Thursday, February 26, 2009

Boulangerie de Becky et Robyn

So. My sister-in-law Robyn and I decided that we do far too little with eachother given that we live right next door to eachother. I decided that means we need to bake together :) I'm really into food and cooking and culinary arts, but I've never gotten as deeply into BAKING as I've wanted to. I can make baked products taste good, I've just never tried making them look good. I figured we'd start at the basics of cake decorating. Seems very '90s mom to me, given that most cakes nowadays are made of fondant and you don't use a whole lot of "stars" and "flowers" made of frosting, but I still wanted to. I think there's a certain level of nostalgia and simplicity that comes with using frosting tips and frosting bags made out of wax paper that just can't be beat.
We went to the craft store with a gift card from Joan from my work, and picked up book 1 of a 5 book series that guides you through decorating cakes. We practiced our stars and leaves a few other techniques, and here's our finished product that implements just the things we learned from book 1. Haha :) I just have to laugh at our amateurism. It was nice to practice with someone who is as ... not good ... as I am.



Here's the inside. We sort of took the lazy way out and just gobbed on some dollops between the layers instead of spreading it neatly. We also ran out of frosting to actually decorate the cake with since we used a lot practicing.

Here's me and the cake.


Okay, I have no idea why I'm facing the shame that comes with this, but I thought I'd share my first attempt at making a rose made of frosting. It's the big green blob.
Sigh. At least they always say you get better with practice. I was sort of hoping I'd be innately good, so I could just up and start my own cake business or something to make a million dollars and be set for life. C'est la vie.
Thanks, Robyn, for spending the night with me and helping me pass the time while Trevor was working late! I'll definitely keep practicing. Next we want to try some cupcakes...

Monday, February 23, 2009

(video side note)

By the way, to all you people who get emails of my blog, if you want to watch the videos, you have to actually go to my blog wesbite and watch them from there.

Go here:

http://beckygreen.blogspot.com/

Trevor's Shows

Last week Trevor had 3 shows! One of them he was just filling in as the vocalist for a band who's in between right now. But it was sort of hard on him--especially since his back's been hurting from work, and he got sick again with a cold. The show on Thursday was at Club Vegas, which is a club, and I got to go inside for the first time since I'm finally 21. I was kind of nervous--Idunno why--maybe because I had to show them my ID and I've never had to do that before. The show was actually really--one of the better ones, I think. But the atmosphere was sort of lacking. There weren't that many people there. I mean, who goes to a bar on a Thursday night at 9pm? Not too many people :) Plus, everything revolves around people's drinks, so that was hard to get used to. It's not like it was an uncomfortable place to be or anything, but it wasn't ideal.

They played there again on Saturday night for a benefit concert. There were more people there this time--mostly older metal heads who are "stuck in the 80s" as one guy freely admitted himself. Haha, at least they're aware. Trevor was SO tired that night and his throat was hurting. I felt bad :( But I think he still did a good job--I don't think anyone really noticed that he was tired. I took a few videos because Trevor has really been progressing lately in his performance style. He's ... uh...how do I put this? Got some new moves, I guess. I really enjoy watching him perform and get into the music. As always, my camera phone is completely inadequate to capture the sound correctly so I advise you to

TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME.

You may not want it completely off, because then they just look silly moving to no sound. But really, you can't hear much anyways. Trevor thinks he looks goofy because camera phones make the timing sync off for the sound vs video and it plays the picture before the sound or something. Oh well. I just like sharing Trevor with you all.

In some of these, Trevor is in the background more. And some he's right up front. I wish I could have gotten the one where he was on the floor right in front of me, but the shadow from the stage completely covered him and you can't see anything. But these ones are pretty good. I'm so proud of Trevor for being who he wants to be, and letting himself have fun :)

I bet most of you have a hard time imagining this in real life--especially the fact that Trevor is jumping and hopping and lunging and squatting and screaming... :) But it's way cool! Trevor doesn't enjoy playing at the club as much as at all ages venues--mostly because they get a better response at all ages shows. So hopefully they can book some other shows more. You are all welcome to come with me anytime--I love having people with me.

Haha, Trevor's not going to be happy I posted these :) He thinks they suck.

Thanks!

I had a really great birthday this year! Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday, and who got me something, and who just loves me! I haven't had the opportunity to use all my new things yet, but I'm loving them, you can be sure :) Trevor surprised me a lot by all his thoughtfulness--he picked out a new purse for me, new wood orange hoop earrings, and he also got me a pink dvd player for the bedroom (which I've been wanting FOREVER--not the pink part, although that is pretty cool), ear phones for my cell phone so I can listen to my music at work (yay!), and (haha) the Star Wars Lego game for Xbox. We really liked playing the Indiana Jones Lego game together, so it really was a gift for me and not him :) He was very thoughtful and got me a clip for my cell phone to hook on to my purse. I have a hard time keeping track of my cell phone when it gets lost in the abyss that is my bag. Trevor's brother Travis and his wife Robyn gave me more tiny socks (hm, can't think of what they're called right now), lip gloss, and AWESOME body butter that smells like honey and almonds. I use it almost every day :) Trevor's mom was so nice and got me a TON of Barbra Streisand music--which I've been wanting to get for like a year now. So THANK YOU! Barbra's pretty amazing. She also got me some very relaxing smelling red candles to go with my decor. Trevor's other brother Brandon and his girlfriend Amber got me a new CHEESE GRATER! My dollar store grater finally died during the family birthday dinner. And also a new peeler, which is very much appreciated because I think we were all getting rust poisoning every time I used my old peeler.

On my actual birthday Trevor and I had lunch at this new Chinese diner called Pei Wei Asian Diner by my work. Actually, I spent a half hour of my lunch waiting for our take out to meet Trevor at his work to eat lunch together since he wasn't allowed to leave for lunch that day. But it was pretty good food, so it was worth it. I made myself Shrimp Scampi with Asparagus and Shells pasta for dinner while I waited for Trevor to get off work. It was yummy, and it made for even yummier leftovers (though, it made my house smell like fish for a while). My lovely grandma gave me 20 bucks (thanks!) so we went to see the movie "Push" that night, which was really good, I thought. You should see it. Afterwards Trevor wanted to get taquitos from 7-11, so we did. It was really random... But then we wanted dessert so we went to Leatherbys--I had chocolate ice cream with their totally amazing hot fudge sauce and those cute little cookies I always had when I ordered a single scoop when I was a kid. I love those cookies. We accidentally forgot our leftovers on the table though--which is like, half the fun of going to Leatherbys. Forgetting your leftovers = $12 for half an ice cream. Yeesh. We vegged out and watched Stargate when we got home--totally worth it :)
My mom gave me a belated birthday present just this last Saturday, and I had a really good time hanging out with her and my little brother Matthew. We went to the Pei Wei Diner again, because I liked it so much I wanted to go again and try something else :) So now I've had the Orange Peel Chicken (spicier than you'd think but still REALLY good), the Chicken Japanese Teriyaki Bowl (honestly, probably my favorite so far--the carrots are the best), and the Honey Seared Chicken (hm, new, but good). I tried the Crab Wontons last time, but I'm not sure if I didn't like them because they weren't warm anymore or if they just weren't that good. My mom, Matt, and I tried the Chicken Lettuce Wraps--which apparently is VERY literal. We had to wrap this chicken mix with lettuce leaves--and just eat it. It was good, just weird. Haha, I don't think Matthew was too impressed :)
My mom took me to Bed Bath & Beyond and said, "Pick." ! So we perused the store, and I finally settled on a new fancy pitcher and fancy goblets. I sure wish I'd had them for the Valentine's Day dinner--maybe next time. It just gives me more reason to make fancy meals :)
These were just really quick pictures I took to send to Trevor--that's why there's a gross dirty baking sheet next to it--but you get the idea.

Joan from my work gave me a giftcard to Joann's craft store, so I think I'm going to get some cake decorating stuff and begin a new adventure with my sister-in-law Robyn soon. I found some really cute cupcake designs that I want to try out.

Thanks again everyone for all the love and birthday wishes!

Last of the V-Day

A'right so I'm finally getting the last of the pictures up from Valentine's Day. Here are the beautiful flowers Trevor got for me.



Besides the dinner, this was the only thing I got for Trevor. I just love how he's holding him :)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

grr

it kept my spellcheck of narcissism vs narcicism. now you all know of dumb i am.

continuing the string of narcissism

Oh Chelsea D, you've convinced me. I wasn't going to do this 25 things thingy either, but I like this "firsts" one. And for some reason it seems better to do it on my blog instead of facebook...hm, sometimes I wish I could explain my whims. I guess that's why they're called whims... narcicism

1. Who was your first love? Dustin in first grade, he gave me ceramic elephants for my birthday, and teddy bear earrings, and a flower ring. He liked me, and I liked him. Too bad he moved away in 4th grade; somethin' was brewin'.

2. Who was your first kiss and when? Oh geeze, first kiss ever was probably...Zach in Kindergarten--he was half Asian so all the girls liked him. (haha, or maybe my cousin Katie. We used to practice that kind of stuff with LOTS of lipstick. Mostly we did it on the mirror we named Jack though.) But first real kiss was Scott Oliverson in 9th grade. I don't think kisses in elementary school count.

3. Who was your first prom date? Ugh, prom. I went to ONE, and it was awful. With Mike Rowzee.

4. Who was your first roommate? Hm, Trevor.

5. What was your first job? The SNACKBAR! Woot! it was for West Jordan Pony Baseball.

6. What was your first car? 198(4?) Chevy Malibu--Woodcrappo. We pinned the ceiling lining with bobby pins, and the doors leaked. It served me well, but I didn't know how to take care of it.

7. When did you go to your first funeral? My Grandpa's when I was almost 17.

8. There was no #8 on this list, so I'll answer Chelsea's. First time you got a speeding ticket? If I'm remembering right, it was just a year ago driving on the road in front of our apartments. It's 25 there, just as a warning to whoever drives there.

9. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown? Idunno how to answer this. I moved out when I was 18, but we still lived in WJ. We moved to Taylorsville when I was 19.

10. Who was your first grade teacher? Mrs. Oreno. She had big curly/frizzy hair and would draw a cartoon of herself smiling on our papers if we did a good job.

11. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane? North Carolina to meet Steve Ross's family the summer before 9th grade.

13. Where did you go for your first date and who was it with? FYI, I don't really consider "going out" with someone a date. I didn't experience TRUE dating till highschool. My first DATE date, one-on-one, was with Mark from debate in 10th grade.

14. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with? Nicci and Tiffany. I sure can't remember how old we were because we were doing it since I can remember. Something like 7 or 8. We walked to the park, and caught Steve and Andrea making out! haha! Good times.

15. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them? First ever best friends were Nicci and Tiffany, but we didn't get to hang out as much until after my at-school-best-friend Liz. She turned against me because I to be in a different teacher's class in 2nd grade.

16. Who was the first person to send you flowers? Chris in 2nd grade. He was weird but he liked me, so I thought he was cool.

17. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents house? At Cascade Springs apartments with Trevor. I think of it as our honeymoon apartment since we were only there six months.

18. This one was also missing from the list. (I'll do Chelsea's) Let's do first time you failed a test? I probably failed quite a few times in elementary, but the first class I can really remember struggling in was Mrs. Allen's honors geography in 9th grade. Then it would have to be gym and physics in 11th grade. I got many zeros and Fs in those classes.

19. Who's wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsman? My mom's. But I wasn't technically a bridesmaid or anything because she didn't have those. But considering I was the only girl in the family who got to dress up...

20. What is the first thing you do in the morning? After snoozing, I go to the bathroom and put in my contacts. Shower, hair, clothes, makeup (if i do), food.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A Possibility, haha

I found this website that will mesh your faces together and show you what your kids could look like. It totally made me laugh! I don't really see us at all in them... but maybe I can't be objective. You should try and show me your pictures.


Monday, February 16, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was a really long day for both of us. Trevor was supposed to work until 6:30 and I was hanging out with my family in the morning. Then I got in a car accident on my way to visit Trevor for lunch. I figured, hey, it's Valentine's Day, I should make the best of it and start my busy-ness later. Ugh. I hit a big pick up truck in my tiny little Versa, and of course, he had hardly any damage and mine is missing an eye. My poor car; we don't have money to fix it right away. But sometime soon I'm going to force us to. Luckily it was just a small fender bender and no one was hurt. We pulled over and he said he didn't think we needed to call the police because they'd just give me a ticket. Thank you Strange Man :) There was another accident right by us, they did the exact same thing, only worse--so we hustled out of there. Seems like no big deal, but it still stinks.
My car's headlight casing is all smashed, a part of the hood, and the bumper.

His bumber got pushed toward his bed about an inch and a half. Just bent in. There weren't even scratches. Lucky him.


But, I finally made it home and started making the dinner I'd been planning for Trevor and me.

I set the table all nice and lit like 12 candles.



I made grown up ham and cheese sandwiches for the appetizer. Some have brie cheese and some have parmesan cheese, topped with apple slices dipped in lemon juice, on a homemade toasted bagette slice, wrapped in a piece of prosciutto, sprinkled with olive oil and parsley. YUM. I'd never had prosciutto before so it was really neat.


I made pesto cream cheese stuffed chicken (it's covered in bread crumbs and fried, then baked), heavenly, and parmesan topped roasted asparagus. It was SO cool to work with an actual chunk of parmesan instead of just shredded. It felt very authentic and elegant :)
PS on the chicken: I don't think fried foods are supposed to be photographed except by professionals. I couldn't get a good shot.


I served it with salad (with homemade crutons), and cranberry-raspberry juice. I am really proud of how it turned out. I don't usually get to spend the money required to make such a fancy dinner :) It was heartening to know that I can actually do it when I have the means.



My dessert kind of failed. I was planning on making sugar cookies dipped partially in chocolate, but they didn't turn out how I wanted. They still tasted good, but honestly, presentation is important to me. And the cookies got all cracked and the chocolate burned I think, so it was super thick and kind of grainy instead of smooth. My camera batteries were dying at this point too, so my pictures are beginning to get fuzzier. I also made chocolate dipped strawberries that sort of made up for the ugly cookies. They were really yummy too :)


Trevor brought me a bouquet of flowers, with yellow roses and white daisies, and purple tiny flowers, and pink other flowers. It's really beautiful. I can post those pictures later. Oh, and he got me a cookie that said he loves me :) It turned into a really relaxing night once we were actually together. He didn't end up getting home from work until almost 8, but we made the best of it.

I hope you all had a good Valentine's Day too!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentines Breakfast with the Clan

I'm too tired to put out the effort of putting these in the right order.
Had a visit with my family today. My brother Nate and sister-in-law Sarah came for a visit from Cedar City with their baby Isabella. These are a few pictures from the morning, which, by the way, was filled with an AMAZING MIND BLOWING breakfast buffet! We had home-made egg mcmuffins, breakfast burritos, hashbrowns, eggs, every kind of breakfast meat you can think of, and a bunch of other yummy stuff. Mmm.
Sage and Bella
Jordan pretending to be a reindeer. Apparently he thinks reindeer are angry.


Sage pretending to be a reindeer.


Jordan. Doing something with ... something.

Sage pulling a funny face. This is a pretty standard face whenever you say, "Do a funny face."


Sarah (mom) and Bella. They look so cute :) Bella was all smiles whenever Sarah was talking to her.


Bella interested in the camera (I was sort of shoving it in her face...)


Jordan and Sage goofing off on the stairs. Jordan was trying to mess up all my pictures by moving as soon as I said I was taking it. What a little turd.


I had to throw this one in :) Joe. This was Sage's chance to take a picture of Daddy and she asked him to pull a funny face. HAHA :)


Nate (dad) and Bella.


Another of Bella. She's just so frickin adorable. She's really good at holding her head up, and she's working on trying to sit up on her own all the time. She can stay sitting for a bit if you put her up first.


Jordan checkin out Bella.


Jordan and Bella



Another attempt at catching Jordan before he tried to ruin the picture. I told him I was counting to five and then taking the picture, but took it at three. Sure showed him.



Bella laughing at her mom.


Bella just woke up from a nap on her mom.



She loves it when you talk to her.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Beacon in the Night

I reach through the dark for you
You reach down to pull me through
You are my eyes when I can't see
You are the strength inside of me
You're standing true through every change
You shine so bright
You're a beacon in the night.

You find ways to make me see
Hope lives with every breath I breathe
You are the holiness I feel
You are the power that lifts and heals
Your arms are opened and unchanged
Your holy light
Is a beacon in the night.

Shine
Shine
Oh, Lord you shine
Stronger than day
Longer than night
Oh, how you shine
Oh, shine

You are the only hope sometimes
But it's enough for me to find
The way back through the storms to you
Hold me tight
You're my beacon in the night.

-Jenny Phillips

Carry Me Through

The light is fading
something in my heart is failing
Reach into me now
Life me up somehow
Until my heart can beat again
And hope starts to breathe again
I'm running to you to do what I can't do
Oh, Lord
Carry me through

The air feels empty
Tje sun still shines but doesn't seem to reach me
Heaven help me now to hold on some how
Until my heart can beat again
And hope starts to breathe again
I'm running to you to do what I can't do
Oh, Lord
Carry me through

Hold on tight to me
Every part of me needs you
Until me heart can beat again
And hope starts to breathe again
I'm running to you to do what I can't do
Oh, Lord
Carry me through

-Jenny Phillips

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

"SO--Here's how it works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a hand/homemade gift from me. Whit it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Remember that only the first 3 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!"

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Aging

My birthday's coming up, and so I thought I'd think about aging a bit. You can too:

We are reformers in spring and summer; in autumn and winter, we stand by the old; reformers in the morning, conservers at night.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Though an old man I am but a young gardener.
Thomas Jefferson

Liberalism seems to be related to the distance people are from the problem.
Whitney Young

The old begin to complain of the conduct of the young when they themselves are no longer able to set a bad example.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for my posterity.
Thomas Jefferson

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Abraham Lincoln

Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns to be amused rather than shocked.
Pearl S. Buck

No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement.
Florida Scott-Maxwell

The dead might as well try to speak to the living as the old to the young.
Willa Cather

All would live long, but none would be old.
Benjamin Franklin

There's no such thing as old age, there is only sorrow.
Edith Wharton

The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.
H. L. Mencken

It is easy to believe that life is long and one's gifts are vast -- easy at the beginning, that is. But the limits of life grow more evident; it becomes clear that great work can be done rarely, if at all.
Alfred Adler

I am long on ideas, but short on time. I expect to live to be only about a hundred.
Thomas Alva Edison

Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.
Billie Burke

The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and the second half by our children.
Clarence Darrow

The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible -- and achieve it, generation after generation.
Pearl S. Buck

There are compensations for growing older. One is the realization that to be sporting isn't at all necessary. It is a great relief to reach this stage of wisdom.
Cornelius Otis Skinner

Every old man complains of the growing depravity of the world, of the petulance and insolence of the rising generation.
Dr. Johnson

How pleasant is the day when we give up striving to be young -- or slender.
William James

You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.
Pearl S. Buck

It is so comic to hear oneself called old, even at ninety I suppose!
Alice James

Being an old maid is like death by drowning -- a really delightful sensation after you have ceased struggling.
Edna Ferber

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.
Pearl S. Buck

Old men are like that, you know. It makes them feel important to think they are in love with somebody.
Willa Cather

I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you feel.
Elizabeth Arden

Age puzzles me. I thought it was a quiet time. My seventies were interesting and fairly serene, but my eighties are passionate. I grow more intense as I age.
Florida Scott-Maxwell

I want to die young at a ripe old age.
Ashley Montagu

So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?
Harriet Beecher Stowe

A woman has the age she deserves.
Coco Chanel

We should so provide for old age that it may have no urgent wants of this world to absorb it from meditation on the next.
Pearl S. Buck

The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.
Helen Hayes

It is not possible for civilization to flow backward while there is youth in the world. Youth may be headstrong, but it will advance its allotted length.
Helen Keller

Age does not protect you from love, but love to some extent protects you from age.
Jeanne Moreau

In his later years Pablo Picasso was not allowed to roam an art gallery unattended, for he had previously been discovered in the act of trying to improve on one of his old masterpieces.
Unknown

First you are young; then you are middle-aged; then you are old; then you are wonderful.
Lady Diana Cooper

There's no pleasure on earth that's worth sacrificing for the sake of an extra five years in the geriatric ward of the Sunset Old People's Home, Weston-Super-Mare.
Horace Rumpole

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.
Maurice Chevalier

Old age is fifteen years older than I am.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.
Robert Frost

The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.
Henry David Thoreau

Live your life and forget your age.
Norman Vincent Peale

To hold the same views at forty as we held at twenty is to have been stupefied for a score of years, and take rank, not as a prophet, but as an unteachable brat, well birched and none the wiser.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.
Sir Arthur Pinero

I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates.
T.S. Eliot

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.
Oscar Wilde

I see no comfort in outliving one's friends, and remaining a mere monument of the times which are past.
Thomas Jefferson

In the American metaphysic, reality is always material reality, hard, resistant, unformed, impenetrable, and unpleasant.
Lionel Trilling

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
Madeleine L'Engle

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David Thoreau

Middle age is when you've met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of someone else.
Ogden Nash

Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man.
Trotsky

One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them.
Virginia Woolf

Monday, February 09, 2009

Thursday, February 05, 2009

better VS worse

How is it that I can feel so self-motivated,
yet resistance, created by myself, is so strong?
I know it's me who is creating it.
I can't even force myself to believe otherwise.
Never believe that it can't happen to you.
Nothing ever just happens to anyone.
Everything is a consequence.
There are so many excuses.
All very well endowed, all on their own.
But I know the truth.
I know I can overcome them.
But I don't.
I found a small spark in something.
Something I used to take for granted.
I want to use it to burn out all the doubt,
the doubt I've crafted without letting my better self stop it.
For now, it's a hope; who knows if it will last?
It feels like more--like it can.

Is it enough that my worse self thinks so too?

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Another Check On the List

Finish reading book 1 of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan because Trevor asked me to... CHECK.

Starting book 2. Supposedly it's more interesting and better written. We'll see. I really enjoyed the first one, despite all the complaining I've been doing to Trevor. I just don't like seeing him gloat about how he was right, and I should have read it 4 years ago like he told me to. So I've been telling him every negative thought that has popped into my head while reading it, haha. I HAVE enjoyed the comparisons between constant good and evil throughout the book though. I personally believe that good and evil, right and wrong, are constant, no matter what each age, or civilization thinks. For example, I believe murder will always be wrong, and charity will always be right. No matter if, in the future, society decides murder is okay and charity is bad (yes, I know that was not a complete sentence, but I wanted it that way, okay?). Get it? The Wheel of Time (at least, book 1) hinges on the assumption that there is an evil, ie someone like Satan, who has always been, but that there is Light that is always there. The main characters persevere by simply believing that if they never allow evil to have place in their hearts, and if they deny evil, it can never have power over them.

In one part of the story, there are two ropes (I'm not going to explain why), one representing the Light, one representing the evil guy's power. One white, one black. Actually, so black that it makes black look white. Anywho, the black rope was as thick as a human, and the Satan character was a giant holding the rope, ready to entangle the main character forever. While the white rope, actually appeared as small as a string. The main character was in a position where he had to choose between the two, and it seemed to him that the black rope was even swallowing up the white rope's light, however it continued to have light. It reminded me of that whole concept in Star Wars about the Force, and how the Dark Side isn't more powerful, just easier.

My point: the book was good. I'm going to read the next one, even though it's even more huge and it'll probably take me even longer to read than the last. Don't tell Trevor what I said about the negativity though :)

PostSecret Video

If anyone wants to know what PostSecret is, I found this video. Frank Warren, the creator, is the one talking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6rTkp1dek4

PostSecret

To tell you what I'm thinking, I have to give you a little background. I found a blog one day, while I was following a train of blogs, called PostSecret. Basically, people send their secrets in the mail on one side of a post card to this one man, and he posts them on his blog for public anonymity. I love it. These come from people from all over, from all sorts of backgrounds. Some are happy, some are sad, or angry, or silly, some are probably confessions of illegal acts, to be honest. I feel connected to people by reading their secrets; I think it helps people feel whole and part of a world of people just like them. Sometimes it's easier to deal with an emotion if you're not the only one who knows it--and sometimes you don't want people you know to know. That's all not very important, but right now I thought I'd tell you what PostSecret is before telling you about one I really liked today.


I was reading PostSecret's myspace blog today and ran across a post card I found particularly strange:


The main reason I found it strange was because I couldn't really read it. I deciphered, "I wish my mother...would die...something something...myself without hurting anyone." Yeesh, kind of sad, so I moved on. I don't like dwelling too much on the really sad ones.
But then I read the train of emails that came after it.
-----Email Message-----
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 4:14 PM
I too was able to decipher the message. There will always be someone who would be hurt by your death.
-----Email Message-----
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 6:33 PM
Subject: an inconvenient secret
I'm sure you won't post this email:The above is complete BS. There ARE in fact people whose death would not be noticed by even a single human being, much less cause anyone grief. This doesn't fit the feel-good ethos of PostSecret, but it's a brutal and tragic fact of modern life.
-----Email Message-----
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 6:24 PM
Subject: Re:an inconvenient secret
The people the person might be hurting aren't just people in their past, but people who would have been in their future. It's within that person's power to turn their life around and help other people. It's those people who would be hurting - folks that haven't met them yet.
I found the last email so relieving, inspiring, and telling. I've never quite thought of it that way. I think a lot of people worry that if they were to die today, no one would care. A lot of other people worry that if they were to die today, only 2 people would notice. They feel like their lives mean nothing to anyone. Maybe that's true; I'm not sure I really sympathize with people who worry about that part of it, but this person really puts it in perspective by pointing out that those who could have been involved with their future suffer too. I also love, LOVE that they say it's within that person's power to turn their life around and help other people--so more people in the present can be touched by their living life, and consequently, would be saddened by that person's death (however inconsequential that really is).
Oh, Post Secret... Every Sunday they post new cards. I always feel sort of enlightened after reading them.