Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Friendship

Hey all!

I haven't posted a song on one of my blogs for a while so here you go! It kinda goes with a theme, but it's kinda sad...so hopefully it doesn't alter the mood I wanted too terribly much. 


So, how often have you been asked the question; "Would you rather have a lot of friends, or a few close ones?" I have been asked this question numerous times in my life, and I've wavered back and forth between the two options. I've been faced with this question over the last couple of weeks, but this time, I've been asking the question, and I've been asking it of myself. 

I started asking myself the question when I had coffee with a friend from high school. We were discussing high school drama; particularly the summers before and after grade 12, and our grade 12 year itself. 
The high school we graduated from is a small one, and most of my friends from my particular "group" I have known since kindergarten. It wasn't the superficial form of "know" that sometimes gets tossed around, such as "I've known her forever" but you've really only known her for a year or two. 

Eventually, as more new students enrolled at the school, more and more people joined our "group", and slowly, the "core people" grew further and further apart. At first, I didn't really think much of it, mostly because I still felt like I belonged. 

As the years continued however, I started to feel less and less like I belonged. That's when I started to get annoyed.

And I know. It's high school. Suck it up princess, right? 

Why? Why should I suck it up? When I've known people for a certain period of time, is it wrong to expect to be felt like part of a group?

I went entire summers looking at pictures on Facebook of my friends having fun, and me going "thanks for the invite guys..." I have a cell phone, I have access to a vehicle. There are no excuses.

I'm going to pause here.

I am in no way trying to be whiney, or trying to make you all feel sorry for me. And I'm not angry per se. What I am doing however, is ranting, which will have a point. I'm getting there.

So I asked my friend over coffee, "What did I do to them to be treated that way?" Her response was, "nothing. I think you just sort of slipped under the radar." 

Yikes. 

So in other words, had I made a stink about it, I would've been invited.

Wrong. That would've just made things worse. But that's not really the point.

The point is, what's so great about having a large group of friends, if they aren't going to make some of the effort? What's the point of having a large group of friends, and one person makes plans with somebody, then that somebody adds another somebody, and eventually you've got everybody...except for those one or two that tend to "slip under the radar". But OH WELL. They won't care...right?

WRONG.

If I've done something to somebody to make them angry or offend them or made them feel uncomfortable, I would rather know, then just be treated like nothing. Besides, I can't change if I don't know what the heck I'm doing wrong. Sometimes people don't understand what they have done. Nobody's perfect. 

So here's the deal.
I love being surrounded by friends. I've become more into larger groups than I used to be. 

However, it seems completely useless to me to be surrounded by people who, when it comes down to it, aren't going to be around when you need them, and just generally don't care. 

And I guess that's the way God works too....but that's an entirely different topic. 


So, to cut this long story short, I would rather have friends who are going to be there for me. Who are going to listen to me when I need an ear, and who will let me listen when they need someone. Who will include me in fun times, and who I would want to include in mine. Because otherwise, all you have is acquaintances.


Monday, January 31, 2011

30 "week" challenge- week 3!

Oopsies! I'm a tad late on this one! Oh well, there will just be 2 this week :) 


"Week" 3- A picture of the cast of your favorite show. 

Well, I'll be honest, I don't watch a ton of TV. Quite often, I'm just too busy!

However, if I could choose to be dedicated to watching a show every week, it would be...


 


The Big Bang Theory! I absolutely love the cast of this show, and every show I watch makes me laugh. 

And actually, another show that makes me laugh that is kind of embarrassing is...




Yep. Everybody Loves Raymond. There are some really priceless moments on that show..


Anywho that is all for today...sorry for being a week behind! I'll probably do another one this week to catch up!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Book #1 Review!

Hey all!

So I just finished my first book off my "100 books to read list" which is #50, Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 

Technically, as I am writing this, I have 21 pages left, but I'm technically done...right? I'll still finish it..but I'd like to get through the post before life gets insane (midterms a week from Monday! Ick!) and I forget what this was about/what I wanted to say.

So let me tell you, I wanted to give up on this book about 20 pages in. It is a very hard book to understand. In fact, I'm watching the movie to see if I can't get a better understanding on some parts of the book, specifically the very beginning and the very end. I am currently very confused with 21 pages left to go before I hopefully have some clarity. 

Essentially, this book is exactly what the title says it is. It's a love story. The "love" part is in the foreground, and the "cholera" part is more in the background of the story. 

In the story, there are really two main characters (at least in my mind...it's probably not accurate for all you English Literature nuts out there); Fermina Daza, and Florentino Ariza. Florentino is madly in love with Fermina, and throughout the first half of the book, he spends all his time trying to win her over. But then she gets married, so he realizes that he has to wait until her husband dies until he can be with her. But he thinks about her throughout the entire book. He becomes so lovesick a couple of times, the doctors think he has cholera, but in actuality, he is just lovesick for Fermina Daza. You feel like you're in a tug of war while reading some parts, because just when you think he's going to FINALLY get the girl, he doesn't, then he tries really hard again..and well, you get the picture. There is a lot of sleeping around in this book, and some husband-cheating-on-wives action too. I'm not giving away the end (mostly because I haven't finished it myself so I can't give it away..but also because I'm not into spoilers).

The plot in itself is pretty interesting, however, it's quite hard to follow. The book was published in 1985, so it's not that the English in itself is hard to understand, it's just in the way it was written.  

So I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5. The book had some interesting parts, there was a span of about 100 pages where I couldn't put it down..but that's about it! Now I'm skimming through the last bit.

I would recommend this to people who enjoy reading books set in older time periods, and I think anyone who has taken English Lit and enjoyed a lot of what was studied in that class will enjoy this book. Anyone who shudders at the thought of English Lit should probably steer clear of this one! All in all, an encouraging first book out of 100!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

30 "Week" Challenge #2 and shout outs!

Hello everyone!

So the "week" 2 of this challenge says...

"A picture of you and the person you've been closest with the longest."

So for this one, I would choose me and my friend Hannah! Sadly, we don't really have any pictures together, but it still counts if I mention her...right?

I've known her since kindergarten, and we didn't hang out much in elementary school, but in high school we got really close, and now she's one of my best friends!

I'm not sure if she reads the blog, but a shout out to Hannah anyway, for always being there for me! 

So on to more shout outs! 

Yay to everyone who I know (or am slightly positive haha) has read the blog! Including but not limited to: Daniella H, Rachael P, Reyna Z, Tyler-Rae H, Josh F, Janessa B, Noeloni B, Jacquie H, Laura S, and Stefani V! THANK YOU ALL! I'm completely flattered and super excited to know that I have all you guys as readers! (Even if you've read it only once!). THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! OH! Also Kristin A! I don't know you, but I noticed you also follow Tyler-Rae, so you probably know her so thank you!


Also!


I happened to be going through my stats, and I noticed a couple random blogspot websites that I'd never seen/heard of/been to had posted links to my blog on theirs! 


The first one I noticed was from: http://miketonia.blogspot.com/. Thank you so much! I have no idea where you found me, but I definitely appreciate you linking to me! (You're kids are super cute by the way!) 


The second one I noticed was from davesgolffoursome.blogspot.com. I went to check out the site but apparently you need permission to enter. Which makes me wonder two things: 1) What is he discussing on his blog? and 2) Why would he link me? WEIRD. But anyway, it's still cool...just a bit strange!


So anyway, that's my fun shout out/ 30 week challenge post for you. Thank you all again for reading and being so encouraging! I couldn't have done it without any of you! If I forgot anyone, I am sorry! I still appreciate you I just either forgot you read the blog or didn't know you read it! Let me know if you want to be shouted to in the future :) (In a good way of course!)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Awkward conversation time!

Hey all! 

So this is an awkward one today kids. 

I have to be honest and say that I've written and re-written this about 4 or 5 times now. This one is difficult for me. I'm not 100% sure where I stand, even though I do have my on opinions, and I'm also terribly afraid of offending people on this as it's a touchy subject all around.


Controversial topic for January: War.


YIKES!


I've wanted to write about this for a while, and what really sparked my interest is a video I saw from one of my absolute favorite youtubers; Philip Defranco. The video is from his main channel where he talks about news stories, and gives his own opinion on them. I have multiple videos I recommend you watch today, and this one (even though I love him) is not really relevant, so watch this one last if you'd like to watch it at all. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/user/sxephil?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/62/02ODXd_fddo

Before I continue, I have 2 videos I really recommend you watch, however, they are really long, so I will rank them in order of "importance", both coming from http://www.collateralmurder.com/:


Video #3- U.S soldier Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story
Video #1- Short version


Moving along.


War is an unfortunate reality. It's one of those things that because we aren't perfect, there is war. Because we are all different and have this getting along issue, there is war. 


I don't love that there has to be war, but there isn't much I can do about it. It it was it is. 

And I don't mean to sound like I don't care that soldiers and civilians are dying because there is war, because I do. My heart aches every time I see on T.V that a soldier has died, or that there was another suicide bombing or something. It's not fun and as much as I would like to see peace on Earth; I don't feel as if there is much we can do about it. I mean, war has been going on since Biblical times. If they didn't stop fighting then, I can't see people stopping any time soon. 

I came upon a video a couple moths ago through a Facebook friend. He posted a link to a video saying how he was so disgusted with the army etc etc. It intrigued me as I have become more fascinated with hearing about people's war experiences etc, so I watched it. I think I must've had my mouth open in shock for a solid 90% of it. It is unbelievable. The website is www.collateralmurder.com. At the very least, watch the short version if you are at all interested. I will warn you that it is very graphic.

I'll give you a bit of a summary. 


The video is shot from the viewpoint of a helicopter. And you hear conversation between multiple helicopters I believe (I wasn't quite sure of that). What happens, is that there are 2 men working as war photographers, taking pictures of sites for newspapers that kind of thing. The soldiers in the one helicopter see these 2 men, and a bunch of people begin surrounding the 2 men and so the soldiers begin to feel threatened because they mistake the camera for a weapon. So the one helicopter requests permission to fire. They get the permission and kill these people. Then, you hear the soldiers say that there is a van coming to pick up the bodies and minutes later you see the van coming. The men get out of the van, and the helicopter starts shooting at the van and the people picking up the dead bodies. What makes matters worse is that there are children in the van who are seriously injured. I'm not sure if they die, but they do get sent to the hospital. 


I have so many thoughts and no idea how to put them into words.

Originally, I thought the van was just coming to pick up the bodies, however after re-watching, the men state that they are coming to "pick up bodies and possibly weapons". So I understand the threat, however, I still have a hard time with that. Because in my opinion, and from what I understand after watching the third video (which I'll talk about in a bit), they would've engaged at the van even if they KNEW they were coming JUST for bodies. That is what I have a hard time with. There is nothing threatening about just coming for bodies. At least have a LITTLE more respect.



It's hard for me to talk about this because I'm sitting here in my bedroom perfectly comfortable, and with a full understanding of the situation. However, these guys have little to no prep, no understanding really of the situation, and they are just supposed to go by spur of the moment. So as critical as I may sound, I do understand that it's a very spur of the moment type situation. 

A second thing that disgusts me in that video is the laughing after they fire and kill all the people. Killing people is no joke. Iraq is no video game. So don't laugh after you've killed a group of people. I don't care who they are. Oh, and "Good shootin'"? Freakin' A...


I started watching the third video on that website, and it's a response from one of the soldiers working at the time. I really admire him. He is truly disgusted by the goings-0n in Iraq. He talks about how the commanders would tell them to kill everyone on the streets, and how a lot of the soldiers wouldn't do it. They were also told that if they felt threatened, they could engage (hence the first video). He says "if you didn't fire, the NCO's (Non-commissioned officers) in your platoon would make your life hell". Ok. If you feel threatened, fine. I understand that. But the part that I have a hard time with is how they say if a guy gives you a funny look, or just "shooting through roofs of buildings" you can shoot them and you're fine. That's where my struggle comes into play. 


There is only one statement in the entire video that I agree with: "well it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle." 

What kind of parent does that? Leave your freaking kids at home. You'd think that it would be a universal idea to want what's best for your kids. I guess in Iraq that isn't the case. 

What's even worse is that that isn't the case in the army either. The soldier who put the kids in a van and sent them to hospital (Ethan McCord) was told to "quit worrying about the fucking kids". Oh awesome. This just gets better and better...


And it does. "needing to talk to somebody constitutes as a crime". Oh. My. Goodness. No wonder so many soldiers come home and have so many mental issues. They have no support at all, and really aren't allowed to be human. 


There is so much more to talk about, but I would like to stop here. I have a hard time respecting commanders that tell soldiers to "suck it up" or "forget about the kids". However, I can respect soldiers who remain human in Iraq, and come home, and are brave enough to share their stories of anger and hurt. 

Something tells me there will be a part two on this topic...

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

30 "week" challenge part 1!

Why hello!


It's been a terribly long time since I've blogged. Which does not make me so happy. But life has been insanity since about December 9th so having the time to blog....well there hasn't been any!

So I thought I'd start on one of my new topics for the blog!


I don't know how many of you have seen this/done this on Facebook, but there's a "30 day challenge" going on where you post a photo every day and there are questions you have to answer. I thought instead of doing one a day, I'd do one a week.

Here's a song of the day before you begin to read!


The topic for week one:

"A recent photo of you and 10 interesting facts about yourself"

It's not 100% recent but it's recent enough!
  
1. I love to crochet. (Sounds lame I know but it actually comes in handy!)

2. I love music. A lot. My parents have told me that they used to put me in a play pen in the living room and then turn on the country music channel (my taste has improved I promise) and I would start groovin'. I still love music, (country well....it has its moments) and I will probably never be able to narrow my list of known artists down to one favorite.

3. I hate sports. With a fiery passion. I'm not coordinated that way at all, and I just get embarrassed. 

4. Even though I hate sports, I took dance lessons for 11 years straight. I took a wide range of dances from Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop, and Highland. 


5. I love to bake. Cooking, not so much. I could stand and bake for an entire day if I had the opportunity, but I find cooking more stressful. 


6. I hate heights. With a fiery passion. 


7. Winter is not my favorite season. The snow is pretty, but I hate the combination of being cold and wet. And this is what usually happens when you go outside in the winter. 


8. I am an only child. How do I like it? I've never experienced anything else so I can't really tell you :)


9. I would love to travel to Africa. As sketchy a place that it is, I would love to see all the animals in their natural habitat! I think I would like to go twice though. One for a missions trip, and the other just for a vacation. 



10. I love the ocean. When I get old and have a ton of money, I will probably get a vacation home on Vancouver Island or something. I love vacationing in the summer by the ocean. 


  So that would be me in 10 facts. Hope you enjoyed it and learned something new! I challenge you all to join me whether it's on Facebook or a blog!




Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Book list!

Wowwweeee who knew that life could be so busy!

Anyway, one of my ideas for this year is to read 100 books and blog about each one in some form or another. I had a list of 100 books, but I had already read a few of them, so I was just going to find another list and replace the ones I had read and add them to my current list. But then I looked at my current list again and saw that there were things like "Harry Potter Series" and "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" and I took those out because an entire series does not count as 1 book. Long story short, the list I'm giving you is a combination of a couple "100 books to read before you die lists"

  1. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
  2. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
  3. To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
  4. Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
  5. 1984- George Orwell
  6. His Dark Materials- Philip Pullman
  7. Great Expectations- Charles Dickens
  8. Tess of the D'Ubervilles- Thomas Hardy
  9. Catch 22- Joseph Heller
  10. Rebecca- Daphne Du Maurier
  11. Birdsong- Sebastian Faulks
  12. Catcher in the Rye- JD Salinger
  13. The Time Traveller's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
  14. Middlemarch- George Eliot
  15. Gone with the Wind- Margaret Mitchell 
  16. The Great Gatsby- F Scott Fitzgerald 
  17. Bleak House- Charles Dickens
  18. War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy 
  19. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
  20. Brideshead Revisited- Evelyn Waugh
  21. Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  22. Grapes of Wrath- John Steinbeck
  23. Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll
  24. The Wind in the Willows
  25. Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy
  26. David Copperfield- Charles Dickens
  27. Emma- Jane Austen
  28. Persuasion- Jane Austen
  29. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
  30. Captain Corelli's Mandolin- Louis De Bernieres
  31. Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden
  32. Winnie the Pooh- AA Milne
  33. One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  34. A Prayer for Owen Meaney- John Irving
  35. The Woman in White- Wilkie Collins
  36. Anne of Green Gables- LM Montgomery
  37. Far From the Madding Crowd- Thomas Hardy
  38. The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood
  39. Lord of the Flies- William Golding
  40. Atonement- Ian McEwan
  41. Life of Pi- Yann Martel
  42. Dune- Frank Herbert
  43. Cold Comfort Farm- Stella Gibbons
  44. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
  45. A Suitable Boy- Vikram Seth
  46. A Shadow of the Wind- Carlos Ruiz Zafron
  47. A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens 
  48. Brave New World- Aldous Huxley
  49. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime- Mark Haddon
  50. Love in the Time of Cholera- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  51. Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck
  52. Lolita- Vladimir Nabokov
  53. The Secret History- Donna Tartt
  54. Count of Monte Cristo- Alexandre Dumas
  55. On the Road- Jack Kerouac
  56. Jude the Obscure- Thomas Hardy
  57. Bridget Jones's Diary- Helen Fielding 
  58. Midnight's Children- Salman Rushdie 
  59. Moby Dick- Herman Melville
  60. Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens
  61. Dracula- Bram Stoker
  62. The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett
  63. Notes From a Small Island- Bill Bryson
  64. Ulysses- James Joyce
  65. The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
  66. Swallows and Amazons- Arthur Ransome
  67. Germinal- Emile Zola
  68. Vanity Fair- William Makepeace Thackeray
  69. Possession- AS Byatt
  70. A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens
  71. Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell
  72. The Color Purple- Alice Walker
  73. The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro
  74. Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert
  75. A Fine Balance- Rohinton Mistry
  76. The Five People You Meet in Heaven- Mitch Alboum
  77. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  78. Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad
  79. The Little Prince- Antoine De Saint-Exupery
  80. The Wasp Factory- Iain Banks
  81. Watership Down- Richard Adams
  82. A Confederacy of Dunces- John Kennedy Toole
  83. A Town Like Alice- Nevil Shute
  84. The Three Musketeers- Alexandre Dumas
  85. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl
  86. Les Miserables- Victor Hugo
  87. For Whom the Bell Tolls- Ernest Hemingway
  88. The Stand- Stephen King 
  89. A Clockwork Orange- Anthony Burgess
  90. The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawtorne
  91. Something Wicked This Way Comes- Ray Badbury 
  92. Rabbit, Run- John Updike
  93. Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk
  94. Slaughterhouse- Five- Kurt Vonnegut 
  95. To the Lighthouse- Virginia Woolf
  96. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- Ken Kesey 
  97. IT- Stephen King
  98. The Hunt for Red October- Tom Clancy
  99. On the Beach- Nevil Shute
  100. The Red Tent- Anita Diamant 
Let me know if there's any duplicates and I'll change them! I'll update you all on what I'm reading as I go along.