4ZIRCP2d5XbGuMsuNPi6DYvWvVWg-rEfZKenYd4PxcD4si-Yjbbo2DT0j_MjQKFnBPl_h_nbcmH8HdbPTZOvU7aU7D9332mrs2A8yhbt8eyUeNRz8Y1JOD5pFmTzu8Gx-4eGM/s320/Genji_emaki_azumaya+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tale of Genji</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In one scene, Princess painted some animals that are reminiscent of the whimsical black and white animals of Choju Jinbutu Giga scrolls.<br />
<br />
Then we've got this lovely brush work which is also reminiscent of traditional styles:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dxJPM8nKFN5xrT9t9BxMZ4hCrN3ImPSSk_GNf7rM6BHScmCXAUWJJw0_u-qVyPAxg5sb0bRVEw6unjfQa5RPiVXIC8_HEpBN2F8lvMeNLi3rjQTUt_aPz-O5VWRrn6gZwsrouvax-62h/s1600/The-Tale-of-Princess-Kaguya-Official-Teaser-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dxJPM8nKFN5xrT9t9BxMZ4hCrN3ImPSSk_GNf7rM6BHScmCXAUWJJw0_u-qVyPAxg5sb0bRVEw6unjfQa5RPiVXIC8_HEpBN2F8lvMeNLi3rjQTUt_aPz-O5VWRrn6gZwsrouvax-62h/s320/The-Tale-of-Princess-Kaguya-Official-Teaser-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tale of Princess Kaguya</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The end of the film depicted a raigo of Amida Buddha and in particular it reminded me of one picture called R<i>aigo of Amida and Twenty-Five Attendants.</i> This picture depicts the cloud at an angle coming down to a house, just like some shots in the movie. Little beings fly on ahead, like the little "fairies" in the film, although the ones in the picture aren't wearing pink skirts. A raigo is a descent of Amida Buddha to receive people after they die.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pph-p6Tu7hHH53lZ0cmaWXh3tp_h7X5NG-uhHb99uzgkrtHToD9XsUfO9gnjCLST1YMTm6QW8gafcYPUpWNW5pFXa-IqxFqX5gyYgLnp7CuKNgnRn0ioePv8311EyUKuMuqyAZad6-dS/s1600/e7a7685ff3968463ac6439f7861c6fe4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pph-p6Tu7hHH53lZ0cmaWXh3tp_h7X5NG-uhHb99uzgkrtHToD9XsUfO9gnjCLST1YMTm6QW8gafcYPUpWNW5pFXa-IqxFqX5gyYgLnp7CuKNgnRn0ioePv8311EyUKuMuqyAZad6-dS/s320/e7a7685ff3968463ac6439f7861c6fe4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Raigo of Amida and Twenty-Five Attendants</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Click here to view close-ups of the raigo painting: <a href="http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/syuzou/meihin/butsuga/item06.html" target="_blank">Kyoto National Museum: Raigo of Amida</a><br />
<br />
This film released by Studio Ghibli in 2013 is a melancholy film and not a fun family film. The film does contain the nudity of small children and breasts of nursing mothers.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Facts are from the wikipedia, my memory from The Arts of Japan class I took at university, and also <i>History of Japanese Art</i>, by Penelope Mason.</div>
Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-22317546973365304112015-06-21T21:22:00.000-04:002015-11-10T22:28:43.502-05:00The End...But Not~This post is written to my fellow Christians. ~<br />
<br />
It's interesting how there are signs of God and elements of Truth woven through culture and time, it's in Pagan lore, and it shows up in books by modern authors. There are elements of truth amongst the lies and confusion so prevalent in society.<br />
<br />
I read an account of Ragnarok (The Twilight of the Gods), which is the tale of the end of the world in Norse mythology. Much of it was very similar to what has been told in The Bible and outlined in <i>Heaven</i>, by Timothy Keller. Ragnorak contains a fight between the gods where the world is destroyed. In the end though, the children of the gods survive and begin a new life in a beautiful fresh land. Ragnarok rightly states that the world will be destroyed and a new world created. However, instead of the children of the gods, the children of God will live there. (The children of God are those who believe in the saving power of Jesus' blood and adopted by God. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! For that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." I John 3:1)<br />
<br />
There are some books that I wouldn't recommend, but yet point towards the existence of God and of sin by portraying what can happen when one lives without God, which is the reality of life for many, many people. <i>Waterland</i> asks over and over: "Why?" It shows clearly the results of sin and the barriers it creates and how actions build upon each other so that you reap what you sow. The main character asks "Why?" but he knew why. He knew the pain he, his wife, and his father (and others) faced was the result of the wrong he (and they) had done, and this truth is slowly untangled throughout the story.<br />
<br />
<i>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i> is another. I only read the first few chapters but I was just now struck with an allegory in this book --which I did not expect as this book makes light of God and contains crass imagery and innuendos (which are why I didn't finish it). In the story, Planet Earth was destroyed and Arthur Dent is presumably the only human to escape. He didn't have any luggage, he didn't get to take anything with him. The author wrote that the knowledge of Earth was just something that existed in his memory. For example there was no place he could go to pull out a record and share the music of the Beattles with anyone. It was all gone. Like death and rebirth. None of your possessions come with you. But why was he the only human to survive the destruction of Earth? It wasn't by anything he did. His friend saved him. His friend was from another world who brought him along, Arthur Dent didn't do a thing, he just woke up inside an Alien spacecraft after the Earth was destroyed.<br />
<br />
I believe the Earth will be destoyed. When people die, they take nothing with them, and the only thing that can save is Jesus. Fully God and fully man, he came from Heaven to Earth to save us from ourselves and from our sin, and our future home is in Heaven which will contain a new Earth, but this time there will be no sin and pain and suffering. Jesus is the friend who saves us.Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-63726146579887436722015-03-31T21:05:00.000-04:002015-03-31T21:05:45.367-04:00Time in the Faery Realm and Ours"Time runs differently in the mound." -<i>The Moorchild</i>, by Eloise McGraw<br />
<br />
In an ancient Irish tale in the Fenian Cycle, Oisin traveled across the sea to Tir Na nOg (The Land of Eternal Youth). He lived there for a time then asked to go home to Ireland to see his father. His lover was loathe to let him go, yet she let him go bidding him stay on the horse. Once back in Ireland, he found that his father, Fin Mac Cool, and the Feanna were gone and it was years later. Then, in aiding some men move a boulder he fell off the horse onto the ground and was instantly transformed into an old man.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUIPjc8Tr6u6AlXdHSzxtGaYtw2TJyRKwh6xrREGOUEQ2Kicj9zd78DELttp60-5ICEDvBWjf4cQksaqLnKOM4qi3HCA4GyijGKSN5JlnAo3m2LUM39gh5zPMVf50nAFuf5odhAWfcJ21/s1600/moorchild.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUIPjc8Tr6u6AlXdHSzxtGaYtw2TJyRKwh6xrREGOUEQ2Kicj9zd78DELttp60-5ICEDvBWjf4cQksaqLnKOM4qi3HCA4GyijGKSN5JlnAo3m2LUM39gh5zPMVf50nAFuf5odhAWfcJ21/s1600/moorchild.gif" height="320" width="207" /></a>In <i>The Moorchild, </i>by Eloise McGraw, published in 1998, a similar circumstance is reported, or more like, she wisely drew upon the lore of yore. A fisherman named Fergus entered the Mound (the home of the Folk, as they are called in the book, basically mischievous little people in keeping with fairytales found in <i>The Book of Fairies and Elves, </i>by Olcott). When Fergil was later sent forth from the mound he transformed into an old man and found that years had elapsed, "five-and-fifty years older" (<i>The Moorchild</i>).<br />
<br />
<br />Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-28365458780916658992015-02-02T20:13:00.003-05:002015-02-14T16:04:46.936-05:00Little Tid-bits on Psychosomatic Illness and ISFJs"ISFJs are often overworked, and as a result may suffer from psychosomatic illness." -ISFJ profile, by Margaret Marina Heiss on <a href="http://www.typelogic.com/isfj.html" target="_blank">Type Logic</a>.<br />
<br />
As we all know, <a href="http://loreandlit.blogspot.com/2014/03/dr-watson-and-expressive-isfj.html" target="_blank">Dr. Watson is an ISFJ</a>. Interestingly, in BBC's <i>Sherlock -A Study in Pink</i>, Sherlock said to Watson, "and I know that your therapist thinks that your limp is psychosomatic, quite correctly I'm afraid." In the books there is no mention of him having a psychosomatic illness.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOg8_tHh0cmB0RhiysifOPLLmlCpP4zTH1VWsWl5hLUqfzTs78Lm2Wx37vZb-ZtJVdOwznnAau2P_6LPkrHf-0o25GQds03eZg_yqyx4lnRly_72Xy4WCbmMx10pDPuq6BwrrXy-ECvBRy/s1600/enhanced-28276-1410630280-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOg8_tHh0cmB0RhiysifOPLLmlCpP4zTH1VWsWl5hLUqfzTs78Lm2Wx37vZb-ZtJVdOwznnAau2P_6LPkrHf-0o25GQds03eZg_yqyx4lnRly_72Xy4WCbmMx10pDPuq6BwrrXy-ECvBRy/s1600/enhanced-28276-1410630280-1.jpg" height="282" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Study in Pink</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-61993590300662102132015-02-02T19:46:00.001-05:002015-02-02T19:46:13.852-05:00Dr. Watson and the war in Afghanistan, past and present.In the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes, written by A. C. Doyle, Dr. Watson served in the second Afghan War. <br />
"The regiment was stationed in India at the time, and before I could join it, the second Afghan war had broken out...I...succeeded in reaching Candahar in safety, where I found my regiment, and at once entered upon my new duties." -<i>A Study in Scarlet</i>. Candahar is another spelling of current Kandahar, a city in Afghanistan.<br />
<br />
In the new BBC <i>Sherlock</i> series, Dr. Watson also served in Afghanistan.<br />
<br />
So, they're just keeping it true to the book, right?<br />
<br />
The amazing thing though is that Sherlock is set in our current times, and there currently is a war with British soldiers participating in it in Afghanistan, if this series had been produced 15 years earlier or later than it was, this statement would have been non-nonsensical. They would have had to substitute the name of a different country or set the show in the past. But they didn't, because there was a war there then, and there is a war there now.Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-26918411297464568992015-02-02T19:21:00.000-05:002015-02-14T15:55:43.753-05:00Mary Mary Uncontrary<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
I found some amusing similarities between the primary romances
featured in the Sherlock Holmes' adventures and the adventures of Richard
Hannay. The former was written prior to the latter. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. Both Richard Hannay and John Watson fall in love with
girls named "Mary." <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. Both men are struck by her beauty and remark upon the
fact that their male friend doesn't notice it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here Watson recounts his conversation with Holmes just after
Mary left in <i>The Sign of Four</i>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Standing at the window, I watched her walking briskly down
the street until the gray turban and white feather were but a speck in the
sombre crowd.<br />
What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed, turning to
my companion.<br />
He had lit his pipe again and was leaning back with drooping
eyelids. "Is she?" he said languidly; "I did not observe."<br />
"You really are an automaton -- a calculating
machine," I cried. "There is something positively inhuman in you at
times."<br />
He smiled gently.<br />
"It is of the first importance," he cried,
"not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client
is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are
antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most win- ning woman I
ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their
insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a
philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London
poor."<br />
"In this case, however --"<br />
"I never make exceptions."</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here Richard Hannay recounts his first encounter with Mary
in <i>Mr. Standfast</i>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Someone put a tea-tray on the table beside us, and I looked
up to see the very prettiest girl I ever set eyes on....She smiled demurely as
she arranged the tea-things, and I thought I had never seen eyes at once so
merry and so grave. I stared after her as she walked across the lawn, and I
remember noticing that she moved with the free grace of an athletic boy.<br />
'Who on earth's that?' I asked Blaikie.<br />
'That? Oh, one of the sisters,' he said listlessly. 'There
are squads of them. I can't tell one from another.'<br />
Nothing gave me such an impression of my friend's sickness
as the fact that he should have no interest in something so fresh and jolly as
that girl.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3. These excepts lead to the third point: both men watch
their Mary walk away. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. Both men get lost in reveries about her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watson:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I sat in the window with the volume in my hand, but
my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer. My mind ran
upon our late visitor -- her smiles, the deep rich tones of her voice, the
strange mystery which overhung her life. If she were seventeen at the time of
her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now -- a sweet age,
when youth has lost its self-consciousness and become a little sobered by
experience. So I sat and mused until such dangerous thoughts came into my head
that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise
upon pathology. What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking
account, that I should dare to think of such things? She was a unit, a factor
-- nothing more. If my future were black, it was better surely to face it like
a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the
imagination. (<i>The Sign of Four</i>)</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> Hannay: </o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
In Charing Cross Road I thought of Mary, and the
brigade seemed suddenly less attractive. I hoped the war wouldn't last much
longer, though with Russia heading straight for the devil I didn't know how it
was going to stop very soon. I was determined to see Mary before I left, and I
had a good excuse, for I had taken my orders from her. The prospect entranced
me, and I was mooning along in a happy dream, when I collided violently with in
agitated citizen.<br />
Then I realized that something very odd was happening.<br />
There was a dull sound like the popping of the corks of flat
soda-water bottles. There was a humming, too, from very far up in the skies.
People in the street were either staring at the heavens or running wildly for
shelter. A motor-bus in front of me emptied its contents in a twinkling; a taxi
pulled up with a jar and the driver and fare dived into a second-hand bookshop.
It took me a moment or two to realize the meaning of it all, and I had scarcely
done this when I got a very practical proof. A hundred yards away a bomb fell
on a street island, shivering every window-pane in a wide radius, and sending
splinters of stone flying about my head. I did what I had done a hundred times
before at the Front, and dropped flat on my face. (<i>Mr. Standfast</i>)</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, General Hannay, the career soldier, was so lost in
thoughts about Mary that he didn't notice the air raid right away.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5. Both men marry their Mary and then she's suddenly much
less of a distraction. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: lime; color: #1f497d; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-highlight: lime; mso-themecolor: text2;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
6. Both men are/were soldiers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MdmOUfjI7ZsUIxbWBobhiXvH69Sw6oAGq420la3m77_rbMOjVcq5LRlqXzaddebovbpRVBdFNN8P6jVTgvPEd133KeUXNN7z5BF_QO_8ey1Hg2wlMqMK9ZGxQjX8drrJZU3lrwmgw3Kf/s1600/800549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MdmOUfjI7ZsUIxbWBobhiXvH69Sw6oAGq420la3m77_rbMOjVcq5LRlqXzaddebovbpRVBdFNN8P6jVTgvPEd133KeUXNN7z5BF_QO_8ey1Hg2wlMqMK9ZGxQjX8drrJZU3lrwmgw3Kf/s1600/800549.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite picture of Hannay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-32442352424713655652015-01-02T22:13:00.001-05:002015-01-02T22:23:45.464-05:00The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yes, I liked it.<br />
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*Contains spoilers*<br />
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With the first two, I didn't see a need for an extended edition, this third one however, could really benefit from having an extended edition, some things were not very well explained or concluded.<br />
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For all that it's called "The Battle of The Five Armies" they never really explain the title in the film.<br />
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Favorite part: when Bilbo appears in the camp and talks with Thranduil, Bard, and Gandalf. The scene where he returns home to find all his belongings being auctioned off was satisfactory too.<br />
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I was surprised with the scenes of Bilbo alone in his "ransacked" house. All that talk of going home to his armchair, and his furniture is all gone. It almost symbolizes that his life was changed by his adventure and the emptiness in his heart due to the death of Thorin and the separation from the rest of the company. That atleast is what it said to me. That's what it's like to come back from an adventure. You've lost things, you've gained things, there's a hole in your heart from knowing those days are over despite the pain that was in them that made you a stronger person, you can never relive those moments with your team, like a breeze it's over, but it leaves an imprint on your heart and gently stirs you to drop everything and fly to the other side of the world....err...ahem, that's not where I was going to go with this... I digress, and it doesn't say all that, just the first bit, anyhow.<br />
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I liked the theme of love, loyalty, and honor. Love between many different characters, loyalty between Thorin and family, and Bilbo and Thorin, and honor between Bilbo and Thorin, Thorin and the people of Laketown.<br />
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While Tauriel and Kili were "in love" with each other, yet it was Legolas who showed the most love. Despite the fact that he was cold and distant, Legolas showed more love to Tauriel than Kili. While he never said, "I love you" or compliments her beauty: actions speak louder than words, He was always there like a shadow protecting her. He stood up to his father and refused to return to Mirkwood for her sake. He invited her to go to Gundabad with him and they rode off together on a horse --interesting date idea there.... He fought many fearsome creatures to defend her, and he knocked down a building to form a bridge to get there in time to face down the foe that's about to slay her. And yet...she was "in love" with Kili. When Thranduil said to her, "it hurts because it was real" it rings false. I don't have an issue with Kili and Tauriel falling in love, but it is a paltry love story compared to Legolas' love for her.Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-33984439844782910752014-11-16T14:23:00.003-05:002014-11-16T14:23:27.371-05:00The One Lovely Blog Award<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #888888; font-family: Lora, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 29.5360012054443px;">First of all, I would like to thank Marissa for nominating me for the </span></span><i style="color: #888888; font-family: Lora, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 29.5360012054443px;">One Lovely Blog Award</i><span style="color: #888888; font-family: Lora, Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 29.5360012054443px;">. Make sure you check out her blog: </span></span><a href="http://marissabaker.wordpress.com/" style="color: #888888; font-family: Lora, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 29.5360012054443px;" target="_blank">http://marissabaker.wordpress.com/</a> </div>
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Here's what it is and how it works: "The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by fellow bloggers for those newer and up-and-coming bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and also to help the new blogger to reach more viewers. It also recognizes blogs that are considered to be “LOVELY” by the fellow bloggers who choose them. This award recognizes bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to CONNECT with viewers and followers. In order to “accept” the award the nominated blogger must follow several guidelines:</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thank the person who nominated you for the award. </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Add the One Lovely Blog logo to your post.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Share 7 facts or things about yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nominate 15 or more bloggers you admire and inform the nominees by commenting on their blog."</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seven facts about me:</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Jesus Christ the Son of God is my Savior.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. I sometimes eat leafy greens with my ice cream.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. I write poetry.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. I received the French Honors Scholar award my senior year of college.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. I have been to France, China, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Spain, and Canada.</span><br />
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6. I don't like dry climates.</span><br />
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">7. Green is my favorite color.</span><br />
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm not going to nominate 15, I'm just going to nominate two:</span><br />
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://whatkadydid.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">What Kady Did</a> -A beautiful and artistic take on life, marriage, and family. </span><br />
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 29.5360012054443px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://twigandtoadstool.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Twig and Toadstool</a> -Full of beautiful whimsical faerie-esque crafts along with a few insights on life. </span><br />
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Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-74597551277362978422014-10-21T19:31:00.001-04:002014-10-21T19:36:08.174-04:00North and South - Mr. Thornton. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The BBC miniseries, <i>North and South</i>, exhibits some of the best casting I have ever seen. I am now reading the book on which it is based, bearing the same name, and written by Elizabeth Gaskill.<br />
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All the main characters fit very well with their descriptions from the book, Today I'm just going to focus on the remarkable similarities between the Mr. Thornton of the book, and Mr. Thornton as played by Richard Armitage.<br />
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The book describes Mr. Thornton thus,<br />
"Now, in Mr. Thornton's face the straight brows fell low over the deep-set earnest eyes, which, without being unpleasantly sharp, seemed intent enough to penetrate into the very heart and core of what he was looking at. The lines in the face were few but firm, as if they were carved in marble, and lay principally about the lips, which were slightly compressed over a set of teeth so faultless and beautiful as to give the effect of sudden sunlight when the rare bright smile, coming in an instant and shining out of the eyes, changed the whole look from the severe and resolved expression of a man ready to do and dare everything, to the keen honest enjoyment of the moment, which is seldom shown so fearlessly and instantaneously except in children." (<i>North and South</i>, chapter 10)<br />
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In the movie, not only does Richard Armitage fit this description, but the way he played the character fits as well. His eyes were piercing, he looked severe, and at that moment when he smiled in the movie near the end, it was like the sun burst forth suddenly from behind clouds and it seemed as if he was entirely wrapped up in that moment.<br />
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Here is a set of pictures to illustrate this description and demonstrate how they coincide:<br />
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"The straight brows fell low over the deep-set earnest eyes...seemed intent enough to penetrate...The lines in the face were few but firm, as if they were carved in marble and lay principally about the lips...the severe and resolved expression of a man ready to do and dare everything."<br />
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"...when the rare bright smile, coming in an instant and shining out of the eyes, changed the whole look from the severe and resolved expression of a man ready to do and dare everything, to the keen honest enjoyment of the moment, which is seldom shown so fearlessly and instantaneously except in children."</div>
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One difference is that his teeth are hardly seen when he smiles, while in the book it seems they are visible when he smiles, although much of the smile comes from his eyes: "a set of teeth so faultless and beautiful as to give the effect of sudden sunlight when the rare bright smile, coming in an instant and shining out of the eyes."</div>
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All the same, I am amazed at how well he fits the description in the book in look and manner. </div>
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Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-15409257062718281512014-10-21T16:50:00.002-04:002014-10-21T16:50:52.646-04:00The Hobbit, Battle of the Five Armies teaser trailerI was in China when the teaser trailer came out and was able to watch it via an Australian news-site. Later, I learned how to work the big screen TV which connected to the internet that was in our room, and was able to watch it full screen! So exciting, I would not have been able to do that at home!<br />
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I love the trailer. I was disappointed in both <i>The Desolation of Smaug </i>trailer and movie. So since I loved this trailer and love <i>An Unexpected Journey</i>, I'm hoping <i>Battle of the Five Armies</i> will be stellar! Since I love this trailer so much, I'm embedding it here in my blog.<br />
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It was certainly epic, dramatic, and stirring. Bilbo's lines 'One day I will remember..." followed with Pippin's song were just beautiful! If you remember from An Unexpected Journey, Gandalf said to Bilbo, "Home is behind, the world ahead." This is the opening line from Pippin's song, which is now in this trailer. I like to think that Bilbo wrote this song because of this adventure and Pippin learned it from him. In the book, Bilbo did write songs that Pippin, Merry, and Frodo all learned and sang, and while this song is not in the book, it makes for a sort of blended fan-fiction/head-canon.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bZ-stZYAvkQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-41981104174016520262014-09-30T22:30:00.001-04:002014-10-05T22:23:59.758-04:00ISFJ and the agony of having extroverted intuition as your quaternary functionAs I've said before, I'm an ISFJ.<br />
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This means that my fourth and least developed function is Extroverted Intuition. The websites I've read have said that as such, our intuition can steer us wrong. Joe Butt says, "ISFJs are easily undone by Extraverted iNtuition, their inferior function" (<a href="http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality/ISFJ" target="_blank">Humanmetrics.com: ISFJ</a>).<br />
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Now, that's my weakest function. That's what I'm bad at. My intuition is a funny thing, and I'm only vaguely conscious of it. Sometimes I'm not sure if what I'm listening to is my extroverted intuition or my women's intuition, or something else entirely.<br />
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There are times when my intuition is spot on, and there are other times when I can't trust it. <i>Is that all in my head? Do they actually not like me? </i>I'll walk around with an uncomfortable feeling, <i>it isn't right, how can we regain peace? </i>Then I turn to prayer.<br />
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Sometimes I'll think of something to say in a situation and then I'll get a feeling: <i>don't say that. </i>If I do say it, sometimes I regret it, sometimes not.<br />
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One time though, a friend told me that he couldn't meet me as planned, his parent's wanted to talk to him about something. I could easily explain it away as not a big deal, but my gut wouldn't accept that. Whenever I thought about it, I began to shake. My legs trembled. I felt cold and my heart felt strange. The fear overwhelmed me, I could logically explain it away and make sense of it in my head and come up with some non-dire explanation. But I couldn't accept that. It turned out my intuition was correct. My friend admitted that something was wrong, and agreed to tell me in a few days. During those few days of anxious waiting, my brain pondered and I figured out what had happened ahead of time. I was calm when the blow fell. I felt almost nothing, my heart was a lump of dead flesh. Now, on <i><a href="http://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/cognitivefunctions" target="_blank">Funky MBTI Fiction</a></i> I read that the fourth and weakest function "often only turns up under extreme stress or anxiety." This was a case of extreme stress and anxiety and this issue that my intuition cued in on was not the only anxiety I was facing at the time. I remember hunching up in a boxed in corner of my bedroom sobbing on the phone to my best friend...<br />
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Another facet of having extroverted intuition as the fourth from your longest and strongest suite (to use a bridge term) is not always knowing what to say to people or being able to understand their meaning. ISFJs "aren't quite as good at reading others as their extroverted counterpart. The ISFJ needs external indicators to understand what is required from them and can sometimes get wrapped up in their own internal world and forget to check their Ne." (<a href="http://funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com/post/74970879043/type-contrast-esfj-vs-isfj-there-is-no-more-down" target="_blank">ESFJ vs. ISFJ</a>)As a side note on this: it also really stinks when you realize your world in your head isn't real, and the characters in your story aren't quite so pure and noble as you thought they were....<span style="font-family: Droid Sans;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> This has happened to me, and it seems to have also happened to Dr. John Watson (aslo an ISFJ) in BBC's Sherlock, </span></span><br /> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5yN5O2XG-Mk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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When I'm in a conversation usually, feelings of warmth and support are there, but they stumble out of my mouth in awkward words, too deep, not deep enough, not quite what I meant to say or how I wanted it to sound. Or I keep quiet out of fear of saying the wrong thing. Later, my brain catches up to my heart and I think of a much better way to say it. (Guess why I like writing?)<br />
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I really don't understand my fourth function, I'm just trying to give some examples of what it's like to have extroverted intuition as your weakest function. Try performing brain surgery on yourself...it's like that...Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640943118282618269.post-76389486483484355512014-08-29T13:35:00.000-04:002014-08-29T13:35:00.353-04:00The Middle-Kingdom and Middle-EarthI just returned from a month in China. It was an amazing journey! It wasn't all a easy, we had work to do, but things like that draw you closer to people and I loved living with my wonderful room-mates and meeting lots of sweet people. It's hard being home now, with the wind out of my sails, my new friends dispersed, wondering what's next, playing over the past and asking, "what could I have done better?" I think I've learned a lot about myself, but I'm still processing. We'll put all that aside now and have a little fun!<br />
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While in China, I found a few things that reminded me of Middle-Earth.<br />
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My first weekend there, I visited The Temple of Heaven. I was excited to find a GREEN DRAGON. (Or at least, I assumed it was a dragon...)<br />
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Oh, wait, there's like a thousand of them! (And these are dragons beyond a doubt!)<br />
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Actually, there are dragons everywhere in Beijing!<br />
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This doorway reminded me of Hobbit architecture:<br />
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The gates had very large red doors with big gold studs. The door handles were placed so high, I felt like a tiny hobbit. Here I'm on tipy-toe.<br />
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And at Beihai Park, I spotted this round green door!<br />
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I also spent quite a bit of time in subterranean tunnels built by expert engineers. While it wasn't the Mines of Moria or the kingdom of Dale, but rather The Subway, the trains sped through the tunnels like fierce little dragons. It would be death to fall in their path...<br />
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That's all for now!Edana A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12048072153276204769noreply@blogger.com0