Ignorant Historian

Sorry for the spotty blogging this week. My life has been a bit on the crazy side lately (not necessarily in a bad way). That said, this will likely be the last post this week.

I really enjoyed working the election yesterday. The people I worked with were fun, and I enjoyed working to get people in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We had about 27% turn out at our precinct, though there was only 21% turnout county wide. It was a municipal election so those aren’t bad numbers, but it’s sad to say that. Personally, I find the municipal elections to have more relevance to my life than national ones, you know?

Even sadder than those numbers is the fact that I only met 2 others who live in my complex, and I personally dealt with at least 1/3 of the voters who came through. So if we extrapolate that, we’d have to guess that maybe 9 people from my complex came through. Out of at least 100 possible voters (probably more than that), that’s absolutely horrible.

One of the people I helped was actually a candidate for school board, a candidate that I just voted for about an hour prior. She commended me on handling my job appropriately and told me a horror story of something that happened in another precinct the year before. That was before I realized she was a candidate who had a vested interest.

I’ll definitely be working elections again, Lord willing. It was an exhausting day, but we get paid okay, and honestly, I’d do it for free. Our next elections are in May (primary and constitutional amendment) and November, which both promise to have much higher turnouts.

I don’t think it’s a secret that I like a good Jane Austen book or movie. The other day, I was in the mood, so I popped in Sense and Sensibility (you know, the one with Hugh Grant).

Sense and Sensibility is both my favorite Jane Austen book and my favorite movie. I love Pride and Prejudice along with the best of us, but Sense and Sensibility resonates more with me, because I relate to both of the sisters.

I’m a lot like Elinor, the put-together, sensible, putting-others-first rock of the family. To those who don’t know me well, I can come across as stoic or unfeeling. I tend towards order and routine and tend to shy away from spontaneity and anything that upsets my order for things.

But I also am a lot like Marianne. I can be flighty and overly emotional. I cry quicker than anyone I know (though I still blame it on a physical abnormality…doncha know I have overactive tear ducts?). I have thought my world was falling apart when a suitor hasn’t appeared. I have interpreted my interactions with a man to make them into something they weren’t.

You see, I’m both sisters. I can be both sensible and overcome by sensibility.

And for the record, Colonel Brandon is by far my favorite of the Jane Austen’s heroes. A man who doesn’t arrogantly assume you think he’s all that, prefers you to be happy than to be with him (as much as it pains him), and is willing to quietly serve in whatever way possible? Yes, please!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is books that we’d like to see turned into movies. Of course, when I think of books that I’d like to be turned into movies, I think about how I want these books turned into movies the way I want them to be, but I supposed I wouldn’t be consulted on any of these movie projects. It’s just that each book made me feel a certain way, and I’d want the movie to do the same.

Actually, several of the books that I want to be made into movies are in the process of being turned into movies. While it used to be important to me that movies reflect the books perfectly, I’ve since realized it makes more sense for the them not to be exactly the same. After all, what makes a book good and what makes a movie good aren’t the same things.

So, these are books I want to see made into movies (or movies that I’m looking forward to seeing):

1. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

I’ve wanted to see a movie of Ender’s Game ever since I read it for the first time. I think that it has the makings of a very good movie that would have mass popularity. Card has/is writing a script for it, but I’m not sure it’s gone much farther than that.

2. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

Okay, so this is already a movie…in Australia (where it did well). No word on whether it will be released in the US in the theaters or on DVD.

3. The City and the City by China Miévelle

I think this would be a fascinated movie, if someone could pull it off. Having two cities overlapping–and yet you’re only allowed to “see” your own city–would possibly require some Inception-like visuals.

4. The Journal by…well…me

Wouldn’t that be absolutely cool? A girl can dream. But seriously, it could make a great movie I think. I love futuristic movies, and this would definitely be one.

5. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

If you like Hunger Games at all, you’ve likely heard that this is going to be a movie. The casting of the main characters has just been released, so it’ll still be a while. I think that it makes for a great story for film, but it’d be hard to not to make it gory.

6. Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

A great story that’d make for a great kids’ movie.

7. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Based on this list, I think I need to watch more sci-fi movies. I love seeing other people’s imaginations at work in how they create a future society.

8. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

If this would be as touching a story on film as it is in print, I’d love to see it happen.

9. C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy

Why not follow up The Chronicles of Narnia with Lewis’s lesser-known fiction series? There are some really poignant points in the books that I’d love to see on film, though I don’t think it’d make for very popular movies as the books aren’t nearly as action-packed and suspense-filled as most alien movies out there.

10. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

This series, on the other hand, would make for an action-packed alien movie.

Would you/do you want to see any of these movies?

It’s no secret that I’m against abortion and think that the laws of this lands should prohibit the killing of innocent children in the womb as well as out.

And I realize that by saying that right there, I may have convinced a good number of my readers to ignore this post. That’s okay…I’m really wanting to speak with those who would agree with that statement.

Why? Because I have a problem with the House GOP (or anyone else) wanting to cut Planned Parenthood funding.

Say what?

Look, I don’t like Planned Parenthood any more than you do. When I see one, my first response is to pray for the young ladies seeking their services. I don’t want them using my money (or my very small share of the federal money) to encourage or perform abortions. That prohibition, I believe, should be spelled out in law.

However, that’s not all Planned Parenthood does.

Sadly, conservatives and Christians in recent times in America have by and large done a bad job of helping the poor. I’ll even admit that I’ve done a bad job of helping the poor. Still thinking through what that should look like in my life, but I know that I’m far from off the hook.

So, sadly, I can’t support the complete denial of federal funding to Planned Parenthood. Until someone else steps up and offers gynecological exams and pregnancy care to low-income women, it’d be better for them to receive these services from someone with an agenda radically different than mine than to not get them at all.

That’s my two cents…what’s yours?

This post is to all of my faithful readers who were itching for me to tackle a controversial subject again. I think this time I’ve definitely stepped in it!

This post is not intended to point fingers at anyone in particular but to share a troubling trend I’ve noticed. I’ve already shared how I struggle with trying to control every aspect of my life. So understand that I write this post knowing I share in the guilt, a guilt that should be no less troubling just because it’s common to many.

It amazes me how incredibly arrogant we modern Americans are. We think that we have the right to control our bodies, from removing wrinkles or adding curves to determining exactly when we conceive and with how many babies.

It’s not uncommon for a couple to spend years using birth control pills then turn around and use fertility drugs to conceive, something that their bodies may have been able to do without medical help before they subjected them to years of artificial hormones.

Perhaps–I’m saying this as a single virgin who wants kids, so maybe my opinion doesn’t count–we should let God determine these details.

I’m not necessarily against birth control methods–there are wise means and good motives to do so–but we have to understand that there are consequences to the decisions we make. If I say, “I don’t want to get pregnant until ________,” I have to recognize that God may not allow me to conceive when I’m good and ready.  After all, it is still God who opens and closes wombs, not a fertility pill or injection.

That’s my two cents on this issue. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts in the comments.

Photo by hitthatswitch

I’ve already mentioned it a couple of times, but I was listening to The Millennials by Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer over the last couple of weeks.  It’s been having me think a lot about my generation.  I’ve already shared my thoughts about how I felt like September 11th was the most influential event to my generation.

The research in The Millennials supports that idea.  We’re impatient because we know life is short.  We’re family-oriented because we understand what it’s like to lose them.  We believe in respect to all ideas and those who espouse them, because we see what happens when you’re intolerant.  We hate the “us” vs. “them” mentality.

While my generation (born 1980-2000) is now the largest ever in American history, we’re still coming into our own.  The youngest are still only 10 years old, and the oldest are only 30.  So while I believe our foundation is set, time will tell what our legacy will be.

There are many things I find positive about my generation–our desire to help others and our distaste for polarizing rhetoric–but other things I find concerning, like our desire to have everything now and our disinterest in religion altogether.

How will we be remembered?

I apologize for wasting your time if you read this.  I’m sure there is something (anything) else that is a better use of your time.

I love this time of year, truly, but it is exhausting.  Some people have jobs that have stress throughout the year, but mine seems to pile up in the first 4 months of the year.  But that’s where all the fun and joy seems to fall, too, so I wouldn’t change it.

Since I’m tired after working a 11-hour work day (I’m writing this Tuesday evening), I’m going to write about the first thing that comes to mind.  Technology.  Perhaps this comes to mind as in the last month or so I’ve gotten both a Nook and a Windows 7 phone (yes, my 6th cell phone in 9 years).  Plus, I’m currently listening to the chapter on media from Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer’s The Millennials.

(Side note: Jess talks about how his journey with media began with Oregon Trail…didn’t it for most of us older millennials?  I loved that game, especially since it counted as “school!”)

When I got my last new phone a year and a half ago (I had to get another so soon as I’m switching back to AT&T for work…4th company switch!), I talked about how much cell phone technology has changed.  My phone is, of course, not only my only phone and how I primarily communicate (via text), but also my mp3 player, GPS (haven’t used it yet, but will the next time I need directions), and the camera I use more often than not (to film video, too).  If I wanted, I could use it to check email or watch videos, but I haven’t done that, yet, either.

I love the all-in-one-ness of today’s cell phones, and I assume it will continue.

Interesting statistics (sorry, that’s what you get for me writing while listening!): 13% of my generation (born 1980-2000) write blogs.  Millennials like me (with graduate degrees) are most likely to use social media.  Ha, am I just a statistic?

So what are your thoughts on the technology trends?  What are your hopes?  Your concerns?

I can’t believe it’s Election Day again.  It feels like it was just Election Day 2008…am I the only one who thinks that?

I actually haven’t been following politics as closely as I used to.  It seems like it’s all the same old debates, and no one in politics really seems to see things like I see them.  That’s okay…just means that I have to spend a lot of time researching, thinking, and praying over whom to vote for.

Regardless, I’ll be voting today.  If you’re a US citizen 18 and older, you better be too (unless, of course, you voted early).  No one can speak for you like you can speak for yourself, so don’t remain silent.

I may not be very patriotic, but voting is one of my favorite parts of being an American.

Photo by Jessica Whittle Photography

Remember, this was 4 1/2 years ago!

Monday, January 30, 2006

According to Facebook:

1.3% of Southeastern Baptist reads The Bible.

I’m thinking that number is slightly off. I hope.

Monday, February 27, 2006

I think facebook is taking over the world. Don’t get me wrong, I like facebook, and it helps me keep in contact with my friends all over. Yesterday on the news there was a story about a tragedy involving two UNC students. The pictures they had of them were off their facebook profiles (properly cited). Who would have thought that facebook would have become a reliable news source?

This weekend was so relaxing! I watched movies, read, and studied a little. I still have quite a bit of studying to do for my tests tomorrow, but I’m much more in a studious mood this morning than I was even last night. Maybe I’ll continue the semester’s work after all.

Three more days of class and then it’s spring break! It’s not as exciting without Glorieta, that’s for sure. I’ll just be staying around here, working, and catching up on school work. That works for me. The real break comes the next week when Miss Dana will be here! Yay for visitors!

How about a little controversy, shall we?  It’s been too long, hasn’t it?

If I only had to go by the reaction to the Judge Walker’s decision on California’s Proposition 8 that I saw on Twitter, Facebook, and television, I’d assume he was the people’s hero.  I hope that’s not quite the case…I know I’m not the only one saddened by last Wednesday’s decision.

Though I don’t know if I’ve specifically mentioned it (in 999 posts…yes, that makes tomorrow’s the 1000th…get ready for it!), I don’t think you’d be surprised to find that I take the biblical, traditional, and (until recent years) only definition of marriage.  We all have the right (regardless of our sexual preferences) to marry an unmarried adult of the opposite sex.  Equal rights.

So yes, I was saddened by Judge Walker’s decision.  But you may be surprised to know that what saddened me wasn’t primarily the decision against marriage.

First, I was disappointed that the federal government once again has unconstitutionally taken away power from the states.  If the people of California decided to refine “marriage”, I would have to accept that (though I would still argue that they are wrong).  That is their decision.  But the decision was taken out of their hands.  They no longer have that right.

And if they no longer have that right as the residents of California, I no longer have that right as a resident of North Carolina.

But more than that, what saddened me was that there is now a precedence for the out-right disregarding of gender.

We no longer have to use the slippery slope argument.  You can get a judge to almost anything as long as they have a legal precedence to do it.

And now there is.

If gender no longer legally matters in marriage, should it in a draft?  I think it’s pretty clear that the logical answer is “no.”

What about dorm room assignments?

The sex of chaperones on school trips?

“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27, NASU

I think this is a pretty good time to remind you of the comment policy.  Thanks, loves!

Photo by Joe Gratz