Merry Christmas: Deal With It

Since I'm on a roll with all the touchy controversial subjects, I'm going to burn another bridge. But this time, I don't think as many people will be offended.
Political Correctness is killing our nation's cultures. Happy Holidays? Winter Lights? That is ridiculous. I will say "Merry Christmas" and, if you don't do Christmas, I would be more than happy to hear "Happy Kwanzaa, Hanuka, New Year, etc." in return. That's just too cool to pass up. Culture is special, please share it.
Winter is so dark and cold. It can even be depressing. It only makes sense to spread the warmth of goodwill as a celebration during the bleakest time of the year. Sure the birth of Christ probably didn't even happen in December, but he did come during a bleak time in history. I don't know much about the other celebrations or what they represent, but I would love to learn.
Instead of attempting to kill all of the beautiful traditions that make us who we are, why not display them? It's a time of happiness and heartfelt gratitude towards others. Why should that be offensive to anyone? It's not like we're picketing against each other over who's beliefs are correct.
I love everything about Christmastime. It means family, love, generosity, hope for the future, peace and joy. I don't care about the commercialism. It's easily ignored. But, while I'm on the subject, there is something that I find amusing about it: Santa Claus.
Santa is not a victim of Commercialism. He is a symbol that companies use unknowingly. Think of what he represents. Kindness, happiness, love. He's the spirit of what Christmas means. And his face is everywhere, thanks to the corporate domain. Heaven forbid that peace on earth and goodwill towards men be used to fill shops and malls to serve as reminders to everyone who cares enough to notice.
In closing, I encourage anyone and everyone who reads this to think about their family traditions at this time of the year. Whether it's merry Christmas or something else, I wish you a very extra merry one and a happy New Year.

Twilight: It's a love/hate relationship-My reaction to the Movie

Twilight is a very pretty movie. I love the Pugit Sound area (my grandpa lives just southeast of Forks). I really enjoyed the scenery and even saw a few things that I recognized. They captured the setting extremely well. But, me being a stickler for details, I didn't like it the first time I saw it.
I let the picture that I had in my head and the exactness of the book interfere with the entirely different artistic interpretation before me. It didn't help that there was a row of trend following teenyboppers in front of me and a row of robot clique girls behind who all talked and giggled throughout the entire movie, thus cheapening what the film was trying to portray. As I was walking out to the car with my Twihard buddy afterward, I heard said teenyboppers and clique girls exclaiming profanities and such things like "OMG! That was like the best movie ever!" and "I would so do Carlisle." Is it really a wonder that my opinion of Twilight the movie was so low?
I recently had the opportunity to see the movie again with my family as part of my birthday. Again the scenery drew me in. Then as the movie progressed, I found myself enjoying it. It helped that my birthday was on a Thursday so the theater was practically empty. Now I absolutely love Twilight. Sure, it still had its flaws, but overall I'm impressed with the mixture of realism and fantasy that the actors and effects brought to the film. The high school was perfect and the students were exactly the way they are in reality. The part where Edward shows Bella the view from the treetops was gorgeous. The whole movie was believable but totally fantastic at the same time which is the way it should be. In closing, I'd like to say that Jasper was totally adorable. So there.

I Like Life

I am a happy person. Why do people think I'm living a charmed life when I say that? I work just as hard as anyone else in this world. I've had bad things happen to me too. It's not like some fairy comes along to make all the unpleasantness go away. I just choose to deal with it.
"Where you tend a rose, a thistle will never grow."
Is it so impossible for one to believe that a person has the power to choose to be happy? It's not easy, no. But it's a heck of a lot more pleasant than moaning and groaning all the time about how terrible life is and how unfair people are to one another.
To all those who feel they are not getting what they wanted out of life: Count your blessings and get off your cross! Someone else needs the wood.
What makes me happy is thinking and giving what I can to make life nice. I'm not perfect, but I find that the more I give, the more I get. I like Life. Life likes me. And I think I'll keep it that way. There's far too much that I'd lose if I chose otherwise.

Sacrifice

I know life isn't meant to be easy. But sometimes It's just too much. There are so many things in life that I want to acheive and so many options out there for me that it's tough to focus on just one. But I do have one specific goal that I've put all of my love and effort into. I've worked so hard for there even to be a chance of it surviving. And now...I'm being faced with a very strong possibility of losing what I love most.
What does someone do with a situation like that? Move on? I guess that's possible, but....ouch....I'm currently very glad that I believe in God the way I do. Because I know he wouldn't have me sacrifice this much without having something better for me in mind. Sigh* one day at a time...

Twilight: It's a love/hate relationship

There's been a lot of hubbub over the upcoming release of the movie Twilight. I'm sick of it. I don't care if you like it or you don't like it. Heck, you're going to go see it anyway (if you're not, you're dumb). So quit complaining about how the cast isn't right and the plot doesn't follow the book. As I see it, it'll be different words but the same tune. Cool your jets, snag some popcorn and leave your magnifying glasses at home. It's an artistic interpretation. Would it really be that great if the cast was perfect and every word was directly from the book? Personally, I don't think so.
If the movie were exact, there would be nothing new or exciting about it. Everyone would know all the details and would even get more than a little bored with it. As for the poor saps who can't pick up a book and read it all the way through, they're probably out of luck. This movie is taking on a life and reputation of it's own, like movies should.
Furthermore, the amateur critics and bandwagon readers can just go whine somewhere at the bottom of some large body of water. I was reading the Twilight series before it was cool to read it and I'm pretty darn happy with the results I've been seeing. See you at the movies!

A Modest Proposal to the People Who Send TM Forwards

Today's world is a busy one. Everyone has someplace to go, something to do and someone to see. Spare time is gradually becoming a mythical being that flits in some fantasy land one can only dream of. So when you do find that strange and bewildering moment of spare time, it takes a minute to actually figure out how to enjoy it.
What I fail to understand is this: Why, when a person finds such a fleeting moment to themselves, they think it'd be awesome to text "Watz ur fav color? Fwd dis 2 me & evry1 else in ur cell in 30 secs or ur goldfish will b hit by lightning".

My proposal is this: Have every person who creates/distributes lame forwards take their cellphones to a nearby highway, lake, ocean, bottomless pit, etc and toss them (the phones) into the street, body of water or abyss (whichever applies).

All the World's a Stage, But the Play is Badly Cast

Friends are wonderful people. I have no idea what I'd do without them. It doesn't take much to be my friend but it takes a lot to gain my trust. That's why it seriously irritates me when I find that my judgment of character has been proven wrong.
The role of villain in disguise as a friend is as old as time. Unfortunately it has repeated itself many times throughout history in just about every life of every human being. Heck, even Jesus had to deal with this infuriating situation. But it never gets old, does it? Most times you don't even see it coming. It hits you like a freight train and leaves you feeling humiliated, discouraged and vulnerable.
Recently I've experienced the feelings that come with such emotional damage. A person, who I considered to be a good friend of mine, saw fit to spread a ridiculous lie about my personal life and did so in the presence of a member of my family. I have no idea how many people she may have told or who believes it. Now I feel deeply hurt and paranoid. How can you trust someone who so readily offered up false information about you? How could you ever feel comfortable with a person like that?
Obviously, I'm more than somewhat perturbed. I'll forgive the person in question but what about my reputation? I take pride in being myself and being a good person in general, but how can I possibly fix what many are quick to believe and react to? I guess I'm glad that I have real friends and people who actually care about me more than their selfish wants. Thank God for them.

Inside Out

I have officially made a goal that I know I can stick with. I'm going to make some serious improvements inside and out. I'm doing this for myself only. No one put me up to it and my self esteem is perfectly healthy. But ya know what? Improvement makes a person that much better and happier with him/herself.
A person can't control much in life, but they can change the way they feel about themselves. So wish me luck! Here's to you finding the greatest happiness you can with yourself.

Corset Ripping Novels: A Soapbox Rant

You've seen them before, the paperbacks with the busty heroines scantily clad and pressed against their shirtless heroes. You know, the books that are usually at the back of the library and in remote corners of the bookstores. Fairly cheap, easy to get. People check these "romance novels" out all the time where I work. Mostly older ladies, I've noticed. What's so great about these cheap paperbacks with the racy looking covers?
Yesterday I picked up one of these novels. Nothing was going on and I was curious. A lady had just returned this particular...ahem..."novel". I flipped through the pages and skimmed the plot. It was pretty interesting at first despite the many grammatical errors and misspelled words. The story begins with a southern belle escaping with her prize horses from her war ravaged home to the Colorado Rockies to live with her brother. A man is hired to accompany the lady on her treacherous journey and they fall in love. This story was actually turning out to be kinda cute...that is up to the point he started mauling her. The author ruined a perfectly good story by throwing in all the kinky details of an intimate relationship.
I don't know of any girl who doesn't enjoy a good romance every so often, but way to ruin the experience by leaving NOTHING to the imagination. Personally, I don't need to see the so called "steamy sex scene". Wouldn't it be better if the heroine could just melt into her hero's arms and get swept off her feet and into the sweet ecstasy of their love? Doesn't that sound better than getting your eyes raped with vivid images of people you've never met (not that it'd be great if you knew them personally either)?
Call me crazy conservative girl, but I believe the body to be something sacred. Something to take care of and cherish. Sharing it with someone should be special, personal, and PRIVATE. Why waste your most personal possession on someone who isn't going to care one way or the other in the morning? Why even bother reading about it? I feel sorry for the trees that die to make such books that violate even fictional characters and the readers in such a manner.
So look at it this way, every time you don't buy one of these "Corset Rippers", you save a tree, your eyes and several hours of your time.

I'm Really Not a Violent Person....No, seriously...I'm Not

Ok that first post might have outlined me as a less than compassionate person.....blush*
I really am nice. I just get overly emotional over certain subjects like love and the persuit of happiness. Heheh fairytales are not exempt from such feelings.
So today I got my hair cut. I haven't done that in who knows how long. (Well, me being a girl, it doesn't make as much contreversial difference as it would or could for a boy. ) I just needed a change. Something physical to make what's happening emotionaly more real. I'm not going through any particularly troubeling times as of yet, but I am making some pretty big changes. Moving to a state I know vaguely to go to college, surrounding myself with new people (and staying in contact with my favorite faces), learning to live without some things for the greater good, stuff like that. It's a lot to take on at once, but I'm rolling with it. It's an interesting life. I'm glad to be finaly moving foward instead of sitting in the annoying limbo of a waiting period (ever read Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr.Seuss? You know the part about the "waiting place"? Yeah that pretty much describes a lot of my summer).
It feels nice to actually be doing something instead of waiting. Lol being revved up like this...I should watch myself. Being too hasty has gotten me into trouble.
TTFN

She should've run off with Rumpelstiltskin

I was shelving some childrens books the other day and I came across an old favorite: "Rumpelstiltskin".It was close to closing time, I was alone and had nothing to do, so I sat down and actually read the story. I cried (I'm such a nerd). It's a horrible fairytale. Poor innocent bystander gets dragged into an awful relationship thanks to her stupid, good for nothing, liar of a father biological paternal sperm donor (jerk). She gets threatened and married in the same breath by a greedy loser king, then blackmailed by a magical midget!What does our unfortunate heroine get for her trouble? A baby. Don't get me wrong, babies are great, but don't you think she should get something else too? I don't know, TRUE LOVE maybe?I say off with king whats-his-face's head and bring on a real happy ending!