I want to be literate in the highest sense of the word, and a good thinker and artist so that I can enjoy my life and worship God.
I want to know more so that I will be a better wife, enabling my husband to enjoy his life and worship God.
I want to know more so that I might be an excellent mother, providing my children with the education and creativity to enjoy their lives more and worship God.
2.28.2008
2.19.2008
CINEMA REVIEW
Skip the buttered popcorn, enormous candy bars, 1L cups of soda, and... friends. Just give me a good movie. Over the past year and a half, I have developed an affinity for solo movie-going. During my sophomore year in college I lived in a tiny town in the Hill Country where I was the youth minister at a new church. Since I only had class two days a week, and work two nights a week (technically), my free time piled up plentifully.
Making friends, in a town where all high school graduates leave if they know what's good for them, was difficult. The friends that I did acquire eventually were all in high school, so they were only accessible in the evenings and on weekends. A girl can only study at the local coffee shop, the riverbanks of the park and under mimosa trees for so many hours of the day without requiring some other activity.
I began to schedule matinees into my schedule a couple times a month. The nearest movie theater was in the next town over, so I would make a day of it; trips to the next town were not to be taken lightly, for it was an unfathomable fifteen miles away across the beautiful purple and green hillside.
It never crossed my mind that going to the movies alone was a lonely business, until I began to see that reaction across people's faces when I answered that yes, in fact, I had gone to such-and-such movie alone. Even now, living in Dallas, home of the "Think big. Live large." motto, and amongst so many friends, associates, and family members, I find myself thinking quite small, and I catch most of my movies by myself. I LOVE it this way. Please believe me, I haven’t become a snob against seeing movies in the company of other friends. Rather, I enjoy both modes of participation. Whereas most people can only go if accompanied, I am gifted with the love of going both by myself, and with other people, so I get... more enjoyment. Perhaps that sounds prideful, but it is as innocent as gleefully pumping one's fist in the air at the discovery of money in the pocket of one's jeans.
The number one benefit of going alone: focus. With no one on either side of me, I direct all my intellectual and emotional energies on the art form at the front. Here I can audibly react based solely on the merit on the film, i.e. my laughs and groans are not brought forth to express anything to my friend, but instead they overflow out when I just cannot keep quiet about what’s on screen.
The second-most benefit is the understanding that participation in the fine arts as a viewer need not be a merely social experience, rather it can be an experience completely intellectual and spiritual: the act of immersing oneself in the makings of others for purely educational and self-beneficial reasons. So that I might go, so that I might know! To be free of small talk, social obligation, and polite interactions and to be released into the organic and personal musings of the solo-flight into the art of cinema! This is what I love about these adventures as a 1-ticket-for type of girl!
This winter I have gladly taken several study breaks to the local theaters. Since January I have viewed Juno, 27 Dresses, No Country for Old Men, and In Bruges, in theaters, on my own. And you, dear reader, will be the one to hear what I thought about each one, since I took no one along with me to muse with afterward. Bear with this lover of good movies, but ignorant student of film. While I cannot give you the opinions of a weathered student of cinematography, I do offer you the reviews of a meager lover of goodness, truth, and beauty.
Juno- 4 of 5 STARS! This was an entrancing and tempting film to fall in love with. The soundtrack begs to whisk you away into the arms of indie lovers. The plot of a teenage girl getting pregnant in her ambiguous relationship with the sweet, aloof boy-next-door isn't novel, but the story is still so fascinating that this glimpse into "oh-so-that's-what-its-like" comes across as new, fresh, and totally original, despite that unmarried girls have been getting knocked up for thousands of years for strange reasons. This movie is very funny. Be warned- the protagonist, Juno, has a knack for rendering the most simple things as cataclysmic-ly humorous, so much so that one might want to drop all intonation from one's voice, part one's hair down the middle, and acquire a strange Northern accent and cynicism to all things sweet, in an attempt to adopt her charming sense of humor, speech patterns, and perspective. Every character in this movie has a refreshing sense of depth. Clichés were not dropped. Eyes were not rolled. From a pop-culture standpoint, this film is just cool. There is no getting around it. That aside, at its barebones, Juno offers a look at the state of the human condition that is both sobering and encouraging. Here we have the cynical teenage girl with a shaky moral ground upon which she makes life-changing decisions, the dynamics of the American step-family, and the tension between spouses over the desirability of becoming parents, and the state of young love in a nothing-is-sacred culture. I enjoyed it so much! I would definitely pay seven bucks to go see it again, and probably bring a friend along next time.
27 Dresses- 2 of 5 STARS. Two words: seen it.
No Country for Old Men- 5 of 5 STARS. I do not know how to properly evaluate this movie. No Country, a Coen brothers movie, and an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, is mind-blowing. The wide screen shots of the dusty Texas towns and deserts gave me an overwhelming sense of being with the characters in the middle of nowhere, far away from help, sanity, culture, and safety. The idea of a killer who is so detached from the world that he kills people for coin tosses and money was haunting. This film successfully diagnoses the modern fall from goodness and grace into evil. By the end of the movie, which, quite appropriately, has no resolution, I felt like my soul had been stolen. Its quiet terror completely slew me. Hoorah for any visual art that can so transport one into another world and so thoroughly devastate one mentally and spiritually. Go see this movie alone to fully experience it.
In Bruges- 4 of 5 STARS. Caution: this movie is bad, bad, bad. “Bad” as in what your grandmother says when she slaps your aunt’s knee, laughing, and says, “You are so bad!” In all seriousness, before one goes to see this movie, be warned that it uses very vulgar humor. It is black comedy in every sense of the term. This is not to see that it is a bad movie. Heavens! I gave it 4 STARS! I laughed so hard all throughout the movie. What is funny is not so much what is said, but the ridiculousness of the patterns of thought displayed by the two hit men hiding out in Bruge (rhymes with rouge), a little town in Belgium. What makes this film so great, besides the hilarity, is how it matches the funny moments with equally serious content. It has all of the benefits of tragedy (which it is), with the seasonings of a well-developed comedy (which it also is). I do not know what Aristotle would have thought of the two genres being cemented together, but I really enjoyed it.
Making friends, in a town where all high school graduates leave if they know what's good for them, was difficult. The friends that I did acquire eventually were all in high school, so they were only accessible in the evenings and on weekends. A girl can only study at the local coffee shop, the riverbanks of the park and under mimosa trees for so many hours of the day without requiring some other activity.
I began to schedule matinees into my schedule a couple times a month. The nearest movie theater was in the next town over, so I would make a day of it; trips to the next town were not to be taken lightly, for it was an unfathomable fifteen miles away across the beautiful purple and green hillside.
It never crossed my mind that going to the movies alone was a lonely business, until I began to see that reaction across people's faces when I answered that yes, in fact, I had gone to such-and-such movie alone. Even now, living in Dallas, home of the "Think big. Live large." motto, and amongst so many friends, associates, and family members, I find myself thinking quite small, and I catch most of my movies by myself. I LOVE it this way. Please believe me, I haven’t become a snob against seeing movies in the company of other friends. Rather, I enjoy both modes of participation. Whereas most people can only go if accompanied, I am gifted with the love of going both by myself, and with other people, so I get... more enjoyment. Perhaps that sounds prideful, but it is as innocent as gleefully pumping one's fist in the air at the discovery of money in the pocket of one's jeans.
The number one benefit of going alone: focus. With no one on either side of me, I direct all my intellectual and emotional energies on the art form at the front. Here I can audibly react based solely on the merit on the film, i.e. my laughs and groans are not brought forth to express anything to my friend, but instead they overflow out when I just cannot keep quiet about what’s on screen.
The second-most benefit is the understanding that participation in the fine arts as a viewer need not be a merely social experience, rather it can be an experience completely intellectual and spiritual: the act of immersing oneself in the makings of others for purely educational and self-beneficial reasons. So that I might go, so that I might know! To be free of small talk, social obligation, and polite interactions and to be released into the organic and personal musings of the solo-flight into the art of cinema! This is what I love about these adventures as a 1-ticket-for type of girl!
This winter I have gladly taken several study breaks to the local theaters. Since January I have viewed Juno, 27 Dresses, No Country for Old Men, and In Bruges, in theaters, on my own. And you, dear reader, will be the one to hear what I thought about each one, since I took no one along with me to muse with afterward. Bear with this lover of good movies, but ignorant student of film. While I cannot give you the opinions of a weathered student of cinematography, I do offer you the reviews of a meager lover of goodness, truth, and beauty.
Juno- 4 of 5 STARS! This was an entrancing and tempting film to fall in love with. The soundtrack begs to whisk you away into the arms of indie lovers. The plot of a teenage girl getting pregnant in her ambiguous relationship with the sweet, aloof boy-next-door isn't novel, but the story is still so fascinating that this glimpse into "oh-so-that's-what-its-like" comes across as new, fresh, and totally original, despite that unmarried girls have been getting knocked up for thousands of years for strange reasons. This movie is very funny. Be warned- the protagonist, Juno, has a knack for rendering the most simple things as cataclysmic-ly humorous, so much so that one might want to drop all intonation from one's voice, part one's hair down the middle, and acquire a strange Northern accent and cynicism to all things sweet, in an attempt to adopt her charming sense of humor, speech patterns, and perspective. Every character in this movie has a refreshing sense of depth. Clichés were not dropped. Eyes were not rolled. From a pop-culture standpoint, this film is just cool. There is no getting around it. That aside, at its barebones, Juno offers a look at the state of the human condition that is both sobering and encouraging. Here we have the cynical teenage girl with a shaky moral ground upon which she makes life-changing decisions, the dynamics of the American step-family, and the tension between spouses over the desirability of becoming parents, and the state of young love in a nothing-is-sacred culture. I enjoyed it so much! I would definitely pay seven bucks to go see it again, and probably bring a friend along next time.
27 Dresses- 2 of 5 STARS. Two words: seen it.
No Country for Old Men- 5 of 5 STARS. I do not know how to properly evaluate this movie. No Country, a Coen brothers movie, and an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, is mind-blowing. The wide screen shots of the dusty Texas towns and deserts gave me an overwhelming sense of being with the characters in the middle of nowhere, far away from help, sanity, culture, and safety. The idea of a killer who is so detached from the world that he kills people for coin tosses and money was haunting. This film successfully diagnoses the modern fall from goodness and grace into evil. By the end of the movie, which, quite appropriately, has no resolution, I felt like my soul had been stolen. Its quiet terror completely slew me. Hoorah for any visual art that can so transport one into another world and so thoroughly devastate one mentally and spiritually. Go see this movie alone to fully experience it.
In Bruges- 4 of 5 STARS. Caution: this movie is bad, bad, bad. “Bad” as in what your grandmother says when she slaps your aunt’s knee, laughing, and says, “You are so bad!” In all seriousness, before one goes to see this movie, be warned that it uses very vulgar humor. It is black comedy in every sense of the term. This is not to see that it is a bad movie. Heavens! I gave it 4 STARS! I laughed so hard all throughout the movie. What is funny is not so much what is said, but the ridiculousness of the patterns of thought displayed by the two hit men hiding out in Bruge (rhymes with rouge), a little town in Belgium. What makes this film so great, besides the hilarity, is how it matches the funny moments with equally serious content. It has all of the benefits of tragedy (which it is), with the seasonings of a well-developed comedy (which it also is). I do not know what Aristotle would have thought of the two genres being cemented together, but I really enjoyed it.
2.18.2008
2.03.2008
1.30.2008
Debauchery on my Tongue
Fresh foods! For the past month or so, I have cooked most of my meals. The greenest greens, brightest yellows, and most lovely reds have all graced my skillet. Chicken dances tenderly onto my plate and pasta shimmers like delight in a bowl.
Today, for the second time, I noticed what an effect on my palette/taste buds all this freshness has had. Resorting to fast food in a break between my first and my second job, I picked up a "Regular with cheese" and curly fries and Arby's. The sandwich was bland, with too much bread, and odd cheese (probably canned). The fries were... great.
The thing is, I usually eat Cheese-Its (spelling?) in the car as a semi-healthy snack in lieu of fries or fast food. Following up my greasy meal, I popped a few Cheese-Its for a familiar taste. They tasted terrible! A snack that I usually love, had melted in desirability after those grease-ridden monsters and that terrible cheese destroyed my mouth's sense of right and wrong, good and bad. I knew this indicated that my meal had been utter trash and I had sinned against my purified palette.
Bah! Back to fresh foods for Miss June Wild!
Today, for the second time, I noticed what an effect on my palette/taste buds all this freshness has had. Resorting to fast food in a break between my first and my second job, I picked up a "Regular with cheese" and curly fries and Arby's. The sandwich was bland, with too much bread, and odd cheese (probably canned). The fries were... great.
The thing is, I usually eat Cheese-Its (spelling?) in the car as a semi-healthy snack in lieu of fries or fast food. Following up my greasy meal, I popped a few Cheese-Its for a familiar taste. They tasted terrible! A snack that I usually love, had melted in desirability after those grease-ridden monsters and that terrible cheese destroyed my mouth's sense of right and wrong, good and bad. I knew this indicated that my meal had been utter trash and I had sinned against my purified palette.
Bah! Back to fresh foods for Miss June Wild!
1.29.2008
Out-Cookied!
Tonight I made a beautiful plate of oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies for my friend Austin and his apartment-mates. We are all in the same class tomorrow morning, and I thought it would be nice to bring the cookies over, and perhaps talk about the assignment that is due in the morning. I put them on a pretty plate that has only been used for cookies so far.
I called Austin, but he did not answer. I figured that he and his friends were still practicing for inter mural football. However, I know that they never lock their apartment, and they wouldn't mind if I slipped in to deliver the cookies.
So, I walked over to their apartment, knocked on the door, waited a sufficient amount of time, and then opened it. Lo-and-behold, the first things my eyes landed on was a plate of sugar cookies!!! It had a note on it that asked for the boys to kindly return the plate. I couldn't believe it! Someone beat me to the cookie-gifting!
I turned right around and took my cookies back home with me.
I called Austin, but he did not answer. I figured that he and his friends were still practicing for inter mural football. However, I know that they never lock their apartment, and they wouldn't mind if I slipped in to deliver the cookies.
So, I walked over to their apartment, knocked on the door, waited a sufficient amount of time, and then opened it. Lo-and-behold, the first things my eyes landed on was a plate of sugar cookies!!! It had a note on it that asked for the boys to kindly return the plate. I couldn't believe it! Someone beat me to the cookie-gifting!
I turned right around and took my cookies back home with me.
In other news:
I made the Honors list!
My first list to make in college!!!!!!!!!!!
I might read something (a paper or poetry)
at the Paideia Conference.
Clinton won in Florida.
Half of the cookies were a burnt batch, anyway.
I have a new poem brewing.
Tonight I returned a way-too-expensive rug back to Target
and exchanged it for a bed skirt, pillowcases, and $$$$.
I successfully denied myself $8 clearance Issac Mizrahi loafers
and a $12 I.M. white oxford shirt.
Mitch is coming to see me this weekend
for an early Valentines celebration!
I made the Honors list!
My first list to make in college!!!!!!!!!!!
I might read something (a paper or poetry)
at the Paideia Conference.
Clinton won in Florida.
Half of the cookies were a burnt batch, anyway.
I have a new poem brewing.
Tonight I returned a way-too-expensive rug back to Target
and exchanged it for a bed skirt, pillowcases, and $$$$.
I successfully denied myself $8 clearance Issac Mizrahi loafers
and a $12 I.M. white oxford shirt.
Mitch is coming to see me this weekend
for an early Valentines celebration!
1.24.2008
My 365 Project
A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a great photo project website, PhotoJojo
It had a suggestion for a 365-day project that I quite liked, which is to take one picture every day for a year, on the premise that it would be cool to look back on a collection of photographs that document an entire year in one's life. Now, this may sound easy to anyone with a camera and a spare second, but I have actually found it to be a pleasant creative challenge to make sure I am photographing something new everyday. Since I use film, as opposed to a digital camera, by pictures will come in installments. I missed a few days on this go-around, but I hope to not miss anymore.
January 6- one of my favorite curves on the road
between here and Nacogdoches, where my extended family resides
January 10
Here is one of the two teacup&saucers that
Mitch gave to me for Christmas. I adore them.
January 12
I made this! I got the idea for this stand-up jewelry box
from a magazine. It is a shadow box, lined with paper,
with two knobs and a key holder punched through the back.
I made blueberry love muffins for my flatmates.
January 13
Self-portrait in my happy little room,
in my new dress. Though it is completely out of focus,
I am quite fond of this picture.
January 14
My shelf life. Before the addition of my
new bookshelf (not pictured), my at-hand books
were all crammed on this shelf on the wall.
January 15
Chicken! Peppers! Potatoes! Asparagus!
January 16
The first meeting of the leaders of the Literary Revolution!
That might sound comical, but we met to discuss the
community of young thinkers, readers, scientists,
poets, and people, that we are about to launch.
January 17
Dallas Museum of Art.
January 18
Self-portrait taken after the last day
of my mini-term, on which I wore the new dress
and performed a new poem.
January 20
Upon realizing that my pink and white outfit matched
the entire bathroom at this movie theater.
January 21
January 23
Holding the plane he constructs daily.
It had a suggestion for a 365-day project that I quite liked, which is to take one picture every day for a year, on the premise that it would be cool to look back on a collection of photographs that document an entire year in one's life. Now, this may sound easy to anyone with a camera and a spare second, but I have actually found it to be a pleasant creative challenge to make sure I am photographing something new everyday. Since I use film, as opposed to a digital camera, by pictures will come in installments. I missed a few days on this go-around, but I hope to not miss anymore.
January 6- one of my favorite curves on the roadbetween here and Nacogdoches, where my extended family resides
January 10Here is one of the two teacup&saucers that
Mitch gave to me for Christmas. I adore them.
January 12I made this! I got the idea for this stand-up jewelry box
from a magazine. It is a shadow box, lined with paper,
with two knobs and a key holder punched through the back.
I made blueberry love muffins for my flatmates.
January 13Self-portrait in my happy little room,
in my new dress. Though it is completely out of focus,
I am quite fond of this picture.
January 14My shelf life. Before the addition of my
new bookshelf (not pictured), my at-hand books
were all crammed on this shelf on the wall.
January 15Chicken! Peppers! Potatoes! Asparagus!
January 16The first meeting of the leaders of the Literary Revolution!
That might sound comical, but we met to discuss the
community of young thinkers, readers, scientists,
poets, and people, that we are about to launch.
January 17Dallas Museum of Art.
January 18Self-portrait taken after the last day
of my mini-term, on which I wore the new dress
and performed a new poem.
January 20Upon realizing that my pink and white outfit matched
the entire bathroom at this movie theater.
January 21A lanky charmer.
January 23Holding the plane he constructs daily.
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