a plea for disagreement

Okay, so I was reading a blog today, and I came accross an extremely (I think I use that word too much) disturbing GIF.


It was about gay rights (which is not our topic today), yadda yadda yadda, and ended with these two panels. Yes, that is Josh Hutcherson, AKA Peeta in the Hunger Games movies, but whatever.....AVENGERS. (Just had to get that out there)






Does that disturb you? I am seriously creeped out.


And futhermore, we're not gonna let anybody say anything bad about anyone.


WHAT?


It's almost like living in a dystopian novel, where no one is allowed to say anything bad about anyone else. They already label "hate crimes" in some countries. And in the early 19th century "libel" (or saying anything about the ruling party) was a crime.
I believe that disagreement helps shape us. for as C.S. Lewis says, "You are a soul. You have a body." Not the other way round.

Proverbs 24:6 ~ "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellers there is safety." (i.e, not just one accepted view) 

How will we know the truth if we can't test it against untruth (rather irrelevant in a post-modern society sadly)? In America we still have the Constitutional right to say whatever we want, however loony it may be. If you want to say that you think gay marriage, abortion, or government interference is wrong, you should certainly be able to say so, without it being labeled as a "hate crime" or what-have-you. Conversely, the opposite views can say what they want. The truth is still there. Everything is biased one way or another.

I mean, hate IS wrong, but it only hurts the person hating, so unless it leads to unlawful acts, whose business of it is if you hate something?

It is only when people sit, think, and argue that the true course of action can be determined. Like Socrates. Like Jesus pitting His truth against the Pharisees and Jewish leaders. WHY do we believe a certain thing about a certain issue? 

The type of thinking that the estimable Josh displays leads to a creepy Orwellian society, where no one thinks but merely receives (e.g. public schools) and everyone doesn't care anyway because we're all distracted  by the endless predigested entertainment through our televisions, computers, iPads, iPods........

True thing, that.

Truly disturbing.

And I'm aware this really wasn't one of my most logical or best written posts, but bear with me, okay?

My dad got to come home from the hospital today, so we are all happy about that. Please keep praying for his recuperation. :-)

TTFN, ta-ta for now, if I may quote Tigger.

~ Diana


P.S. AVENGERS. See what I meant about endless entertainment? Still, May 4th IS coming.

little importance

Just things of little importance I photographed around my house.

Why? Because I have a weakness for taking weird close up shots.

Why cupcakes? Because a) I made them yesterday and b) they're delicious.

Why mini cupcakes? Because I ran out of large cupcake pans.

Why an Orangina bottle? Because I like to drink water out of it. And yes, we did get snow this morning.

Why a silicone potholder? Because as I mentioned in this post, I love them. Plus they're a pretty color.

Why a closeup of a throw pillow?

No clue.

Why take photos of the globe? I just like maps, that's why.

Why is my heart broken? Because Picnik is closing in April. How will I edit my photos? *sob*

Why are my sheep pawing the snow? Again, I have no clue.

Why is my little sister playing Christmas songs on the piano? Because her teacher told her to. Hmm.

Oh, and in the time from the duration of my last post, I watched Jaws (scary and amazing) re-read A Wrinkle in Time (terrific book) and read all three books of The Hunger Games trilogy on my iPod. (first book was great, second book was a hot mess, and third book was depressing, moving and emotional).

In the real, non-frivolous world, I'm going to get my working papers next week so I can get a real job, and am researching cob houses ( am reading this book), dreaming about building one, and planning on educating myself about different methods of education. (i.e., Montessori, John Holt, John Dewey, Waldorf, etc.) So that's life.

Have a great weekend! 

dear boys: a link up

(Okay so this is a blog link-up thing where you write a letter to...boys?!?! I'm going to try this anyway, even if I'm late to the party)

Dear teenage boys,

be grateful

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!


~  Psalms 50:23


I am grateful to God* for many things:


Salvation. Sheep. Family. My few but completely amazing friends. Chickens that go bawk. Labrador retrievers. Hills. My iPod touch. My country. The ocean. Mashed rutabaga. Vanilla ice cream. Church.


Be thankful! And eat lots of turkey!

*Annoying footnote: as opposed to just being thankful to whatever vague and unknown deity is out there, I profess to be thankful to God, who has never given up on humanity. EVER.

gender roles + SNOW!

Time for a serious post. You may not agree with me over this, but then you don't have to....but please, keep it civil if you comment.




* * * * * * * * * * * * 


The original "gender roles" were thus: men took care of women who had the children.
Today, we in America live in a very advanced, civilized society. It is considered permissible for both sexes to many things which would have been frowned upon two hundred years ago. For example, women are lawyers and politicians, both jobs which were traditionally left to the men.


Is this a bad thing? As long as we keep in mind the original model, and don't adopt a personal "I can do whatever I want and hang the consequences!", I don't think it usually is. An exception when women are encouraged to do things they really aren't able to, as affirmative action in government jobs does: create *diversity* and limit efficiency (wait, we're talking about the government...) because those women simply aren't right for the jobs, and got in not because of their grades but because of their sex or color of their skin.


However, speaking from a Biblical as well as practical worldview, some vocations simply are best left to men. Military combat is a prime example. 
The time-honored model is for the men to fight, and the women to stay at home and take care of the kids, and keep the country going so that the men have something to fight for. This makes sense from a purely biological sense because males are *usually* physically stronger, and are better at keeping an army together. Also, when you introduce women into a male-dominated institution, it can be distracting = less organized fighting = less effective = we lose.


So one can conclude that America today has made a dangerous innovation on a model that has been working more of less for thousands of years. Only time will tell what the long-lasting effects will be, but the short-term effects have seriously endangered the welfare of what used to be world's greatest military.


Another time-honored institution in which the male/female roles have worked together with great results is the family: by which I mean a father, a mother, and varying amount of offspring. Sometimes this gets messed up, and the child(ren) are left with either only a mother, only a father, a step-mother or father, or neither. In each case it is a sad situation, but not really hopeless, as the children can still thrive and grow up to be happy, useful members of society. :)


But a truly ominous situation, another one of those 'dangerous innovations' that well-meaning people introduce upon thousands of years of various ups and downs is the public acceptance of same-sex marriage. 


This issue really isn't about feelings, love, or because we just don't "like" gay people, but because this is making a perversion normal. Being "gay" is a choice (must be or else it would have been bred out of the genetic line); or at least a problem you can fight against. This may sound idealistic, but we always have to fight against something that's tempting us, be it large or small.
All I am saying is that if as a society, and in the public schools, we accept this as a norm, then we will end up with a distorted society, and blurring of gender roles. (which are pretty messed up already)


(As a Christian, I'd like to say that God has a plan for everyone, and what might be right for one person isn't always right for another. [It's called "conscience"])


But on a larger scale, if we continue to blur or switch gender roles, we will be less efficient as a country, and may become non-existent eventually, because we won't know who we are!


 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 




Whew!!! After numerous distractions I finally finished writing. 
And its SNOWING. *sigh* Winter is coming, folks. It sure looks pretty though.

photo credit

Does anyone want to take me skiing? Please? I'm terrible at it, but it sure is fun!
The chickens and sheeples were very much confused by the snow. Honey the Lab loved it!

photo credit

 

photo credit

my  edited photo!

Auf weidersehn. I can't decide if I like this font better than this one. Talk about stupid decisions....

i've got good news......

......and bad news.


Good news: my mother found my long-lost (long story) iPod touch! Extremely exciting!!!


Bad news: why would you care if I have my iTouch back or not? It has nothing to do with you, as I am sure you have your own set of problems to deal with. 


Thoughtful quote:


It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million of human beings collected together are not under the same moral laws which bind each of them separately.


~ Thomas Jefferson


We would all love there to be no confining, restrictive rules. And in the beginning, before sin entered the earth, there were no rules (excepting one!). But since there are natural rules, it is better to simply obey the sensible ones as a duty instead of trying to flout everything and live your own way, which is not possible on this corruptible earth, unfortunately. 
That is the foundation of the Constitution in America: working with the way men are naturally, accepting the fact that we are sinful instead of trying to make up new, Utopian and perfect rules, which are easily corrupted by inevitable megalomaniacs.  (Think the French revolution)


 ~ ~ ~ 


Having spoken of the world at large, I will commence to speak of what happens to by on my mind: breeding sheep. I am preoccupied with rams, ewes, ewe lambs, lambs, and suchlike at the moment....I have decided to breed my two ewe lambs at the age of nine months, to lamb at fourteen months old, in lateish April, just as the nutritious spring grasses come into their own. 

Sadie and Amelia at almost seven months old, currently.

Sadie and Amelia at two and a half month old.

In honor of those who perished on 9/11 ten years ago.





 painting by Jasper Johns ~ weird rustic aesthetic, but cool idea.  






A Sunday-inspired hymn, to calm in the midst of all this devastation, from

 Elizabeth P. Prentiss

More Love to Thee by 

More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee! 
 Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee. 
 This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to thee; 
 more love to thee, more love to thee! 

Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest; 
 now thee alone I seek, give what is best. 
 This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to thee; 
 more love to thee, more love to thee! 

Let sorrow do its work, come grief and pain; 
 sweet are thy messengers, sweet their refrain, 
 when they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to thee; 
 more love to thee, more love to thee! 

Then shall my latest breath whisper thy praise; 
 this be the parting cry my heart shall raise; 
 this still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to thee; 
 more love to thee, more love to thee! 

.....And to top everything off, a photo of my very svelte and attractive young 

goat!

(He didn't want me taking a picture of his face)

Hmm, I seem to suffer from the same universal delusions which harbor much of the female portion of humanity: pretending animals can talk. Ah well, a harmless oddity. Added to my other oddities, however, this takes the cake. The goat says hi.

Quid agis!

longum verborum

Hmm. So they actually didn't find the longest word in the English language?

"O, they have lived long on the alms-basket of words.
I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;
for thou art not so long by the head as
honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier
swallowed than a flap-dragon."

                                                              ~ Shakespeare, Love's Labor Lost

*Brownie points if you can pronounce it. 

For those wishing to improve their non-academic vocabulary with *usable* (even if no one else knows what the heck you mean--join the club) try reading some O. Henry short stories. Or a Booth Tarkington novel. Or any classic book, or well-written poetry, really. Finding new extensive words in a good, well-written book is like chocolate chips in a cookie for me. 

*****************************************

My mom wishes the earthquake which struck D.C., Virginia and New York today had taken some politicians with it! Can't say I blame her, as the politicians do a lot of damage down there.....

our need for music

Been busy here, fellow carbon-based life forms. Will try to post one *good* post a week during the school year.
So many things I could post about: my upcoming birthday, the ban on DDT and malaria, the decay of popular culture, music, what love really is, or I could post a recipe for chocolate milk which will make you die. (In a good way, that is, not a bad way!)
Well, I think I shall have to pick......music.


                                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
(being rather a perfectionist, I HAD to make the divider another color!)


Music: It can feed your soul or kill it. It can change hearts or harden them. It can get your adrenaline pumping, or bore you half to death.*


Why does the human mind seem to need music? It isn't essential for life, and neither can we eat it. The answer may lie in the fact that men (and here I mean the entire race of man, not only the male portion of it) do not consist of merely their physical bodies. We are the (proud) possessors of immortal souls as well, created by a higher being as was the body.  And this soul needs food as much as our bodies do. No, we can't feed our brains cheeseburgers. In fact, the brain exercising and soul growing is in fact the hardest part of being human. It is much easier to change our physical bodies then to change our hearts. Thus, it would stand to reason that feeding our souls nourishing meat and drink would also require more mental work than not feeding it, and staying the way you are now for eternity.


But I digress...to return the subject at hand (and not wander off into a theological and metaphysical** quandary), my hypothesis of why we need (and, to assuage that need, create and perform) music, is that "real" music feeds our souls. And by "real" music, I mean hard music. Classical music,*** generally, or any true or beautiful music which may not appeal to you at first, depending on your level of education, peers, or family.


Forgive me for using a cliched example, but this could be compared to....food.**** You could think of classical (or difficult) music as the meat, or in a vegan's case, soy protein, of the diet. And the more vapid, less deep music, or "music" as the case may be, as dessert, candy bar, marshmallow, poison, or everything else.


Or think of it this way: If you can train your ears to enjoy deeper things: good literature (as opposed to light-n-fluffy reading, Dick and Jane, or romance novels*****), great music (hey, there has to be a reason it has survived so long!), healthier food (your body needs to eat sometimes too) or harder things in general, you can still enjoy the less fluffy stuff (sometimes).
 But if you are only trained to the fluffy (sometimes in the complimentary sense)) stuff, you will have a hard time understanding the deeper stuff. 


Which will you choose?


And as a final note, your soul's worth lies in your own hands. It is your own choice what you make of yourself; whether you feed your soul with the good stuff, the meat and drink, the soy protein****** which will enlarge you mind, or keep on stuffing the junk food into your mind, the effects of which may not be visible right away, but will eventually accumulate in something far worse than a sick body: moral and mental decay!


Finis.


FOOTNOTES:


*For instance, country or pop music.
**What a fun word to say: metaphysical! I <3 long words.
***Classical music hasn't actually been proven to make  you smarter, but it can't hurt IMHO. And it doesn't distract you from your work with silly lyrics.
****.....Always a good thing. Especially with chocolate or frosting. 


***** "Oh George, marry me, darling, or I shall throw myself off this cliff!"
******Yuck. Save soybeans, eat more cow. ;-) 


(These footnotes were fun to write!)


OKAY. Now that I have attempted to convince you of the importance of "real" music in the grand scheme of things, I feel liberated to jabber on about my personal music preferences.


Never having been much exposed to more popular and recent music as a young child, I grew up thankfully old-fashioned in my music tastes. Now that I am older, the more I see of popular music  today (2011) the less I am impressed with few exceptions. Some of it seems to be a sort of opiate of the masses, keeping them distracted from bigger issues, and some of it is just obscene, and some of it is just dumb, at least to me.

For classical composers, my two hands-down favorites are Beethoven, and Mozart. (NO, I did NOT forge their signatures. I got them off Wikipedia)





For me, Beethoven portrays the most timeless passion, strong beauty and mystery in his music. His themes are always fresh and new sounding, never dated. My particular favorite of all of his works I have listened to thus far is his Piano Concerto #4. It reminds me of the power and inscrutability of the ocean. His pieces are rendered even more amazing by the fact that he was deaf when he wrote some of them! Personally, Ludwig Beethoven was said to be a strange and turbulent character, proof that God can work through all of us! 
I'm planning on listening to every single one of his symphonies. No, stupid, not all at once.





And Mozart's music is just....beautiful. His music with its often incredibly melodies reminds me of a dancer, light and airy on her feet, skipping through high soprano pieces and darker, heavier pieces with perfect ease. His music sounds like his signature looks. And I am a fan of some of his opera music (from, at least those I have listened to!) Being a kind, thoughtful person,I will post links to Voi, Che Sapete (one of my favorite pieces to sing) and L'ho perduta, me meschina (another fun piece to sing). I can't say I've listened to a ton of Mozart; will have to sometimes.


Chopin is nice for something different.


On to singers: I can't say I have a favorite singer. I do enjoy opera, which while not for everyone, is thoroughly dramatic, tragic, romantic, melodramatic (I enjoy amateurly over-acting scenes) and beautiful. 
Favorite pieces at the moment:


Una Voce Poco Fa from the Barber of Seville (Rossini) as sung by Maria Callas.
Casta Diva from Norma can't remember who composed it?!
Nessun Dorma from Turandot 
O Mio Babbino Caro 


Anyway, I also like a select few Broadway musicals: namely, My Fair Lady and Man of La Mancha.  The former because it is hilarious, and the latter because it reminds me of these goofy goats, and I like the music!


I listen to jazz with der Vater sometimes too, which is okay, but puts me to sleep, sadly.


But my absolute overall just plain FUN music HAS to be Gilbert and Sullivan. Hilarious, extremely fun to both sing and act, and witty lyrics and also alliterative agony. 


What music makes you, dear readers, the most happy?


Auf Weidersehn!


~ Diana


"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 100:2

sunday musings

"...Wise and good men, are, in my opinion, the strength of the state; much more so than riches or arms..."
~ Benjamin Franklin, 1750


Good point there, Ben!


...I pulled the above bit from an article my mom was reading. I, being unfortunately of a very nosy disposition, took a look at it. BTW, I'm (so is she) and Aristotelian. I haven't read too much of him yet; maybe I'll start with this because I do love animals! 


HEY!!! IT'S SUNDAY!!!! WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT ARISTOTLE???
.....After all, you can be the most learned and Classically educated person in the world, and still be lost eternally.


On to a classic work of non-fiction, a historical document to some, the Word to others: the Bible!


"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? 


As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."
~ Romans 10:14-17 E.S.V.


The above verse was featured in the sermon today at our Church. Interesting, and humbling thought to us proud mortals.


...Oh, and I was absolutely APPALLED to read that the average 8-18 year old American spends an average of 6.5 hours every day on some sort of electronic device. "Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh." ~ Evelyn (from her blog, Defeating Dragons.)


WHAT??????????? How are those kids EVER going to ACCOMPLISH anything if they're always on some device?!?!  The teenagers who "make a difference" and accomplish big things, (be it simply serving your family quietly, writing a book, getting a real job and performing it faithfully, or anything else REAL that requires dedication, finesse and skill) will always be the ones who spend less time distracting themselves and "goofing off" (as rudely put by my D.M.). 


Facebook, texting, and computer games aren't really the problem, after all. The problem is the kids themselves, their parents, and the society that produced them.   Double GAH!!!! Which even then hardly begins to express my "amazement and surprise, which you may judge from the expression of my eyes." Oops, sorry. Die hard Gilbert and Sullivan fan here. 

....And with that final depressing and sobering thought, I must leave you, dear readers.
Have a nice and at least reasonably happy Sabbath day. BTW, I find the word Sabbath to be infinitely more beautiful and musical a word than than Sunday, so I shall use it.


~ Diana 


Less depressing paintings:


Children in the Sea 1909 by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida

I really like summer-y, beachy paintings. They instantly transport me to the ocean shore.......

Or to the rocks of "Rocky Point at Port-Goulphor".....by Claude Monet.

God's creation is indeed varied! 

the ignored sin

Sometimes I really hate the computer.
It can be such a distraction, evil in its very insidiousness. Suddenly you realize you just spent an hour on it when you "just went on" to check your email.
It can steal your time, and take your time away from the REAL physical world, and its people and needs. I just feel like I'm wasting my life, sometimes, when I go on the computer without an aim to accomplish.


The birds sing. Evil men plot. The chicken coop needs to be cleaned. A whole host of heathen nations need to hear the Word of God. There are real mountains to climb. Whole worlds to discover! And yet...
Here you are. Sitting on your computer aimlessly browsing your favorite sites/forums/games waiting for the screen to refresh. Playing a game. Cyber-giggling with your friends on Facebook. While time passes.....on and on....


This, my friends, is a serious sin. Wasting time. I'm not going to blatantly say we should NEVER play games, never go on the computer, or chat on Facebook, but I would like to point out that much of the things we do in our lives might simply be "filler": taking up our time while we never get anything back from it.


I'm not going into the content of what you might be doing on the computer; I'm going to focus on the time-wasting aspect. 


The computer, like much of technology, is completely neutral. Its content can be evil or good, and anything in between. The decision lies with us--and how we use it. The internet and the computer were developed to be tools, and extremely helpful ones at that. 


(Also, I'm not decrying people who play games or chat on Facebook or a forum to relax from their stressful, hardworking lives, or it helps them to get away from difficult times.)


It is about us. Are we living our lives in focused way? Are we skillfully sailing our ships through the rough ocean of life or are we aimlessing skidding along on every wave with our sails down? 


After all, America may have many problems that need to be dealt with if our country is to survive, but if our own lives and hearts aren't right, how can we set a good example? And being focused, and having a purpose in life, will certainly help. 
It is something I certainly struggle with! But sail on: their HAS to be a purpose in all of this. A bunch of small good decisions, the decision I can make today to not waste time, or to not commit a sin, will add up to something BIG tomorrow.


Finis.


Two Summery sailboat paintings:

Colorful Regatta by Lisa Lorenz.

The Greatest Race by Montague Dawson.


Auf Weidersehn.


~ Diana

the blogger returneth......

So I did! Just got back from L.I. Long, boring trip. But the baby shower was pretty nice; I'm glad I went, for the sake of my as-yet-unborn niece. *insert smile here* And we had a nice visit with some old friends, and I got to go to the BEACH!!!! 


Anyway, I just wanted to inform my readers of the aforementioned fact, and of an interesting idea, at least for the eccentric amongst us. Notice that I mean a REAL eccentric, who chooses not to follow the herd, not a pseudo-eccentric who follows the eccentric herd. It seems being weird/eccentric/odd/nerdy/geeky/you-get-the-idea is the *cool* thing now.
 On Facebook you regularly see things like "Im insane and proud of it!". (Note the incorrect spelling) You shouldn't be proud of being insane....and if they really were insane, why would they be on FB? Oh. That brought up another train of thought....

Rather than being proud of being eccentric, I suppose we should strive to be "normal" in God's eyes: doing what is right and living the way we believe instead of taking the easy route and following the herd, like sheep. Except for sheep, following the herd is life or death. For us, it is also life or death; but the other way round!


Alright, time for a quote break!!!!!!! [An excess of exclamation points: sure sign of an enthusiastic young female humanoid!!!!!!!!!!!] 

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative."

~ W. S. Gilbert

"But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head."
                        ~ Psalms 3:3


[Side note: I have an incurable tendency to spell Psalms "Pslams!" Very annoying word to spell!]


"If you were me, then I'd be you. And if I were you, then I'd hide somewhere far, far, away."
                       ~Artemis Fowl 


[Yet another Side note: only one of the above quotes is meant to be taken seriously!]


What?!?! No photos?!?!? 





The above is Fire Island, NY. I've been there myriad times. I do like lighthouses!
I've also been to this one:



My gracious, that was very random.
So, auf weidersehn, my dear readers, I must depart. 


~ Diana

saturday

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." 
~T. Jefferson
< Get it? A shoe=foothold. 














You may have guess by now that I'm quite fond of quoting at all/any occasions. 
And I'm well read enough that I can do that....if I remember the quote.


I am also fully aware that the title of this post is extremely unimaginative and 
lame. So be it. Inspiration failed me.


This afternoon I am attempting to make Lamingtons, a small cake dipped in chocolate and coconut, which I am told is an extremely popular baked good in Australia.  Sounded good to me! They should be good. No photos today, unfortunately. *fans throw rotten tomatoes at me*


Enough about the cooking. Personally, I prefer eating to cooking, even though the latter certainly is a good skill and can be exhilarating ! Mostly, it is the cleaning up part I object to.


"I accept refreshment at any hands, however lowly." ~ W.S. Gilbert




Adios! Now go off the computer and go outside!