Lovers who Fight For

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You always hear people saying, "Are you a lover or a fighter?" Well, that's a complex question, when you get down to it. Here's some research on the subject:

Listed below are some characteristics of Lovers:

• They hug you when you see them
• They say sweet things like: “you look handsome/beautiful”
• They are calm and relaxed: they enjoy making others feel happy
• They are not easily upset: they do not like confrontation
• They are happy most of the time: they do not let discouragement show

 

Listed below are some characteristics of Fighters:

• They are usually grouchy: they snap back easily
• They are easily excitable: they are anxious
• They find it difficult to compliment: they do not readily recognize beauty
• They do not like being touched: they keep their distance
• They fuss and complain the most: they cannot wait to tell someone off

Both these individuals were born with purpose, and possess within themselves the power to be the best they can be. Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. Let us capitalize on our strengths no matter who we are.  Source

Definition of LOVER

1

a: a person in love; especially: a man in love with a woman bplural: two persons in love with each other

2

: an affectionate or benevolent friend

3

: devotee

 

Source

 

Definition of FIGHTER

: one that fights: as a (1): warrior, soldier (2): a pugnacious or game individual (3): ¹boxer 1 b: an airplane of high speed and maneuverability with armament designed to destroy enemy aircraft 

 

Source

 

Well, from THAT, I can conclude that the lover/fighter thing is about whether you are a good-natured, caring person, or a pugnacious, spirited person who is less interested in physical affection.

 

But such a sweeping generalization needs a large grain (or 1,000) of salt.

 

To begin with, I am more of a lover than a fighter. (Those who know me are loudly going, "DUH!") But I also frequently exhibit the 'characteristics' of a fighter. For instance, I do often snap back at people, I can be very excitable and I am often worried, and I am fussy. I'm sure there are people out there who are almost entirely a lover or a fighter, but I'm just not one of them.

 

(I am now mentally deducing who is a lover and who is a fighter amongst my friends and family...mwahahaha....)

 

But anyway, the point of this post with neither to bare my soul or semi-evilly label friends and family. I try to discourage such things on my blog (...usually...).

 

The point is that the world needs people who aren't only lovers or only fighters...the world needs lovers who fight. Just look at people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa, who both did amazing things for people in desperate need for help. They could never have done those things if they had not fought for them, and yet they fought with great love. They fought for what they wanted to see by being what they wanted to see.

 

In the worlds of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'Nothing was ever achieved without enthusiasm.'

 

Lovers are enthusiastic, but fighters have stamina.

 

So, lovers and fighters alike, and all of us somewhere in between...let us love to fight, and fight to love.

 

Ponderings on a Disney Princess, Part 1*

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Snow White

Snow White is a cool Disney princess, but also a sadly under-developed one. Because she was the very first Disney princess (not to mention the first animated film for crying out loud), I feel she didn't get to rise to her full potential. She gets kind of lost in a sea of childlike singing with animals and little old men. However, in the original fairy tale (by which, YES, I judge all Disney Princesses and their movies), she IS only a nine year old girl when she moves in with the dwarfs.

Personality rating:
Its really hard to rate a princess with such a small window of personal traits, but I'd say, on a scale of one to ten (one being 'I can't stand this grating female' and ten being 'I WISH I COULD BE HER!!!'), she gets a 4.5. She's just too sweet at times, but she has this great maternal, almost bossy side.

Movie overall:
For the first animated film ever, Snow White is incredible. The plot is impressive and well-developed.

Supporting characters:
The dwarfs NEVER fail to make me roll around on the floor laughing.

Villain:
The queen is just creepy, but she truly is evil, which is most refreshing. She's not really too amazing as far as villains go, but she totally became the stereotype of sorts, paving the way for future villains.

Prince:
Alas, Snow White's prince not only has no personality, no lines (other than a random song here or there)...he did not even get a name. Very sad. On the scale of prince-ness (one being 'no comment' and ten being 'WHY CAN'T HE BE REAL SO I CAN MARRY HIM!?!?'), he gets...maybe a 3? He does have a nice cape.

I am in the process of re-writing the story of Snow White, and because the movie is so iconic, I admit a lot of themes automatically slip in from there while I'm writing. But my main goal in re-writing it is to give Snow White a true, authentic personality. I love the fairy tale so much, and I don't think that Disney ruined the story or didn't give it justice. I just wish that Snow White could have been retold on screen a little later in history, where she could have had far more speaking parts and far more fun! Disney has never even made another short animated story about Snow White, which seems to indicate to me that Snow White was such a glorious crown for Disney, they felt her story was complete. That's not bad, its just very final. I think Snow White is so much bigger than that...so much more.

Favorite line:
"Soon she'll be tying your beards up with pink ribbons and spraying you with...PERFOOM!"

* This post and all similar posts may be classified as pointless ramblings. I feel very strongly about Disney Princesses in general, and as this is my blog, I would like to share those strong feelings. Feel free to ignore them, or even deign to agree with me.

Summer Vacation: Cut short...sort of...

Phew.

So. My dad's side of the family was planning to have this week-long bash at a wonderful lake resort to celebrate Grampa and Gramma's 50th anniversary!

*short round of applause*


And we were indeed having a blast!

Meg made a cake...

I discovered the chair of my DREAMS (seriously...I wish I could buy that thing from the resort!!!)...

We swam in the lake, having a great time on all the awesome inflatables and rafts, eating delicious meals, and enjoying our time together, since we hadn't seen each other in a while.

And for that one moment, everything was perfect.

And than that moment ended.

On the third day of our vacation, I awoke at about 7:15 a. m. to what sounded like the air conditioning having a stroke (roaring like a monster). Than I realized it was the wind, so I peeked out the window and was like, "Wow....that's strong wind. Ah well. Back to sleep."

About 0.5 seconds later, I was jolted awake by my younger brother shouting, "WE HAVE TO GO TO THE BASEMENT! THERE'S A TORNADO COMING!!"

Say wha?

I fully admit this was ALL my fault. After taking one peek at that creepy basement, I declared I would not set foot in it unless a tornado was coming. I apologize, family and fellow vacationers.

Well, tornado or no tornado, I really needed my glasses, some shoes, and to go to the bathroom.

A small child was shoved at me and I went straight to the basement with no glasses, no shoes, and still needing to use the bathroom.

Aw, well.

The basement wouldn't have been so bad...if there hadn't been a GAPING HOLE IN THE FLOOR. Don't ask me what its purpose was...some water pipes drained into it, but I don't know why it looked like a crater. Weird.

It was a dark and blustery morning, indeed.

Grampa opted to stay in bed. Fortunately, Gramma and the Aunts insisted he come down.

We were down there at least fifteen, twenty minutes, joking and making light of it, while my meteorologist father stood by the window going, "WOW! That's gotta be 80 mile-per-hour wind! Wow! Look at that lightning!"

Oh...did I mention the power was out? No? Go figure.

So, when we FINALLY went back upstairs, anticipating cold bagels with cream cheese (not bad, but we were anticipating egg muffins *shniff*), we were all pretty stunned.

We had no idea from the basement how BAD it was.

When we took a walk later, the damage was incredible:

From the window...grass and bits of leaves were ripped up and plastered onto houses!

On the path...why did only the FLOWERS stay put??

Holy buckets...the floating mat blew up into someones yard!

Tree uprooted right by our house...thank You God it wasn't big enough to hit us/cause damage!

The deck stuff all scattered../

That same uprooted pine from outside

Some poor people's cars...

A badly flooded yard.

The Saturn floaty blown into shrubs far from the beach!

One of the flooded paths.

The water trampoline, popped and blown up over a fallen electrical pole.

A wagon fell into the hole caused by this uprooted tree (see below)

EEP!

The ONE thing I was sure would be out of the water was still there....the slippery mat.

Ripped up path...see the uprooted tree there?

Ok...CRAZY! This line of debris shows how high the waves washed up on the shore!!

Beach chairs...part of a dock...

There used to be a dock there. I jumped off of it less than 12 hours before...

A wooden dock...what was left of it :(

Flooding...our cars were all spared!

More ripped up dock.

An up-side-down pontoon....not something you see everyday.

Ripped up docks...oy.

With no electricity and a heat advisory on the way, not to mention the mournful word from the manager that he had no idea when he'll be able to reopen, we could either rough it or leave.

But where?

Well, the closest place was....

HOME SWEET HOME.

So, aside from one aunt and uncle who decided to go home (since they were close, too), we all made the two hour drive to our place, where we'll be continuing our family vacation till next Saturday.

And how was YOUR summer vacation?





Less than five hours after my interview...

I have been hired.

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Why, yes, I AM a tad excited!

Books. Books! BOOKS!

I like books.

I haven't read a lot recently...I got into the habit of reading very slowly (which would always annoy my sisters and mom when we were all reading the same book and I was taking forever to finish it...). But I've started to break that habit, and I thought I'd share my most recent reads.

What I read last:

The Weka-Feather Cloak, Leo Madigan.

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What I'm currently reading:

Sun Slower Sun Faster, Meriol Trevor

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What I'll be reading next:

Uprising, Margaret Haddix

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And

A Countess Below Stairs, Eva Ibbotson

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And, my current 'improve thy skills', 'oh my gosh this book is AWESOME' book:

Rip the Page!, Karen Benke

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Ah, Books...how I love thee. 

 

Beautiful Girls

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real, too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."

- Stephen King

Recently, my dear friend Rosemary brought to my attention something depressing and disturbing. She discovered by chance, in trying to help an online friend with an eating disorder, the phenomenon of Ana and Mia, which has become pretty much a cult for girls with self-hate and eating disorders to worship being skeletal and forbid themselves to eat.

Discussing this, it broke our hearts. Why would beautiful girls ever believe they were so imperfect, they wanted to become emaciated? Why is being 'thin' the only standard for beauty anymore?

"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years."

-Audrey Hepburn

She was so right. Whatsoever is true is beautiful.

Rosemary was particularly upset about this, and asked what we could do, how we could help?

Well, if they can speak out for their ugliness and their imperfection, we can speak out for their beauty and their worth.

Every woman is beautiful, not because she is worth something, or because she is perfect, or because she can contribute something to the world. She is beautiful because she is a daughter of God. She is beautiful because she is a woman.

If 'Ana' and 'Mia' portray perfectly beautiful girls in light of anorexia and bulimia, than 'Grace' will portray a perfectly beautiful girl who loves herself for how she has been created, not what she can starve herself into being.

Hundreds of thousands of girls, probably in my state alone, are killing themselves because they believe, with every ounce of who they are, that they are ugly, fat, and unlovable.

I don't know who I can reach on this little blog, but I have to tell them that they are beautiful.

They probably won't believe me, but its true. We are afraid to admit what is true, because we're letting the lies define us.

"... the truth holds the greatest magic, the greatest beauty, and sometimes the greatest danger...."

-Esther Friesner

To beautiful girls. Dear God, please grant them your eyes for just one second, to see themselves as You see them. Show them their worth, and show them they are loved. In Your Holy Name, I pray.

Amen.

 "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works ; that I know very well"

-Psalm 139:14

Wishful thinking...

After falling madly in love with my sister's Tumblr...

I really really really REALLY want one!

I'll have to ask my mother about that.

If I get one, I will let you know.

That is all.