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.
Isn't that a neat picture? Although if I lived in Galaxy F.F.A. (far, far away) I would definitely be part of the Rebel Alliance, not the Empire. I've love to fly an X-wing! I'd put a BYC and Flock On! sheep bumper sticker on the back. Awesomeness.
Sorry, bad photo.
Alright, enough silliness.
We need to be very serious now. Ronald the Rhode Island Red Rooster commands it.
Seriously, who am I kidding? If you have any post ideas, please leave a comment. :) Danke.
I shall post photos of the bedroom I'm redoing in fuchsia and light green when its done!
I am too exhausted to be serious right now anyway.
Two good bits of pithy advice:
big things, and actually do them.
But most importantly, just Love God, and everything else will work out without your help.
Have a wonderful Sunday!
(I'm very excited 'cause I have 5 followers now! Thank you!)
Well, my brother is composing a satirical song about the Occupy Wallstreet Movement, my sister is reading a kid's how-to-make-mostly-useless-but-completly-engrossing-stuff book, and I am was absorbed in eating a peirogie.
Well, not completely absorbed!
Music?
No, I'm not really a big fan of 50's music, but I kinda like this song. (It was in Disney's The Lion King)
A-wemoweh a-wemoweh.
You really should go and check out David's (my brother) blog: A Second Shot
I redesigned it and he finally added some new photos. He took my new profile shot too. A budding photographer.
Also, breeding season for the sheep should be starting very soon. Fingers crossed for multiple (healthy) lambs in the spring!
Lastly, a humorous poem, which those of you familiar with Longfellow can appreciate-
The Modern Hiawatha
by George A. strong
He killed the noble Mudjokivis. Of the skin he made him mittens, Made them with the fur side inside, Made them with the skin side outside. He, to get the warm side inside, Put the inside skin side outside; He, to get the cold side outside, Put the warm side fur side inside. That's why he put the fur side inside, Why he put the skin side outside, Why he turned them inside outside.
Okay, so I am going to attempt to join this blog-party thing from Rear Window. (Thanks, Anna Gray of bella vita!)
Did that make sense? Well, just click on the button...
So, I shall start off this by saying that yes, I am indeed an authentic person (meaning a human), not a robot, droid, spammer, troll, schizophrenic, or sparkly vampire.
About me?
Just read my profile to the right over there, and you can spare me the trouble of introducing myself. *sarcastic smiley face* (Wow, I am in a vindictive mood! Not good)
I have always wanted to blog. I kept a crafty (knitting, sewing, etc.) blog when I was nine or ten years old, but soon abandoned it for other various pursuits. Then in the spring of 2010, I got 5 chicks, and started a blog titled 'Awesomefowl' with the honorable intention of filling it with photos, obsessions and chronicles about chickens. (you can read the early chicken posts under '2010' in my archives)
Fail. I hadn't updated it in a year when I decided to rename it and just blog about whatever I felt like....hence a new fancy* sounding name, and various rants, rambling, or dissertations. This is not a craft blog, or a photography blog. It is mostly just whatever I feel like at the time: book reviews, classical music, poetry, complaining, opinions, and yes, photos of chickens! I have 25 chickens, one Muscovy duck, sheep, and one annoying goat.
*because it's French for 'left bank'; I'm assuming a river bank.
I try to update this blog reasonably often, while attempting to receive an education which of course comes first.
On the next question!
What's the nerdiest/geekiest/weirdest thing about you?
Um...everything? I'm not a geek, or a nerd, per say, but when it comes to all-out weirdness.... I guess I could say my irrational hatred of incorrect use of semi-colons, commas, and apostrophe's, as well as punctuation-less anything, mostly when it comes from those that are perfectly capable of correction. Nothing makes this walking thesaurus more irritated!
I really like mythology and history too, not sure if that makes one geeky or not.
My encyclopedic knowledge of domestic animal breeds could count too.
If you could live in a fictional universe from any book, movie, or television show, what would it be? I honestly don't know....what's wrong with Earth? Free air and free salvation, even if nothing else is.
Do you like animated movies?
Not really. Only a select few, like Dumbo (from the 1930s) and violent Looney Tunes cartoons!
What is your favorite household chore?
Vacuuming!
Waffles or pancakes?
Either one, as long as they are fluffy and aren't drowned in syrup.
Do you like to play games?
Not really, except for Apples to Apples, which is the funniest post-modern game ever! And dodgeball and air hockey.
Have you ever let anyone win a game?
Yes, but I can't remember who and when or why.
Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes, a blue highlight, but it didn't work, unfortunately...
Do you make your bed every morning?
Who? Me?? Of course not!
Picasso or Norman Rockwell?
Norman Rockwell. I like his whimsical and nostalgic portraits of American life a long time ago.
I'm not really a big fan of Picasso's works, although they sure are interesting!
Do you like hardwood, tile or carpet floors?
Hardwood all the way--carpets get covered with dog hair, and tiles get too cold, although they are beautiful. I think I'll put a tile mosaic on the floor of my first house.
If you could put one thing in a safe under your bed, what would it be?
I don't know. Money? Important documents? A dirty sock? <---what really is underneath my bed right now.
What's your favorite condiment?
Homemade ketchup, or horseradish. I usually eat foods plain though. CHOCOLATE SYRUP.
Have you ever thrown up on someone?
Yuck, of course not.
What was the last thing that made you laugh?
C'mon, can't you guess by now that I have a poor memory for such things? Probably Yarael Poof though (an somewhat unimportant and short-lived Jedi Master; doesn't he look like a cross between E.T. and the aliens from War of the Worlds???)
Think fast...whats the first song that pops into your head?
"Think of Me" from the Phantom of the Opera, since I was singing it this morning. After that, either random Gilbert and Sullivan, or "Dust in the Wind". What can I say....
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ So, that is it..and this is a cool idea!
When Dantes finally escapes, there is only one thing he seeks: revenge…
This extremely long book is one of those classics everyone has heard of, but fewer take the time to actually read.
Its plot is simple, but elaborated upon by the addition of a whole host of characters and their stories.
Character development in Dantes was slow, but interesting. The reader sees him grow from a young and naïve sailor to a complicated, bitter and cruel enigma: the Count of Monte Cristo. The three men upon whom he vows vengeance all have interesting and different characters too.
The parts I didn’t like in the book were the casual way having mistresses outside of marriage were discussed, as well as the stupid custom of arranged marriages which probably led to the former! These customs also annoyed Abigail Adams when she visited France in the 1780s.
This leads me to say that French and Italian women, at least in this book, are/were so different from American women. They were supposed to be weak, soft creatures who didn’t seem to do much, with the exception of Eugenie Danglars, the daughter of the avaricious Danglars, who dresses up as man and runs away to start a music career.
Also, be aware that the Count smokes a lot of hashish! Please remember “hugs not drugs”, children. :)
As a Christian, I must note the interesting perception of God in The Count of Monte Cristo. The Count thinks he is an avenging angel appointed by God to dish out justice to the men who wronged him, until he experiences the love of kind people at the end and repents of his deadly pride. This is really a long adventure story of revenge, not a really religious book, but could offer many lessons to a discerning eye.
All in all, I give this book four stars out of five. A classic tale, although it does get a bit boring in parts, and a rewarding read.
“How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure. ”
“Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,-Wait and hope.” ― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next review will be Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. (I happen to like weird old sci-fi-ish books)
Happy Tuesday, everyone! Nothing particularly exciting happening today for us; but I suppose it could be worse.....
Random photo time!!!!!
Petunia, 2009
Silkies for sale now
Silkie butt!
Pussywillow tree
Letchworth park, the Grand Canyon of the east (New York)
Because Blogger is awesome!!! And very easy to personalize. Now rive gauche has a new look, plus an incredibly cool chicken favicon which I can't see because I use Google Chrome.
I'm not sure I like the new header as well as the old one (I liked the chicken) but I can always change it back.
If anyone would like a new header/button/favicon for a blog, I would be happy to make you one!
Salvete amici Latinae,
I could really use some prayers right now. I am going through a miserable time, which isn't anyone's fault but my own, so please pray for me.
It is always hard for me to share things; we all want to give the allusion of suave coolness; but underneath we are all sinners.
Thank you! :-)
On a lighter note:
• My silkie hen hatched out two adorable chicks; will post photos tomorrow!
• I'd like to do a Classic Book review and poetry link-up thing--I will start by posting and adding a button you can copy to your own blog. Interested, anyone?
Hmm....I am posting from my iPod so let me see if I have any cool photos...
A Sharpie ad? I do love sharpies! (If anyone's wondering what to get me for Christmas...)
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1 (as if you didn't know that! I'm just OCD; had to put the reference)
What really is out there, in the deep black void which men have been studying since the beginning?
This post really doesn't even attempt to answer that question (it would be pretentious), but these marvellous photos should inspire you with a sense of awe for our almightly, perfect, and truly omnipotent Creator.
We will never know fully what strange beings are out in the millions of galaxies. But from this earth, we can observe stars which we have named after false gods with their mysterious titles---the miniscule panorama we see from Earth, a relatively small planet in "in the gleam of a million million of suns?" (Tennyson)
(Sorry, Northern hemisphere only...:P)
^^^Orion, my favorite constellation, close up. If you live in the N.H. it is easily recognizable by the three stars which make up the hunter's belt.
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.
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!
