Dad, Writing, Sewing, Trust, and Singers

They discovered my father did have a heart attack that was caused by a blood clot, but very little damage was done. He came home the Tuesday after he was admitted to the hospital and he’s doing fine – back to running errands, cutting the grass, exercising…The doctor told him to take two weeks off his job.

I have little else to say that would likely be of much interest to much of anyone. I’ve wanted to get back to writing stories but while I had ideas and inspiration, I had little motivation. But I recalled a story I started last year and never finished and decided to go back to that. I don’t remember enough of the details so I’m skimming what I wrote before I start writing again, but I think I’m over my writing block now.

I sewed a lot last month and some this one – a dress, two bodices, two shirts/chemises, two hats, two pouches. I’m working on a skirt and another bodice now. I should update my costume blog. I have quite a bit to add, but I need to take some pictures of separate items first (I have pictures of me wearing many of them combined, at the Renaissance festival, but I think I want them separate for my blog so I can do separate entries).

I’ve been thinking about trust lately and wondering how to learn to trust people in general and more specifically after bad experiences, and wondering how much I should allow myself to trust them, how much I should open up to them, etc. It’s difficult, because I’ve discovered that good communication is very important and that when you close everyone out, you become hardened, distant, and lonely. But figuring out how much and how to trust people when they could hurt you isn’t easy. My expectations of people have been significantly lowered and I don’t know if it’s unhealthy or not.

I’m not sure I actually meant to write about that. Oh well.

I am so glad Kris Allen won American Idol and not Adam Lambert (any comments defending Lambert will be deleted; you’re entitled to your music tastes and I to mine – post them on your own blog) due to both ethics and talent. I like Kris’s singing much better. Adam has a nice voice when he doesn’t sing so high, but he usually sounds creepy and/or like he’s screeching, and he creeps me out for other reasons.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

The Faceless Face of Facebook

Facebook has grown slightly pointless. So many people that I don’t know very well have added me as a friend that any status updates, etc. that I post have to be rather impersonal and shallow (well, they don’t /have/ to be, but I’m not keen on bearing my soul to near-strangers. I suppose it’s a convenient way to contact people, though.

I’m still (yes, still) reading The Watchers by Mark Andrew Olsen. The guy needs to join Clean Place and read MangyCat’s articles on various writing subjects. His writing is pretty bad. There’s too much telling instead of showing and he doesn’t seem to have much of a grasp at all on writing points of view well. A writer should immerse the reader in the character’s point of view. Mr. Olsen does not do this at all. You shouldn’t write like you’re telling a story; you should write in such a way that your reader lives the story. Mr. Olsen’s book is the former. Not to mention it’s hard to relate to, get to know, and like the characters when you never really get in their heads (this is the case with Abby. You do get in Dylan’s head more, which makes him a more interesting character, though he’s a bad guy [for now]). The writer also needs to balance dialogue with action, mainly in the first part of the book. When you write, don’t write pages of dialogue with very few actions. You will usually wear thin your reader’s patience, even if the character is talking about something fascinating (in this case, the character Abby’s dreams and visions). The only thing that keeps me reading is the plot, and the book has finally picked up the pace so I’m reading it more often now. The plot /is/ very interesting, and I think of Mr. Olsen improved in his problem areas, he could be a brilliant writer.

I should probably name this post “The Watchers” since I have a whole paragraph on it and about three lines on Facebook. Oh well.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

Nostalgia, Cloth, & Books

I was reading the blog of a Clean Place member, “Anywhere”, who’s staying with some other Clean Place members who live in Texas. Her descriptions remind me of the Moot (the annual gathering of Clean Place members, held in Colorado, to hang out, write, get to know each other, etc.). I’m feeling rather nostalgic now. I miss hanging out with CPeeps. They’re such fun, kind people. I wish I could go to the Moot again this year, but it’s too expensive. I’d need about $800.

Here’s a quote from Anywhere’s blog that I really like and certainly applies to the Moot (a term taken from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” books, where it means “a gathering of Ents”): “Measuring things in goodbyes is not a good habit.”

I washed some fabric yesterday to make a new skirt. I think I overdid it. It’s a bit rough now. Oh well. It’ll still work. I need to exercise some discipline and not buy any more fabric for a while after I use my 50% off coupon for JoAnn’s.

I have some dark blue cotton fabric that I’m trying to decide what to use it for. I originally bought it for an Eowyn-inspired dress (inspired by her blue funeral gown, more specifically). I’m not sure if I’ll use it for that, or for a cloak, or for something else. The fabric I buy rarely ends up being made into the item of its original purpose.

I may have mentioned that I started reading “Patrick” by Stephen Lawhead. Now I’m putting it off to read “The Watchers” by Mark Andrew Olsen, because Patrick is not a very engaging read so far. It’s written in first person, and I’ve never much liked reading books in first person.

I think I might change my blog layout/look soon.

Edit: Changed it.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

Dating

 *hops on soap box* Where did that expression come from, anyway?

1. I’m not condemning people who date. This contains my personal convictions and opinions. When I say dating, I mean having a boyfriend or girlfriend and all that people usually think of, not the dictionary definition.

Yes, I disagree with it, so here’s why. Note that since I’m a girl, I refer to the other person as a he/him/etc.. Obviously if you’re a guy…you can replace it with the feminine version.

The biggest reason is that dating is a waste of time, thoughts, and emotions that should be focused on God. If you don’t know for sure (I’m talking open-vision, confirming words, God-given dreams, etc. sure – not just “I feel like this is who God wants me to marry” {I’ve felt like that more than once, if that tells you anything :rolleyes:}) that this person is who God wants you to marry, you’re putting your own heart and that of the other person at risk. I would rather keep my heart whole and have to wait a while for God to bring “the one” into my life than get it cracked or broken while taking the matter of finding him into my own hands.

Every time you date someone, you give a little piece of yourself away. Then Prince (or Princess) Charming comes along and finds you haven’t waited…why would they want to marry you if you’ve only got half a heart or one that’s been torn in two so many times it’s barely recognizable? And when you’re spending your time dating this person and that person, or even just one, you aren’t putting your entire self into seeking out God and His will, getting to know Him, and letting Him shape you into a person spiritually mature who’s worth marrying. If your emotions, thoughts, and time are given to pursuing romantic interests – or any interests that aren’t God’s will for your life – it’s quite possible you will miss out on the things God has for you that are so much better than what you think you want or need. If you’re thinking about your new date instead of God’s will for you, you might not see Prince Charming walk by when he does come into your life.

There is a part of us that desperately wants to be loved and needed. We often want to look to other people, especially of the opposite gender, to fulfill this. We think they can give us what we’re missing. But they can’t, and expecting them to isn’t healthy or right. Only God can fill the hole in our souls. But He can’t until we come to Him and ask Him to. Until you give everything to God and let Him be everything to you, you won’t be prepared for marriage, anyway. I think God often waits until we’re so wrapped up in Him we don’t care about anything else, and then He pleasantly surprises us with our hearts’ desires. But that doesn’t happen until we’re walking in His will, which means we aren’t even thinking about other romantic interests until He makes it clear that we’re supposed to.

Another thing about today’s dating is it sets you up in a false environment for getting to know other people. You go on a date and are on your best behavior. You see this person at a resteraunt or a movie. But how can you know their true character and inner self that way? Ask your date to do volunteer work with you without getting paid, go to his/her house and see how they treat their family, etc.  – over time. They can do it for a day to impress you, but are they always like this? Do they do it willingly? Suggest it?

The divorce rate in this country is saddening. Put your heart in God’s hands, and He will take care of it. God loves you so much and knows what’s best for you, so there’s no reason not to trust Him with everything. And you definitely need someone you can trust, someone who knows everything, when it comes to your life partner.

For the record….I don’t even want to get married

Have an amazing rest of your life!

- WM

P. S. I think I squished the soap box.

Talking animals?

Firstly, this is only an idea, hardly even hypothesis level since there’s no experiment to find out…goodness gracious…at least I know chemistry class has sunk in some. There’s no Scripture that supports or denies this. But the other day, my older sister brought this up. Since the Bible doesn’t say Eve was freaked out by a talking serpent, does that mean animals could talk in the garden of Eden? It’s interesting to think about, but one of those things we most likely won’t know until heaven.

Aside from that, God has blessed me beyond what I hoped for with providing funds for my trip to Colorado this June. I thought I might have to take some money out of my savings account and replace it later because I might not earn enough in time, but with all of the babysitting jobs He’s provided, I already reached my goal. =) After praying about it quite a bit, I asked God to provide a way and the necessary funds to get there if He wants me to go. That He already has is encouraging.

Have a mind-blowing rest of your life.

- WM

Archery

The weather is so nice today, I just couldn’t waste it. I taped a cardboard box full of styrofoam peanuts to the top of another cardboard box to use for a target. The bottom one I left empty, which turned out to be a mistake. I hit it more than the one I drew the target on, when I hit either box at all. The arrows usually ended up sticking out the other side, and I messed up a “feather” on one when I pulled it out. Oops. At least I think I figured out some of the things I was doing wrong. I stopped a little while after the bowstring wore a hole in one of my leather glove fingers and started rubbing the skin on that finger more than was comfortable enough to easily ignore. I’ve had it rub a lot of the skin off before :6:

Friday after the youth meeting (which was very good) I spent the night at Michaela’s house for her birthday. She likes the cloak. Saturday, we spent most of the day at the creek, which was glorious.

I increased the saturation on these pictures:

Here’s one of Michaela’s cats:

Spontaneous thoughts: I think life is about the discovery of God’s love and showing that love to other people.

Have an amazing rest of your life. God bless you. He certainly loves you.

- WM

Dec. 31

I have a good reason for not posting in so long. The day after Christmas I threw up eleven times starting at 5:20 in the morning, and couldn’t stand without doing so. Since then, I’ve been sick with various things and haven’t felt like doing anything but lying around until today. Now I just feel like I have a cold.

I don’t have much to write about, since I’ve been sleeping and reading and watching TV since my last entry. I finished reading White by Ted Dekker, which I was able to borrow from a friend. The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, and White) is great. I highly recommend it to everyone.

We rented The Santa Claus 3 and Meet the Robinsons. I like the other two Santa Claus movies better. They should stop making them now, methinks. Meet the Robinsons is very cute, however.

Don’t read any farther if you like Eragon.

My dad bought the movie, horror of horrors, and not even in the five dollar bin at Wal-Mart. I suffered through it :p You might even be able to call the book “good” compared to it. I have some comments to make aside from my magic-is-evil-and-should-not-be-portrayed-as-anything-else convictions.

1. Whoever played Galbotorix played him very poorly. The character didn’t come across strongly or as a threatening bad guy. Durza was a more menacing and evil character.

2. They completely should have gone with Arya not liking Eragon as in the books. Her instant affection for him is unwarranted and unbelievable in the movie. I could pass his for her off as infatuation with a beautiful elven princess, but she should know better.

3. The movie strayed far from the book’s lines, though they’d have had to make it much longer to stick to the book.

4. Eragon, despite what some believe, was not cute.

5. I found myself almost liking Murtagh against my will. But he was only in the end, so even if the unlikable elements of the plot were excluded, he wouldn’t have redeemed the entire movie (and then there’s the knowledge that he betrays everyone in the next book).

So even you don’t share my convictions (please note that I’m not a’tall condemning you if you disagree with me), the movie really isn’t worth watching. If you’re a fan of the book, you’ll dislike the movie because it’s so different, and if you’re just watching it for a fantasy movie, it’s a poorly done.

You can read my friend’s notes on the book here, and I agree with everything she says above the essay: http://nimelen.wordpress.com/notes/eragon/

Have an amazing rest of your life.

- WM