A Pile of Books, Movies, and Music

Mom rented “The List” and I watched it on Sunday. It’s based on a book. I imagine the book is far better than the movie, though I haven’t read it. The plot was good, but seemed poorly executed by the filmmakers. I understand the gist of it, but there were some confusing and unexplained scenes. I don’t think I’ll watch it again. But it did nicely emphasize the power of prayer.

I also watched the movie “Kidnapped”, the version done by MasterPiece Theatre based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s book by the same name. I really enjoyed it. The main character is an upright young man of high character and morals, which I found a refreshing change from today’s norm. It’s a long movie, but worth the watch, to me, at least. It’s set in Scotland and the music is lovely, which helps

Speaking of Scotland, yesterday and today I read Wings of Morning, one of the books I checked out at the library. I’ll post my review below, as it’s a bit lengthy. I also finished reading Blessed Child, which is very good. The writing isn’t as good as some of Dekker’s other books, but the story is great. I recommend it.

We went to Borders today because their movies and CDs are all 50% right now (at the location near us. I dinna ken if they are at others). I was going to blog about how good I was, not spending any money…but now I can’t, because I did. I bought Josh Groban’s newest CD, “Awake”, and a CD called “The Music of Japan”, which was only $4…I downloaded some free (and legal) Asian music a few weeks ago and burnt it to a CD, but the CD is crazy and doesn’t play them right, so…*innocent look*

Here’s my review of “Wings of Morning”.

I generally avoid books that look like they’re primarily romances (I like some romance in a book, but not as the main focus), but I hoped the fact that this is set in 16th-century Scotland would redeem it, as well as the fact that it’s Christian fiction (I don’t read romances that aren’t, in hopes that I will avoid unpleasant content).

It didn’t start out promising. I skimmed and skipped in the first chapter (more on that later). But it got better from there. The plot is interesting and the main character is believable (I’m not so sure about the man she falls in love with), if a bit aggravating at times (to draw out the suspense). The writing isn’t very good, but that fact faded into the background as the story drew me in, except for the occasional lifting of the suspension of disbelief.

The bad things happening to the main character began to grow wearying after a point where I just wanted things to be settled. But I finally reached the happy ending (“finally” being the day after I started it, because I actually found it hard to put down).

The reason I skipped parts of the first chapter and parts later on in the book is because of suggestive content. I don’t recommend the book for younger readers.

I’m not sure that, all things considered, I really recommend it to anyone, at least not silly girls like me who are prone to let the romance business (the hurt girl and the near-perfect man falling madly in love and living happily ever after…okay, it never says happily ever after and there are plenty of reasons to believe they had trouble in the future due to the plot, but you get the picture) go to our heads, but if you take the book as entertainment and don’t waste your time getting all day-dreamy and distracted about that, it’s okay. Pardon my cynicism in that area.

There are good parts about trusting and loving God and seeking out and submitting to His will for your life, so you if you read it, you can take that from the story.

It’s the second in a series, but I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t seen it on the side cover. It stands alone fine.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

Catchup

I had a rather busy weekend. A friend turned 18 on Saturday, and I went to her birthday party Friday night and spent the night at her house with some other girls. I wanted to make her a dress she can wear to the Renaissance faire if she ends up going with us, because going in garb is much more fun than going in “mundanes”. I procrastinated and ended up cutting the fabric out Wednesday and sewing it together Thursday and Friday. I had to put the eyelets in while in the car and while I was there, but I got it finished. I’ll probably post pictures on my costume blog (see links in the sidebar) before long. For now, there are some on Facebook.

We went to the creek near her house on Saturday and spent a while playing fetch with Kiwi and enjoying the scenery.

And then on Sunday, it snowed! That’s a rare occurrence in Georgia. The snow didn’t stick much, which is a shame, because we would have had quite a bit on the ground if it did. But it looked pretty, regardless.

There’s a picture of a cardinal in the snow on my Project 365 blog.

Hobby Lobby finally put McCall’s patterns on sale for 99 cents each again, so I went with Mom and Laura yesterday when Mom took Laura to art class. Mother and I went the library while she was in class. I checked out three books. The first is called Wings of Morning and is by Kathleen Morgan. I went over to the computer and typed “Scotland” in the subject box. There were hundreds of results and no descriptions of the content, so I gave up on that. I went over to the bookshelves. The first book I pulled off was Wings of Morning, and happens to be set in Scotland! It does look like it’s primarily a romance, but it mentions God on the back and is set in Scotland, so it will hopefully be interesting. I like some [clean] romance in books, but not when it’s the primary focus. It’s like a casserole – it would be disgusting if salt were the main ingredient, but the right amount of salt makes it taste better.

The second book is called The Watchers and is by Mark Andrew Olsen. I’ve seen it somewhere before, I think in a Christian Book Distributors catalog. From what I read on the back cover, it appears to be about spiritual warfare (but is fiction). The other book is Patrick by Stephen Lawhead. It appears to be a (most likely highly fictionalized) telling of St. Patrick. I /think/ Stephen Lawhead is a Christian author. I also found a couple of movies that look interesting – The Pickwick Papers, based on a Charles Dickens novel, and Kidnapped.

We picked Laura up after her class and went to Petsmart to get gerbil bedding. Then on to Hobby Lobby, where I bought around eight patterns, some cord, and some jewelry-making supplies. Then to Sam’s Club. I sat in the car reading the book I borrowed from a friend, Blessed Child by Ted Dekker (which is very good so far). Laura came out and informed me that the animated Disney version of Robin Hood (where’s a fox) was down to $14 from $20. The movie is my favorite of the old Disney ones and I’d wanted to get it for a while. I was out of money, but Mom ended up buying it for me I’m looking forward to watching it.

We had some time to kill before heading to a Mary Kay party for a friend of ours that started selling their products, so we ate dinner out and headed to Borders. If I had any money when I went in there, I probably wouldn’t have when I left. I mean, who doesn’t need an English-to-Irish dictionary? There are other books there I’m interested in, too, but Borders is one of the more expensive bookstores (though have good prices on some things), so I’ll probably look for them elsewhere.

I had a good time at the Mary Kay party – mostly standing to the side thinking about books while people tested beauty products. I also talked with friends, which I really enjoyed, because I don’t get to hang out with them very often these days.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

Notes and Notions

There’s a note going around Facebook where you make something for the first five people that respond. Fun! I might post it more than once, after I make things for the first five.

Dritz sewing notions are 50% at Hobby Lobby this week, so I went today and got some eyelets and needles. The power cord to my sewing machine came yesterday, so I tried it out. The top thread breaks when I sew too fast. It might just be when I’m doing a fancy stitch, though. The bobbin thread got pretty jammed up, but I set the tension on “Auto”, and whatdaya know, it stopped jamming. The stitches look nice. I had fun trying out the decorative ones, especially the penguin. Who thought to include a penguin stitch? There’s also a duck and what looks like an alligator. I’m not sure I’ll find a reason to use those. The machine is quieter than my other one and seems to sew quite nicely. I was afraid at first that the screen didn’t work, but I just needed to adjust the brightness. It’s a lot heavier than my other machine, too. Which doesn’t mean anything to me, just thought I’d comment…*stops rambling*

Now that I’ve finished reading How Sleep the Brave, I’m back to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I’m enjoying the humor, and the rest of it.

I thought of something to write about, didn’t hold onto the thought, and lost it when I was rereading my last two sentences.

Oh! My new story. The current “Extra Credit” project on Clean Place is Adopt-a-Plot 2 (because we’ve done it once before). Everyone that wants to participate submits two plot ideas and chooses one submitted by another person to base their story on. The one I picked is, “[Write] A story about a bounty hunter. But he/she’s not just any bounty hunter.” We have to write the story in 6,000 words or less. This might sound like a lot if you don’t have anything to compare it to. It’s not. For example, 50,000 words is on the short side for the average novel. I’m trying to fit as much character development in as possible while still moving the plot along to a satisfactory conclusion, and it’s rather difficult, but I’m enjoying the project overall. I’m posting it on Facebook as I write and get feedback for them, if you want to read it.

I need to go to sleep. Goodnight.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

Book Review: How Sleep the Brave

How Sleep the Brave is a novel by J. H. Hunter. The setting is late 17th-century Scotland, and the Catholics are severely oppressing the Presbyterians. Duncan Fenwick sets out to help relieve the oppression and fight for freedom in the land by taking on the role of the mysterious Black Avenger.

This is just my kind of book. It has action, suspense, romance, godly wisdom, a satisfactory end, great dialogue, an abundance of well-crafted moments that made me smile for their sheer well-craftedness…okay, that may be a writer thing. There are a couple of slow parts, but they’re short. The book has a nice pace for the most part. It keeps you hooked but everything doesn’t fly by so quickly that you can’t enjoy it. There are some technical writing errors, but normal people probably won’t notice them and they didn’t bother me too much. The rest of the book makes up for them. The dialogue is written in a Scottish accent that some people may find annoying, but I like that and wouldn’t change it. I started to be quite annoyed by the fact that the author skips a few years near the beginning, but it turned out to be fine. Some people might find Duncan’s “invincibility” to be unbelievable, but that didn’t bother me, either.

I highly recommend it. I want to buy it now (I checked it out from the library).

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

The Sewing Machine Saga

I got a new sewing machine yesterday. Here’s the story behind it.

But first, in case you don’t want to read the novel I wrote on how I got my sewing machine, I’m going to write about something else first.

I hope you had a great Singles Awareness Day. Congratulate a single friend and comfort one who dates.

…Just playin’. ;p My parents bought my sisters and I chocolate and jewelry (I got a pretty leaf-shaped necklace, and some earrings came with it), and Dad bought Mom chocolate and a cute, stuffed dog with a couple of hearts on it.

Okay, now…

I have a simple Brother machine (this one). I knew I wanted to upgrade at some point. I heard that Bernina sewing machines are some of the best there are, and that Bernina Bernettes are a less expensive version. I found one on the Hancock Fabrics website, here, for $350, so I decided I’d save up for it. I don’t remember what inspired me to research it, but a couple of days ago, I looked it up.

I discovered “it isn’t a Bernina. Well it is and it isn’t the Bernina name is used as the lowest end machine, However it isn’t a True Bernina. The Cheapest machine Bernina makes is 600+ this one is the lowest end, just like some of the Janome’s that Hancock sells they also are not true janome’s. The are made in China usually and are of very poor quality. You will not find a Bernina dealer with this machine since the Bernina company doesn’t make it,” to quote the source. I found this information several places. I started researching other brands so I could find another and know what to save up for.

I decided that I wanted a Kenmore. Kenmores and Janomes are the same and I heard they’re one of the better brands (aside from the really expensive ones – Bernina, Viking, Pfaff). I researched various models and was considering either the 19110 or the 19233. I found them on Sears.com for $299 and $380 (on sale, down from $450), respectively. I wasn’t sure if the extra stitches and functions on the 19233 were worth the extra $80. After a little more browsing, I came across it on another site, Ken’s Sewing Center, for $300, the same price as the model below it. It had been factory-serviced (meaning someone returned it from reason and the place they returned it to couldn’t sell it as new because the box had been opened, but it was still in perfect condition). I asked the people on patternreview.com if Ken’s was a reputable dealer, and they are, and someone said it looked like a fantastic deal.

But someone else pointed me to a topic on the Kenmore 19606. This is originally a $700 machine. It’s being discontinued and Sears was selling it for $225. But there are very few left for sale in the country. Someone said they had called all of the Sears in the Atlanta area and was told they didn’t have any. You could have one ordered from out-of-state Sears, but you have to have a Sears card. I asked if that was the only way you could get one if there weren’t any at nearby Sears stores, just to make sure.

Someone said that a certain Sears in the Atlanta area still had their floor model. They had thrown out the box and accessories, so the manager said they could take another 20% off to help whoever bought it afford the accessories. I called to ask if they still had it and they did, so the next day (Saturday), Mom drove me there and we picked it up – a $700 machine for $180 + tax. I was (and am) very happy.

Of course, I have to buy the power cord ($8) and the foot control ($59! I don’t /have/ to buy it, because the machine has a start/stop button, but I think I’m going to anyway). They’re available at the Sears parts store. I think I’m also going to buy a few presser feet from them, so it’ll be close to $100 more, but that’s still /a lot/ better than $700 total. I downloaded the manual for free from managemyhome.com and saved it to a disk.

I think it must have been God who directed my steps to finding that machine, because of the timing and the fact that I really didn’t have a reason to research the Bernette I had my eye on at the time, due to the fact I wouldn’t be able to afford it for a long while (for the Kenmore, I borrowed money from my savings account, since it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I don’t like doing that. At least I have a regular babysitting job).

Props to you if you actually read all that. Here’s a picture for your patience (or impatience if you just scrolled down). I like the lavender color on it.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

Football, Strider, and a Robin Hood Review

The Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl tonight. I don’t care much which team wins. Figuring out who to support goes something like, “Well, Arizona has a popular Renaissance festival that the Hanlon-Lees joust at, but on the other hand, swords are made of steel…” As someone else said, I would rather watch a joust. I’m just looking forward to the commercials. I’m rather disappointed that my stomach is still not itself, as I’ve had some sort of stomach bug since Wednesday, so I will be eating saltine crackers and rice instead of the food Mother is making. :p What’s the point of having the Super Bowl if you can’t eat more interesting food? *mope mope*

I watched most of a dog show on TV last night. German shepherds are my favorite breed of dog, followed closely by Great Danes. For quite a while now, I’ve wanted to get a male German shepherd and name it Strider. And then on the dog show last night, I noticed that the male German shepherd in the ring is named Strider! The dog’s show name is “Rohan’s Reward”. Rohan is my favorite culture of Middle-Earth. So it was kind of strange.

I watched “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” on TV yesterday. HAHAHAHA. Ahem, excuse me. It was…interesting. Keven Costner does not make the best Robin Hood, in my humble opinion. Azim (Morgan Freeman) and Will Scarlet are more likable. And the theme music didn’t fit the movie very well. I think a great score would have made a huge difference. And the sheriff’s and the sheriff’s cousin’s acting seemed a bit over-the-top in a bad way at times (sorry, Colonel Brandon). The witch is icky, but she’s one of the bad people, so I suppose it’s okay…There are a couple of disturbing moments, like when she gets impaled and the scene where the sheriff…eh…the scene where the sheriff and Marian have supposedly just gotten married and the sheriff wants to…uh, take it further. Robin Hood stops him, thankfully, while everyone is still dressed, but I don’t like that part.

Now! For the Robin Hood I /do/ like (but sadly haven’t seen in years):

And I decided to vote for the Arizona Cardinals, because a Clean Place member lives in Arizona.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

The Shack

I haven’t read it, but I have read several reviews. This one makes the most sense to me based on everything I’ve heard, so I thought I’d share it: http://www.christianfilmmakers.org/forums/viewthread/1281/

GARF and Dogs

Approximately three months remain until I will hopefully go to GARF, the Georgia Renaissance Festival (less if you go earlier than homeschool day). If anyone wants to come with me (and my mother and younger sister and whoever I can get to go), just drop me a note or e-mail me or whatever. Tickets on homeschool day (May 7) are $10 per adult and $8.50 per student. Visit http://garenfest.com/ for more information. The student days last from 9:00 to 14:30 (2:30 PM). If I go, I plan on being there every moment possible, and wearing Renaissance-ish (not claiming to be historically accurate) garb. Since I will hopefully have new garb made in time, I might have some things you can borrow to wear if you come.

I went to Michaela’s house on Saturday. We went to Starbucks with Amy and Rachel and then watched Iron Man. Michaela has trained Rachel’s dog Kiwi to let herself outside and close the door when she comes back in. Kiwi went out, and their other dog Sunshine was inside, and Kiwi let Sunshine out.

I need to go do other things, so I will leave you with a picture and a link.

Sunshine and Kiwi, and the cats – Puddin’, Tabby, and Paisley:

Here’s a link: http://www.elizabethancostume.net/

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

Oho

I don’t have a reason for using that as the title of this entry. I just felt like it.

I generally forget what I blog about pretty fast, so I apologize if I repeat things.

I updated my poetry blog and I’m about to update my Project 365 blog as I listen to Josh Groban. I’m really enjoying the book I’m reading (How Sleep the Brave). Some of the character dialogue seems unrealistic, but most of it’s very good and some of it’s perfect. So far I think it would make a great movie.

I watched the Karate Kid movies recently on Hulu. I saw the second and third (and fourth, “The Next Karate Kid”, but I don’t like it as much) on TV on day and wanted to see the first so I looked for a place to watch it online and found Hulu. That inspired a search for other movie-watching websites and that inspired research on whether or not they were legal. Most of the ones you’ll find if you Google them aren’t legal, but Hulu is. Here are a few links to pages that can help you find other legal ones:
One

Two
Three

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

Giant Post o’ Randomness

Firstly, here’s a website: Pendragon: Sword of His Father.

Second, I need to stop injuring myself :p I’ve acquired various cuts over the past few days (and don’t remember how I got any. I think one was from something that had to do with sewing) and I burnt my arm on the iron.

Third, is this not the saddest picture you have ever seen?

Okay, maybe not /the/ saddest, but it makes me feel pretty bad. I mean, if a kitten came up to me like that and I asked if I eated its cookie, I might cry.

On a more serious note…I will hopefully be graduating in the spring (but the amount of school I have to get done to accomplish that is overwhelming, so I might save myself some stress and go through the summer). So I need to figure out what God wants me to do. I personally want to stay home and read and write and sew costumes, but I kinda figure He has something else in mind that will get me out of my rut. I also need to drive a lot more (like, 27 hours) so I can get my license so I can get a job and go to college or whatever. And yikes, I just used “like” and “whatever” in the same sentence. I must need to get more sleep or something.

I’m reading “How Sleep the Brave” by James H. Hunter. It’s very interesting so far. There are some annoying parts, such as: The breakage of writing rules has bothered me some (back story, passive voice, and the like). The omniscient point of view is annoying at times because the author doesn’t stay in the main character’s head and let you know what he’s thinking and I’d like to. But the story is engrossing enough to get over those things. The skipping of several years that sounded interesting bothered me even more, but it turned out well enough that I quickly got over that too. The author is good at securing your sympathy for the characters and building suspense.

I babysit tonight, as usual. It’s my weekly, two-hour character-building session. Most of the children are generally well-behaved, but there are three boys…well, two are brothers. They tend to be wild and disrespectful. The third boy is pretty good when the other two aren’t there, but when they are there, he’s worse than both of them and stirs them up so /they’re/ worse, too.

God is doing some things in my youth group that make me very happy. We (the youth group in general) used to be more involved in each others’ lives and we’d get together and hang out and talk about what God was giving us (which more often than not turned out to be the exact same thing everyone else was getting from God, down to the very same scriptures). Granted, I never talked much and still don’t, but just hanging out with them was great. Then those who were the unspoken leaders started college and other jobs, and while others stepped in to an extent to take those roles, we haven’t been as close since. My social life pretty much died and I felt guilty for wanting to just talk (or in my case listen) and hang out more than we did at the youth meetings, selfish for wanting to be known. But God is reminding use of the importance of being involved in each others’ lives, of getting to know each other and be unified with each other as well as with Him. I’ve wanted this for a long time.

There have also been some changes at Clean Place lately geared toward bringing us closer together, so that’s neat that God is doing the similar things in both of my circles of friends.

And now I have to end this so I can eat dinner and go build character for two hours kid-watching. ;p

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM