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.

sheepish

Sheepish antics.

{via}

 If you've never raised sheep before, you probably think of them as boring, rather stolid balls of wool, who happen to possess tasty loins. All of this is true; but there is much quiet joy and peace in their very stolidity. Hang out with a flock of sheep for a while and you can't help but realize the overarching rhythms which make up the animal world.

photo from gopetsonline.com

{via}
Sheepish actions never change. The things they do now (eat, breed, poop, give birth, play) are not new, and they aren't going  to change anytime soon.

{via} Babydoll Southdowns--AKA the cutest sheep ever.

And yes, sheep do play. They jump around, run and leap up with all four legs off the ground for no apparent reason, like a carefree young child on a beach. 

This is very amusing to watch. Not so amusing is the crazed rush of every single animal towards you when you're carrying their food....

{via} Irish sheepz.

{via}

Source unknown. I have this photo as our laptop background.

Ram playing 'king of the hill' in the Faroe Islands. {via}

Also for no apparent reason, I write out a sheep essay and post in on my blog.

I love sheep.

My two Katahdin ewes, with their goat friend, Billy.

Sadie the Ewe.

My girls. <3

"The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs."

~  Psalms 114:4 

we're not beautiful (warning: long post!)

I feel compelled to debunk the saying that we're all beautiful, at least on the inside. "Be yourself." (True, you should be "yourself", but sometimes it is more important to the do the right thing.) 

What-EVER. *insert snarky teenager voice*

We aren't beautiful....

List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain

Here is my list.

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....

been writing up a storm!

And didn't realize it got so late. 11:15 pm!!!

Between perusing these marvelous sheep photographs on Flickr, and writing feverishly and enthusiastically on a children's book and a introductory classical music course (for teens!), I've been busy. I'll write a longer post tomorrow!

Let sleeping dogs lie!

punctuation lesson: apostrophe + sermon!!!

*Sometimes I wonder.....why do I even bother with this?  It seems like everyone (well, almost everyone!) doesn't care about spelling, and is vapid, silly, worried over things which don't matter,and foolish. Why bother?

Two points to make. (It helps me organize my thoughts to put them in points)

[Yeah, yeah. I know. Super-corny....a spear, point no. 1. Hey, we're into corny here!]

Point number 1. Not everyone is foolish/vapid/swept along by the demoralizing influences of our time. Notice I'm not saying every modern influence is demoralizing....we have so much wonderful technology, live healthier lives, still have freedom in this country at least, and maybe not *gasp, gurgle* of the *gasp* popular *gurgle* music is awful. Wow, that was hard for me to say. I can't stand most popular music.

Yet, in spite of all the bad influences, and evil that goes on, there are still good people. Kind, helpful people. Smart people who aren't borne away in the herd. People who stand up for what is right, good, and pure. People who through moral struggles still do the right thing no matter what the cost. Are you one of those people? I'm trying to be.

Point number 2. Even if people do do wrong, evil, and are vapid and silly, as a culture, have we really any right to abandon them because we are so much *better* than they? [Pride rears it's ugly head...dun dun dun....]

How much *better* are we, really? Even if we don't do evil on the outside, we think it inside. We're all sinners. Even if you aren't a Christian, you have to admit it's the truth. 

God didn't abandon us, even though our hearts were black with sin. Hey, this is starting to sounds like like a sermon......Anyway, I hope you can take something from my lecture. And I didn't start this blog to chat vapidly about myself....I want to discuss serious topics as well, providing they're PG rated. 

AND NOW, ONWARD GRAMMAR SOLDIERS!!!!!

Have a seat, please, ladies, and any stray gentlemen who may be lurking around. Side note: I don't want this to be a purely feminine-targeted blog, but one that any intelligent person, M or F, can read, enjoy, and will make them think. Hopefully. 

Today's lesson will be on the most fascinating subject of...Apostrophes. 

This is a apostrophe: ' . Strange how such a little mark can be the cause of so much heartbreak. Okay, maybe it is only heartbreak to me, since I hate to see the innocent little apostrophe abused. How sad.

Correct uses of apostrophes:

Example A.  "Kerry's bananas were the bane of Maud's existence."

                 "No, those aren't Artemis's arrows; they are Apollo's spears."

                 "Bill's cats are fat."

                 "The 1990s' were a great decade."

Incorrect use of apostrophes:

                "Kerry's banana's were the bane of Mauds' existence."

                "How many chocolate's do you want?"

                "Bills' cat's are fat."

                "I love the 1960's!"

Why are they incorrect? Because apostrophes are meant to show possession. Thus, Kerry's bananas. (We're assuming she owns the bananas and didn't shoplift them) Not banana's Kerry. And Maud's existence. 

So, I am assuming you are have absorbed that information.....on to a particular peeve of mine. YOUR. 

If the it is YOURS, it should be YOUR. If it is referring to someone else, i.e. "You're invited to a vandalism party!" it should be YOU'RE. Why? I don't pretend to know; refer to here for a more in-depth explanation of the finicky rules of grammar.

Lesson dismissed.  BTW, if you find a mistake, spelling error, or something similar on this 'ere blog, please let me know in a comment. 

Here is a Monet painting: click on it to make it larger, please.

I do like sailboats, and I'm also a fan of Impressionist paintings.

Auf Weidersehn, das Leser.

~ Diana

shakespeare! whee!

"To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?"                 ~ Hamlet Is it better to die and end all the misery or to live and "suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"?  Good question! Now for a bit of Gilbert and Sullivan wittiness:

BUNTHORNE: "Did you ever yearn?"

                                   PATIENCE: "I yearn my living, sir."

Yeah. So, that is life.........I wish I knew how to surf, man! 

"Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, His wondrous works in the deep. For He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea."

Psalm 107:23-25 

A quick pet peeve: Bible versions which don't capitalize the He and His. If it is pertaining to God it should be capitalized. Period. It just shows respect, even if you aren't a believer. I personally prefer the Thee and Thou, because it is more beautiful. However, I do think newer, more accessible versions of the Word do have their places, mainly for helping less-literate people understand it, and read it. Jesus didn't come to help the well-read people (only)--he came for the illiterate, the slobs, the poor, the destitute. 

Adios, my dear readers, for now! I trust all of you are having at least a reasonably tolerably fun summer 2011.....

~ Diana

two thoughts.....

Thought number one:


"I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee."
~ Hymn by Annie S. Hawks 


Y'know, we really do need God. We literally cannot exist apart from him. As His creations, we can try to escape all we want, but when you pray to God and know in your heart and mind you belong to Him, it feels perfect. Because it is. We are His children. 


Thought number two:


~ If the youth and civilians of America don't care enough, as a whole, to preserve our culture, traditions, history and civilizations, who will?


Who will?  Who will reverse the moral decay in Western Civilization in general, and stand up for our beliefs, if we don't? It will disappear, just as Rome did, and the world will sink back into barbarism. 


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Okay!!! Enough seriousness for this very fine evening!!!!


I enjoyed the other Artemis Fowl book(s); I've read the third book so far. Much more interesting than the second, and an exasperating ending. 


And this week I'm taking a crew rowing camp here.....it is so much fun! I am terrible at it, improving but still at the exasperation-to-the-coxswain stage. Crew is basically the only truly amateur sport, meaning you usually don't get paid to do it anywhere. It is done because it is the funnest way to get exercise you can imagine! 
And it has a whole glossary of words unknown to those who aren't/weren't boat people.
Starboard, right, port, left, "way enough" means stop and many more......

What? No photos? Fie upon me, shame, shame. So here is a beautiful clownfish, nice and bright and summery.
And lastly an old photo of one of Artemis's Fowl, as edited by a BYC member (thanks!). Bottom picture is of two more of Artemis's fowl, Mary Lou and Ophelia, looking coy:

I love summer. 

lambs & poems!

The lambs say hi!  The goat, of course, being Nubian, prefers to stick his nose in the other direction. 

After, much deliberation, fumbling, and devoted thinking on the subject, I've decided to post a poem, then my thoughts on some books. 

"DEATH, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so: For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me. From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be, Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow; And soonest our best men with thee do go-- Rest of their bones and souls' delivery! Thou'rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?    One short sleep past, we wake eternally,    And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!"                                                   ~ Death by John Donne I found this in my poetry book and found it rather beautiful, obviously written by man who had done some serious thinking upon the subject. This author, John Done, (15th century) was known for his love poems but also wrote some inspirational and moving religious poetry later in life. I know you are probably asking "Why so serious, Diana?" as you despairingly read comedic literature, but hey, life IS serious! "Life is real, life is earnest.." (Longfellow) Okay, I will stop now.... Finally, my $0.02 on some books I got from the library today. I read Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident  by Eoin Colfer (awesome sounding first name by the way!) first, and frankly, I was disappointed. From reading the previews on my Kindle I'd expected it to be a lot more interesting, or as we say here, interestinger. The book was all action, nothing else, and I couldn't keep track of what was going on three-quarters of the time! It was life one of the those movies where they keep going back and forth between characters in different places. Confusing! I did think Artemis Fowl was an interesting character but you never even got to know him in this book. I guess I will try the other books in the series, but hopefully they will make more sense. See this for a synopsis of the series (thank you, Wikipedia!). Artemis Fowl: I wish I'd thunk up that name first!  I'm waaaaayyyy cooler than am Irish twelve-year-old criminal mastermind. Yes, I am! I'm also not quite as conceited and stuck up as those last three sentences may have led you to believe. Book 2: I interlibrary loaned The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse after reading several other Jeeves stories. What can I say......all of the Jeeves stories are hilarious. English humor at its best. I suggest you give it a try! Oh, and I'm starting Life of Fred math next week. I read part of the textbook, and it looked pretty funny. Is it even humanly possible to make algebra fun? We shall see! Fred, the brilliant 5-year-old professor at KITTENS university.

Goodnight for now!

~ 

Starry Night by Van Gogh

untitled

Happy Fourth of July, everyone-who-is-reading-this-page!
God Bless America!
And enthusiastic if insufficient gratitude to all of our troops and veterans who put their lives on the line that our way of living could be preserved. Thank you.
Not that our way of life is perfect, but it is much better than most/many countries on this earth today. It is our duty to preserve this culture, our heritage, and keep it from crumbling. Please pray for our country, that we can fulfill this duty. 


A RANT- You have been forewarned.....
Another thing: why is it that city/suburban dwellers tend to look down on farm animals and farmings in general? Not all of them (I'd prefer not to stereotype them all, as I am a former suburban dweller myself!); this is slowly changing due to the local food movement and such. (BTW: while eating locally produced food is good,  better, and delicious, I'd like to inform my readers that commerce and imported foods are not a bad thing. Walmart, Oreos, and supermarket vegetables do have their place too. Also, without industrialized farming we wouldn't be able to feed all the people we can feed!) 


Farming is important. To quote a bumper sticker popular amongst organic farmers, environmentalists, and suchlike:

 And, as the illustrious T. Jefferson wrote:
Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independant, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands. 


 In other words, farming connects you to this beautiful earth. A farmer's job is to steward the earth's resources, converting poorer land into grass into beef, lamb or chicken; growing vegetables and the very important cereals such as oats, wheat, and corn.
But not to romanticize it: farming is hard, sometimes heartbreaking, dangerous and dirty work. The advent of modern machinery has lifted much of the hand labor off the farmer's back, but running the dangerous  machinery can still  result in accidents. The reality, and if you raise any kind of animal you'll soon see this, is that things die. The weather fails the crops dependent on it. Many things can happen.  
...But my point is that farmers deserve more respect. Their job is hard, but someone has to do it. We all have to eat. Meat doesn't grow on Styrofoam trays.
....And my second point is that so do the animals they take care of! (deserve respect) We all love our dogs, cats, and assorted pets. They provide companionship and love, a beautiful gift from God in the form of pets. But do our dogs or cats actually produce anything real? 
Hey, those cattle died to make that cheeseburger. The milk cows produce many gallons of milk every day which goes into ice cream, cheese, or yogurt. (or whatever!)
And so do the smaller animals. Chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks and many others are killed every day that you can eat. They may not be fun, may not be the smartest knives in the drawer, or even attractive, but these animals and their husbandry is one thing the world depends on for daily protein intake. It's a symbiotic relationship: we take care of the animals, and they provide us meat, milk, eggs, fur, or whatnot which we need.
So, next time you see a cow, say "Hi. Thanks, buddy!"


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Rant finis.
*whew* Writing is hard work. I think I'll eat some lunch now. 


Edited:
DISCLAIMER: I'd also like to say that worse problems than prejudices against farmers are threatening our country...lest I sound like an environmentalist! 

mythology....and much more

Pallas Athena by Rembrandt.
(Beautiful interplay of dark and light, mostly dark, (Rembrandt must have used a lot of black paint!) as most of the artist's paintings are. Wow, I sound like an art critic!)


Mythology is interesting. Studying the ancient Greeks' religion can give you a clue as to how they thought, reasoned, and lived their lives. Their gods had all of human nature's faults and sins, and the stories should be regarded as interesting stories from which we can learn a lesson. However, I am of the opinion that any inappropriate/dirty parts of the old myths should be discarded, leaving only material from which we can learn a lesson. Plato was of the same opinion, as stated in his  The Republic. He was also an early promoter of the totalitarian state (an idea which has always haunted mankind), but we won't go there today.


Being a Christian, I believe in the one true God, so the study of Him, the Bible, and our theology is way more important than learning about pagan (false) gods and their peculiarities, but mythology is a part of a well rounded education's literature.


Why? Well, proverbs and names from Greek (and Roman) mythology have become part of our language and culture, as has many Biblical references. "A Sisyphean task." "Between Scylla and Charybdis." (a really fun word to pronounce, BTW) Or at least they used to be, before a portion of America's people started to make their language largely consist of expletives and "Likes". But that is a discussion for another day!


Also--in poetry, both romantic, secular and religious, there are too many allusions to mythology to count, or to ignore! If you know what they meant, your understanding of the poet's meaning (if there was one) greatly increases. That is the main reason Thomas Bulfinch, a Massachusetts banker of "modest means', wrote in his spare time Age of Fable and Bulfinch's Mythology,  published in 1855.I recommend this book to anyone wishing to read about mythology. Mr. Bulfinch's synopses are short, to the point, and you will know what a Sisyphean task is. I do-oo!!!!



Having read the above-mentioned books in grades 4-6, I could especially enjoy the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series of YA books. I normally never read YA books, because I value my remaining brain cells, but I did enjoy this series for light, quick, funny reading. "Fluff" as my mother calls it, but pretty fun all the same. What made this book hilarious was it was about the old myths, coming to life....in a modern day setting! A sure-fire recipe for disaster. And no, the characters don't worship the pagan gods, more like argue/fight with them, so devout Christians please don't get your hackles raised!


I also enjoyed the sequel to the series, The Lost Hero. Not as good as PJ&TO for three reasons, but still okay.
The reasons:
1. The characters are older. I miss being 12, like Percy was in the first book, and I think younger characters are more fun.
2. I didn't like the girlfriend/boyfriend stuff, or the use of the word "hot" in the book. Nothing inappropriate or adult-themed or anything like you'd find in probably lots of YA books, but I don't like too much romance in a book. But I guess I'd complain if there wasn't any because then it would be too boring.
3. It just....made you miss the first series. And Percy wasn't even in this book! Sadly. I also noticed a very slight multi-cultural slant (all the characters come from different backgrounds) , due to modern "all cultures are the same" attitudes. Easy to ignore, which I did. 
What I did like about this book that it was about the characters maturing, growing up, and learning to do harder things against all odds, rather than doing immature things and being childish for the sake of over-used lame humor. And the author, Rick Riordan, is a pretty reasonably good adventure story writer; other than these I don't read fantasy books. 

I think my favorite character(s) from The Lost Hero have to be the metal dragon Festus and Leo Valdez, who is riding him in this picture from the book's website.


Wow. I never meant to post this much.............if you read this far, congratulations! 


~~~~~~