when the hero is...the bad guy?

Yes, I happen to like Ted Dekker. You can't say that I like all his books, because I don't always like them. For example, his Martyr's Song series isn't one that I particularly enjoy.

However, as he's been writing, he has steadily gotten better. To date, his best novel is The Priest's Graveyard. In this book, it's extremely difficult to tell who the good guy is. Our two main characters, Danny and Renee, don't seem to be heroes. They are extremely flawed individuals who have depth, purpose, and more than a little bit of flawed reasoning behind their actions. No character pops out as the villain. The plot is intriguing, drawing you into their lives as you chase them along, both repulsed by their actions and yet unable to turn away. Expect the unexpected in this book. Page after page will whistle by as you frantically flip pages to find out what will happen next. I finished this book in 3 hours - and the book is approximately 360 pages long. This is a mind-blower.

As in Immanuel's Veins, Dekker started using the first person interspersed with third person narrative. However, unlike in Immanuel's Veins, the character using first person was a woman. This is something new for Dekker, as the only time he's ever used first person narrative style with a woman was when he co-authored with a woman. This book was a work he did on his own and with a woman in first-person narrative. However, for the story, it works very well. Once again, this is something that he's not used before Immanuel's Veins, but it works quite well and doesn't detract from the story in any way. In fact, I rather think it adds to the story.

Many times as I've read Dekker's books, I've come to a question: is Dekker Catholic? There are times it seems he is - he certainly seems to have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of Catholic teachings and whatnot, as is portrayed in The Priest's Graveyard. But some of the things he says makes me question whether or not he is Catholic, or has just researched extensively. This is just a curiosity that I've found and would dearly love to know the answer to.

For The Priest's Graveyard, I offer two thumbs up! Go find this book and either listen to it or read it. It will blow your mind and make you think twice about what you do. Definitely Dekker's best work to date - and he has a lot of them. Nor is this just my opinion. Go find a copy of this book. You won't regret it.

-enna

IT'S THE BIG 2-0-0!

My bad drawing of a happy person

Wow! We made it to 200 posts, ladies and gentlemen! *applause sounds* From what I can tell, most blogs barely make it to 50 posts, yet we've quadrupled that number, sent total page views over 1,300, and watched my blog gain a bit more organization. (Well, that's only really been in the past year, but better late than never.) So, let's see what was going on when I started in 2008 and what happens now.

2008:

~I was 17.

~Junior in high school.

~Had just started taking courses at the first community college I attended.

~I started working at the YMCAs that summer.

~I was single.

~Swim team took up most of my free time.

~I had lived in the same community since I was 3.

~The blog was random.

~Post schedule did not exist.

~Organization to the posts did not exist.

~Purpose did not exist.

Now:

~I'm 19 and less than 5 months away from 20.

~I'm a freshman/sophomore in college at a different college.

~My last day at the Y will be May 5th. :(

~I'm in a happy relationship with my best friend. :D

~Swim team messed up my shoulders horribly, so I don't swim competitively anymore.

~I'm moving the weekend after my last day of work.

~The blog is still random.

~I post about once a week.

~Posts have organization now! Yay!

~I'm not sure there's a central purpose yet, but we're a lot closer to one than we were!

Life has changed a lot, and you've been here for that! Thank you! Keep in touch for the next 200 posts!

-enna

what is YOUR telos?

So, in philosophy, we've been discussing Aristotle's virtue ethics. He thought that everyone has a supreme good, or eudaimonia, that they're working for, something that they want for its own sake. This is the goal of our lives, what we work towards. Telos is the purpose of our lives, what we're doing with our lives to achieve eudaimonia.

Does your life have purpose? Do you have a telos? Do you know what eudaimonia is for you?

Yes, this is a short post, but this was something I've been pondering since philosophy class.

-enna

"I don't need easy. I just need possible."

Bethany on left, AnnaSophia on right

So, in case you hadn't heard, there's this movie out that's called Soul Surfer.

It came out last weekend. I, unfortunately, haven't had a chance to go see it. I have EVERY intention of somehow making time to go see this movie. I heard about Bethany's story several years ago, and it inspired me then, and does still now. She's only a year older than I am. She had her arm bitten off by a shark when she was thirteen and I was twelve. And she went on to realize her dream anyway.

Bethany Hamilton

She told her father in response to his comment that it wouldn't be easy for her to surf competitively, "I don't need easy. I just need possible."

AnnaSophia Robb

This is a big budget film. It is done by a big company. It has big stars. And it showcases Bethany's big faith. This movie isn't just "based" on a true story - it IS a true story. In reading reviews, it has kept VERY close to reality. Which meant that this big budget film by a big company actually SHOWED CHRISTIANITY IN A MOVIE. And it wasn't Sherwood Baptist Church, either. They're not big. This was TriStar Pictures. FilmDistrict. Enticing Entertainment. Island Film Group. Affirm Films. Brookwell McNamara Entertainment. Life's A Beach Entertainment. Mandalay Vision. Some of these are somewhat obscure, but TriStar Pictures is one of the largest film production companies out there today. It stars AnnaSophia Robb, with Carrie Underwood, Helen Hunt, and Dennis Quaid. BIG movie. BIG stars. Big message.




Never EVER give up.

We don't need easy. We just need possible.

-enna

further postponement

Hey everyone, remember how I said that life was going crazy because we're moving? Well, I have more information. They're looking at closing between May 10 and May 15. And I have a philosophy paper, three powerpoint presentations, lots of Spanish homework, a choir concert, a recital, and a bunch of video editing I need to do. Plus I have to pack. Nor have I filed my taxes yet.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So, I regret to say it, but you will probably have to wait until after May 18 or so for the post on birth control. (That's because of finals the week AFTER we close.) Because I no longer have the time to research it. I'm really sorry. :( Say a bunch of prayers for my family, because we're all gonna go insane here soon.

-enna

news for you

Hello to my faithful readers. I bring news. Whether it is good or bad, you decide.

My family is moving by May 15th to a larger community about an hour away from our current residence. This means that posts will probably become less frequent as I prepare for the move. I'm apologizing in advance. (I don't know that any of you will MIND, but hey, I did apologize.) Despite this warning, I shall make a concentrated effort to put out at least one post a week. I just can't promise that it will happen.

Personally, I teeter back and forth between liking it and not liking it. Currently I'm at the "not liking it" point of the swing, but hey...I'll just be moving again in August. Yippee...

-enna

housekeeping

It's spring cleaning time, and this included my blog. Don't worry, all of the posts are still here. However, I did change the look - big time. Whereas before, the site was very colorful, particularly with shades of red, green, and blue, I have changed it to a much more Spartan look. Black and white is here for a while. If you like it, hate it, or what-have you, feel free to comment on the post.

The commenting system has remained the same - click the link for comments and a little box will pop up for you. Anonymous commenting is available; however, you do have to do the wacky distorted words thing. This is to attempt to slow down spammers. You can comment, but please keep in mind that this is a BLOG, not Facebook. Also, I ask that you keep your comments respectful and relevant to the post. If you post a comment about pizza on a post debating manipulation, it will be deleted. Note the new page with commenting help and requests.

Also, I don't know if this had been noticed yet. At the bottom of each post, there are little check boxes. They say "like" and "dislike". If you like the post, "like" it; if you severely dislike the content, "dislike" it. Facebook and blogging begin to merge!

And a small note about the blog post on contraceptives - the post is going to be a little later than I had initially thought. I have a large assignment due that had its due date moved up a week. So it is now due on Tuesday, and the background work has not really happened yet. (It's a film class, and Netflix has been hating on me with its InstantPlay, and I didn't get the movie into my DVD queue on time. Which is my fault, but drives me nuts.)

Update: I've been debating changing the URL to something shorter and easier to remember. There would be a redirect site at this address for a while. For you readers: is this something that you would like to see? If I switched to, say, www.goodandbad.blogspot.org, would you prefer that, or do you not want a change?

-enna

slipped into a dream, woke up in a nightmare

I think it's pretty safe to say that we've all had nightmares. I know that I have, at least. For most of us, they stopped when we were young. However, throughout our lives we will probably still experience nightmares once in a while. I know that for me, "once in a while" means about once every two weeks. Give or take about ten.

Why do they scare us so much? It's just a dream. It's not real. There is no reason for us to be so frightened of something that solely takes place within the confines of our minds. Yet these dreams can be some of the most terrifying things for us. They disturb sleep and imbue the day with a sense of trepidation.

If we're so frightened of something that doesn't offer any physical threat, what does this tell us about our minds? Physical things can scare us, but the things we create with our minds, the scenarios in our imaginations - THOSE truly terrify us. The situations that we find most frightening are replayed in our minds, worst-case scenarios that play to our deepest fears. They tailor themselves to our individual minds, for the most possible scare.

What frightens us most? What we play out within our own minds.

-enna

surprise!

I GOT MARRIED AT MIDNIGHT!! No pictures, it was a small ceremony. I just dragged this off a website.
























Oh, and by the way, today is commonly known as April Fool's Day. I got you good. H3h. I'm still unmarried, no worries. I just couldn't resist.

-enna