"Stranded in a fog of words..."

I'm too tired to write a post in my normal, elegant prose (hah), so I'll just make a list again.

1. I don't have to go to work anymore this week..... YESSSSS!

2. Feist was on Colbert Monday night, and she was FABULOUS. She played an acoustic version of "I Feel It All," which is my new favorite song of hers. I learned how to play it today and it's fun. : D (Nothing special, though. Just Drop D and some power chords.) Here's a video of her performance:



3. I bought a fish eye macro lens on Amazon for pretty cheap, and I can't wait to play with it! ^_^

4. I got Apple's Aperture program FOR FREE for attending a talk given by Bill Frakes (Sports Illustrated photographer who is AMAZING) at UF. I edit my photos on Photoshop, but I think I'll be making the switch to Aperture pretty soon. You can control SO much more.

5. I can't believe how quickly these two semesters went by. : 0

6. I'm getting new carpet in my apartment this summer! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

7. Packing tomorrow is going to SUCK. : /

Colbert Clip[s] Tuesday!

This is probably the greatest moment in Colbert Report history. Bill O'Reilly and Colbert went on each other's shows.... And guess who got pwned both times!

Bill: "Is it hard being you?"

Stephen: "It's hard for me to BE you."

Stephen: "You know what I hate about people who criticize you? They criticize what you say but they never give you credit for how loud you say it... or how long you say it."

"Waiting on the world to change..."

I am in shock right now. : (

Three of my guy friends who live in Gainesville were robbed in their apartment last night by four guys wielding two guns. Two weekends ago, my friend who lives downstairs had his sliding glass door smashed and his apartment got broken into as well, and the very next day my other friend who lives in the same complex found a drunken stranger in his apartment going through his refrigerator. Last week, I read in the paper that a guy got arrested in the complex next to mine for breaking into cars.

WHAT IS GOING ON IN GAINESVILLE??????

My roommates and I are looking into getting an alarm system, and I'm advising them to each have their own weapon in their room. (I have one already.)

It's so scary when it happens so close.

This might sound crazy, but sometimes at night while I'm in bed, I'll imagine someone breaking in, and think about what I would do. It's sad, but I think it's necessary in order to be prepared just in case something does happen, God forbid.

We live in such a sad world. I was watching the news the other day and I had to turn it off within 5 minutes because I was getting depressed. 

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Review

I went to watch Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" tonight with some friends, and I am completely overwhelmed with thoughts about the film. It was so provocative that my friends and I, in spite of how late it was, sat down to discuss it for more than an hour. If you have not seen this film, I highly recommend it. Atheist, Agnostic, Theist, whatever you may be. Although Stein himself is a declared theist, and there was bias evident in the production, I think it has potential to spark some great dialogue.

Before I make my statements about the film, I want to admit that yes, as a Christian I am biased, but by the same token, someone who would argue from the Neo-Darwinist perspective would be biased as well. However, I find it interesting that one of the film's points is that if we all just admit our biases, it would allow a more reasonable atmosphere for honest, quality dialogue. That statement may sound naive and illogical, but if you watch the film I think you would understand it a bit more.

When I went in to watch the film, I expected a documentary full of ruthless, biased journalism tactics, but hoped to at least learn a little bit more about the Intelligent Design Theory. I was misled.  Surprisingly enough, I felt as if I heard more from the Secular Humanist perspective, and I was additionally impressed to hear from a scientist who converted from Christianity to Darwinism! Any theist who tackles that in their presentation gets major points in my book.

Anyway, I will admit that there is some bad to go along with the good. Throughout the film, he incorporates elaborate montages, mixing images of Nazi and Communist Germany to parallel the idea of the Secular Humanists in Academia suppressing freedom of speech among Intelligent Design scientists. Although as a Christian I do feel this is a viable comparison, I can also see how the adversary would argue that it is overwhelmingly exaggerative and demonizing. However, in his comparison he is not trying to suggest that Secular Humanists are mass murderers, but rather expose their intolerance of Intelligent Design Theorists, and how they "build a wall" to suppress this alternative explanation from being taught, researched, written about, etc.

The argument about how biased Stein's film tactics are could go on forever, but as a student of both film AND journalism (YES, I'm playing that card), I have to say that it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to be objective when reporting on something, ESPECIALLY through the film medium. Any great director will use high content images to tell his story, and I think Stein did a fantastic job. Being completely unbiased in reporting is not feasible, especially concerning something so integral to one's philosophy, but I feel that Ben Stein managed an incredible feat in comparison with someone like, oh, I don't know, Michael Moore?

There is so much to say about this film, but if I keep going I'll never stop. I'll probably write it all down in my journal before I go to bed tonight, and when I watch it again next week I'll probably find even more things to write about. If you'd like to talk about it with me, by all means contact me! I'd love to discuss it further. 

Colbert and Legend

I'm going to start a new weekly blog segment where I post a Colbert video. I thought I would start it off with one of my all time favorites.

Pelle Pellegrino Time!

This is Frak. He is WAY cool. Check out his blog! : )

Random thoughts from the last few days...

1. I'm amazed at how God can use total strangers on the other side of the country to speak to me.

2. I'm definitely a giver. I'd rather spend hours crafting thoughtful gifts than receive them.

3. Jim bought the ring to propose to Pam! It was definitely a "squeeful" episode of The Office this week.... Oh, and Michael Scott is a jerk. But at least he's funny.

4. I don't know how I am going to get everything done in the next two days.

5. I frequently wonder how I'm going to get stuff done, and I always do. No matter how many times this occurs, I will still be doubtful of my capabilities.

6. I can't WAIT to get back into my photography this summer. : D

7. I should never be allowed into a Michael's craft store with any form of currency.

8. Stephen T. Colbert is HOTT, and I don't understand why my roommates disagree. <3

9. "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is set on you, because he trusts you." Isaiah 26:3

"I love technology." -Kip Dynamite

You Tube is a blessing and a curse.... It is also the reason why I don't finish writing my final papers until 4:30 in the morning.




Goodnight!

A look in the Pensieve....

For some reason, this is one of my favorite pictures from my trip to China. The boy is from the primitive tribal village of Napo, I wish I knew his name, and he and I had a very interesting exchange. 

As the adults were putting on their show, he came and sat next to me, and was obviously curious about my camera. I'm pretty sure it was the first time he had ever seen or touched one. (Like I said, it was a primitive village.) Although I'm normally hesitant to let people, especially kids, play with my Rebel, I started showing him how it worked, and was delighted with his reaction the first time he saw himself on the LCD screen. It was like magic* to him! 

As I let him press his dirty face against the view-finder and run his snotty hands on the buttons, I started thinking about the incredible opportunity I was blessed with. It blew my mind that I was on the other side of the globe from all that I knew life to be, exploring a world I never knew existed. 

We had arrived at the village around midnight the day before, and it was such a surreal experience for me. I was almost in tears from the excitement. There were no lights outside, but the full moon exposed enough of the mountains and forest for me to be awestruck with the beauty of a part of creation I never thought I'd see. These women in black costumes who looked like Sally Fields' The Flying Nun came out from their wooden shacks to greet us, and I was euphoric. 

This verse came to my mind: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of you heart." (Ps 37:4) God keeps his promises, even if it means flying you to the other side of the world and driving you through hundreds of miles of mountainous terrain. At that moment, I was reminded of what I was put here for. I found my calling.

Sometimes I wonder about what the little boy is doing, and I'll say a prayer for him. I wonder what he'll grow up to be, what his favorite color is, how many baths he's taken since I last saw him... I'm sure he won't remember our little exchange, and I doubt I'll ever see him again (unless we happen to visit the same village if I go back next summer?), but I don't think I'll ever forget those few moments of exchanged smiles, lack of verbal communication, and kiddish laughter.

*Photogro! 

"Half of what I say is meaningless..." -the Beatles

Hooray! Blog post number one!

I must say, though, I'm a little bit disappointed with the set up. All the good URL names are taken, and most of the people who have them don't even post anything. I tried a bunch of Potter, Beatles, and Colbert references, but they were all unavailable. I had to go generic and use my name and a number. How uncreative.... Oh well. I suppose I'll live.

So I started flirting with the blog idea a few weeks ago when I met Diablo Cody (She's awesome!). She came to speak at UF and told us that she was discovered through her blog, and from there she went on to publish a book and write an Academy Award winning screenplay. (If you haven't seen Juno yet, please do yourself the favor.)

However, I'm not exactly writing this to "get discovered." As a mater of fact, having people read this is just an added bonus. I'm really doing it for myself, so I can document all my crazy (and not so crazy) thoughts and adventures. I've had countless instances where I'll have an interesting experience, conversation, or inner dialogue about something and think, "I should really write this down." And I never do.

So here's to change!

I figure it's also a great way to stay fresh on my writing. (As if I don't get enough as an English major?) 

I don't have a set topic, but I imagine these are some of the things I will be blogging about:

Spirituality

Current News

Entertainment (i.e., Movies and Music)

Education

Politics (VERY rarely)

My Travels

Past Experiences

Humorous Instances

My Dreams (I could probably start a separate blog with those! They're nuts!)

Photography (I'll probably post some of my work)

Graphic Design (Ditto)

Book Reviews

Astronomy

University of Florida Stuff (Go Gators!)

You Tube Videos

The Colbert Report

The Office

The Shield

Harry Potter

The Beatles

My Quirks and Obsessions

And, of course, stuff that pisses me off.

I've been really fickle in the past concerning personal blogs, but I'm hoping this one will stay up.

Ciao until next time!