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 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 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.
