middlings

Greetings, friends, family, and assorted sentient beings. 

The reason I haven't blogged in a while is the usual affliction: not having a single bloody thing to write about. 

What have I been doing:

watched The Phantom Menace in 3D which was fun

thinking about how to cram (yet not doing it) and get a a diploma early so I can be legally high school free

not really...I hope....

wishing for summer

wishing I was at med school hacking dissecting cadavers (sort of kidding...mostly...)

(oops maybe I shouldn't have written that)

listening to large Labs snoring

watching Star Trek

waiting

being cautious

reading Pride and Prejudice for school  (favorite characters: Mr. Bennet because he is witty and Mr. Bingley because he's so dumb and clueless)

hating on Peeta and Gale for being one-dimensional characters

.....

What I haven't been doing:

blogging (obviously!)

skiing (I wish)

hiking through wildernesses (ditto) 

making pasta salad

rescuing princesses

dancing

looking for the Holy Grail

playing Whack-a-Mole

working at SETI

joining Starfleet 

.....

What I wish I could do:

explore wildernesses

make my father's back heal instantly (prayers please)

write a novel

get an M.D. just so I could say legitimately "I'm a doctor, not a ____!" to someone

find mummies buried under the front porch 

or else an ancient castle

i'm not sure

go to the north pole

ensure that my sheep are pregnant

stop the human race from being so hopelessly stupid and blind

.....

That's it for today folks. Have a wonderful weekend.

~ Diana

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.

libri

Well, I am alive.
*insert cheering and canned laughter*


My life is changing. 


My dad is in the hospital recovering from a serious back operation. He is in excruciating pain, so please put him in your prayers. 
I have spent the last several days at home (as usual; hermits hate going to new places) watching my siblings while my mother spent the majority of the day at the hospital. We watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 

The Joneses.

which was the perfect action-adventure movie: I loved it. So awesome! And we watched, on a whim, UHF, which is a little known comedy spoof with Weird Al Yankovic in it, which is why we watched it, because we're Weird Al fans. Hilarious movie, but very off kilter and weird. 

So that is life. 

I'm reading some books on education, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and rereading Jurassic Park.I just read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, and The Giver by Lois Lowry.

The Andromeda Strain was pretty good. I liked it.

It was written in a very dry, scientific,  and in some spots slow manner.The end was a bit of a letdown. It is about a germ that comes to Earth from space (hitching a ride on a space capsule) and kills off an entire town. Five men are sent to an underground secret location and they have to figure out how this germ (the Andromeda strain) works, and how to kill it.

The Giver....ugh, it was awful.

 Set in a dystopic futuristic society, where there are no emotions and everything is colorless, it tells about how one boy escapes. The Sameness of the society is intriguing, but not well fleshed out enough to be plausible. I suppose the author thought she was making a case how individuality and being able to make choices keep us human, but it came off as rather uninteresting and depressing. A very bleak book, written simply and sparsely (the writing is better than in The Hunger Games), this book goes on my Depressing Books I hated List, where it can share the space with Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, which was fantastically written but completely non-relatable to a teenager and absolutely tragic.

Oh, and The Hunger Games? After reading/suffering through all three books in the trilogy I feel entitled to state my opinions.

1. THG should have been a stand-alone book.

2. Catching Fire was the worst. I was confused and annoyed while reading it. 

3. Fangirling over Peeta and Gale misses the entire point of the series.

4. They're very violent. Don't read the second and third book if you are squeamish. However the first book wasn't too bad.

5. Suzanne Collin's characterizations weren't terrific. All three of her main characters could have been fleshed out a lot more, because they came across as flat in some places.

6. This series really shows the sadness and tragedy of war to its victims. In a society that glorifies violence we need to remember this, yet also remember that evil must be stamped out, and we can start in our own souls.

7. The movie looks like it is going to be good. Maybe they can fix the problems the book had.

There's a lot more one could say about THG, but I'm just going to leave it at that. There are many good, in-depth reviews out there. This is not going to be one of them.

Also I recently re-read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline l'Engle. I love that book! So weird and amazing.

A blog post you should check out:

Hi, I'm Socially Awkward by Jedi~Chick

Spot on.

Bye for now!

~ Diana

i've got good news, bad news, and a book suggestion!

- BAD News first, to get it over with. Basically, the bad news was this. THIS. In concise wording, a flood of the general area around which my famiglia situated. We are on top of a high hill, so the only excess water affecting us was in our cellar, but the area down town, right on the Susquehanna river, was devastated. Literally. For those of you not familiar with rivers, think 14-foot high water under bridges, and entire river-facing streets were deluged under 8-feet expanses of dirt brown water. 


Hundreds of people in the area are still without electricity (thankfully we have it) and internet. We just got it this afternoon, obviously, as you are reading this.


- GOOD news. (Yes, I am in the right mind to write good news. Three days without internet or hot water have cleared my mind of the hubris and general depression my last blog post was written in)


Kayleigh May Beck******* was born on Wednesday, September 7th at approximately 7pm, to Gayle and William, my sister-in-law and brother. We are all extremely excited to welcome her!!!!



       

Anyway, as I was saying, very exciting news. Certainly smiley face worthy! I don't like to bandy them things around my blog like annoying tennis balls, but this event is worthy of a few more.  

Moving on, we come to the book suggestion. I finished Arundel by Kenneth Roberts---you should really read it. (Whoever happens to be reading this at this time, and providing you haven't read it already which I seriously doubt)
Arundel was historical fiction at its finest. Fast paced, meaty, and exciting. Solidly researched and well-written. I'd recommend it to anyone 12 and up. It would make a nice thick change from the usual revolting YA novels many teens read in their spare time. (If they have any in this age of homework)
As I don't feel like writing a synopsis, go check it out yourself.


Whew. Fine weather we're having today.


Carrots I planted in the spring:

 Silkie cockerels I'm trying to sell:

 A eagle-eyed EE pullet:

 And an eternal photographic theme, flowers!

Finis.

educational grouchiness

Fall is so mournful, yet so exquisitely beautiful for a short time. It always makes me feel poetic, in a pseudo-meaningful, rather aimless manner. I always feel rather tragic around the first weeks of September, because it means schoolwork, coldness, and pumpkins and mums, which aren't as showy, delicious and attractive as their summer counterparts: berries, peaches, and petunias. 
Wait. I do like apples! 


I was researching the Montessori and the Waldorf systems of education today for no legitimate reason other than I wanted to know what they were about. (I must admit I had been complaining before about the-honored-and-respected-may-she-live-forever Charlotte Mason, whose modern curriculum Ambleside Online we (meaning my honored-and-respected-may-she-live-forever female parent) use as our main schooling.


(Side note: Must I drop the fascinating and patronizing manner of using as long as possible words in every sentence, making it harder for my honored-and-respected-may-they-live-forever blog patrons to read? 


Most young female people, and indeed most males as well, write in a more Plain English, Spartan and sometimes sloppily romantic style. Nay; they can improve their vocabulary if they choose, and after all, you/they are under no obligations to read it at all. Go read something else instead--Facebook!!! Go on Facebook! Whatever!!!!)


....Returning to the obviously non-absorbing subject of education methods, I must say sometimes the starry-eyed idealism (yes, I am aware that sounds like I'm an old crank) of these individuals gets on my* frequently-easily irritated nerves. All three education methods I mentioned were written by unmarried people who produced no scions**, hence the starry-eyed-ness.


But ANYWAY, I am quickly tiring of writing from this seemingly dry and unappealing subject. No one my age ever knows what I'm talking about anyway.


*unfortunately.
**Look it up. ;)




So, saith the little (rapidly dying) optimistic portion of my brain, why don't we find a pretty picture to look at? (Actually, the optimistic portion of my brain pronounced it "pwetty pictew" but I shall over look that slur) 



SMACK to the annoying optimistic brain cells.


Now lets go look for a pretty picture and an encouraging quotation!




You have no idea what a poor opinion I have of myself and how little I deserve it. 
W.S. Gilbert 


(Not encouraging enough. Simply a bald testament to man's sickly pride.)




Nah, enough for tonight. Farewell, fellow travelers upon this carbon-based sphere!

That was weird.........

Talk about weird....I don't like POTC, but this was funny. 

Okay, moving on to more serious subjects, I don't feel good. 

boredom

Except for the very hard-working and industrious, most of us have felt boredom at one time or another. I would define boredom as an absence of purpose; or else as unfocused energy.  Much of it, now that I stop to think, probably stems from thinking about ourselves too much. Everyone does it: it is a natural by-product of sin in our hearts, the capital of which is ugly, ubiquitous pride. By that sin fell the angels. Yet it is the root and center of all other sins. How can we stop it?!?! Maybe we should make more of an effort to help, actually listen to, and really try to know other people. This would cure the BOREDOM effectually, replacing it with mental stretching. 

(This is one of my problems.  I tend to ignore other people.Truthfully, many of them bore me. I shall have to make more of an effort to help others and think less about myself.)

Another function of this might be to try to cheer people up and entertain them on a completely boring day. This mat not sound like as much mental work as listening to people, but it certainly CAN be.

We can't accomplish this. Heck, we can hardly do anything. But God can. Everything we can ever accomplish is through Him. [Notice I capitalized the Him. *snarky voice* So there!]

[Hmm. I am trying to cure my own boredom by writing a short piece about boredom. Interesting redundancy there.]

Anyway, if you are still bored after reading this somewhat boring post, you may want to watch Drip along Daffy, a nice violent and classic Looney Tunes spoofing cowboys.

~~~~~

"I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness - to save oneself trouble."
- Agatha Christie

~~~~~

Expect a nice long and comprehensive post about the American school system and how it is failing us within the next couple weeks or so....right now I am looking forward to my birthday, which will fall on next Thursday. At this moment I am suffering from a small amount of depression combined with exhaustion, so I will get back to ya. Being a human being can be difficult at times....we straddle two worlds, the unseen and the physical. 

Auf weidersehn.

~ Diana

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! 

ab absurdo, and let's move!!!

Ut ut velit adipiscing in mundum, et ego post haec et latine. Lingua Latina estGRAVIS primo dictum est a Romanis, quia multi doctissimi viri. Multa sunt eiusradicem multis in Latin, Gallica, et Hispanica. Unus pluma in oculis meis, utnemo possit redimere CLAMOR at, si male Latinis pronouce nemo scitRomanos non profertur?

(Not in primis esse virum doctum, immo vel a viro, usus sum valde benevolensquod dico Google Translate to vertere hic quod non possum loqui vel Latinetantum scribere. Proin pati, carissimi lectorem.)

Plus ego studium antiquata frui attrahenti history. Ut natoque id quod Graeci etRomani sub te quae non habet effectum, sed errant. Sed adipiscing mi servatoreliqua fragmenta SANITAS faciam illum dolore historiae libri bona non a C. ad hoc.

Translation: 

So, in order to be unique in the blogging world, I shall post this in Latin. Latin is an estimable language, first spoken by the Romans, and by many learned men since. Many of its words are the root of many words in English, Italian, French, and Spanish. One redeeming feature in my eyes is that no one can yell at you if you pronouce Latin words wrong as no one knows how the Romans pronounced it!

( Not being a particularly learned man, or indeed even a man at all, I used the extremely helpful Google Translate to translate what I say here, as I am not able to speak or write much Latin. Thank you for bearing with me, dear reader.)

Plus, I enjoy the fascinating study of antiquated history. You may be under the impression that what the Greeks and Romans did has no effect on you whatever, but you are wrong. However, in order to preserve the remaining fragments of my limited sanity, I shall refer you to a good history book NOT a textbook to show this.

~~~~~~~

 

Whew! I return to my lingua mater. So, anyway.........I completely forgot what to write, hence the above.

Something to be proud of! <<<<

...NEXT, here are three things on the same subject--Namely, A Call to Action. Put off your Apathy! MOVEIT!!!! Shake off the sluggardness! Just do It. [In the style of John Adams, who as was the fashion in those Times, capitalized many Words in his Writings.]

A Psalm to Life

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,--act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;--

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait. ~

The Aunt and the Sluggard  by P. G. Wodehouse

"About once a month he would take three days writing a few poems; the other three hundred and twenty-nine days of the year he rested." 

A hilarious short story featuring Jeeves and Bertie concerning a hypocritical poet.

~ ` ~ ` ~ ` ~

"Is this a time for airy persiflage?" [My answer: NO.]

 ~ W.S. Gilbert 

"Just do it."

~ Nike slogan 

[Note #1: Nike was a minor Greek goddess, representing Victory]

And speaking of victory: here is Churchill, from the second World War, making the victory sign. 

[Note #2: W.S. Gilbert's full name was actually William Schwenk Gilbert. Now you know!]

[Note #3: per-si-flage

1. Light good-natured talk; banter.

2. Light or frivolous manner of discussing a subject.]

.......And with that eccentric mix, I must depart. 

Valete, lectores.

[BTW, the reason for my posts starting out on one subject and ending on one completely different is this: for me, inspiration comes WHILE I'm writing]

~ Diana