Happy Halloween!

Word of the Day:

ensorcell \en-SOR-suhl\, transitive verb

To enchant; to bewitch.

Stranger Than Fiction

I do so love this movie. Just got to see it again today (not at all like me on a sunny Saturday afternoon...but I couldn't resist). If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. But please understand, this is not at all like Talladega Nights (thank goodness).

Romans 8:38
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God."

Ephesions 3:17-19
"I pray that you...may have power...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person`s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."

The Four Loves (C.S. Lewis)

More on Fargo...

Tried (in vain, I believe) to help a friend understand the merits of the movie Fargo. Tried to illustrate what I see in Margie and Norm and the points the movie makes about greed and the value of the simple things in life. I think I would just have to watch it with her to get her to see what I see. But that's not likely to happen. Oh well.

My Grandma Tuinstra's favorite verse

Micah 6:8
He has shown you, o man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.

"God is not proud...He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him."

"Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won`t last forever. We must take it or leave it."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

"It seems, then," said Tirian, "that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places."

"Yes," said the Lord Digory, "Its inside is bigger than its outside."

"Yes," said Queen Lucy, "In our world too, a stable once had Something inside it that was bigger than our whole world."

The Last Battle

"The pain itself made Puddleglum's head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought. There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.

He said, 'All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees, grass, sun, moon and stars and Aslan himself. Then all I can say is, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just making up a game, if you're right. But in playing a game we can make a play-world that licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can, even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say.'"

Puddleglum to the Green Witch of Underland in The Silver Chair

Smashmouth - LIVE!

On August 18, after the Nascar Busch series race at the Michigan International Speedway, I got to see Smashmouth in concert! Got within about 15 feet of the stage! The crowd full of racing fans had been partying all day, so by the time of the concert it was an interesting group. For the record, I was *not* one of those going topless. Not sure how many there were true Smashmouth fans (like yours truly). Most seemed to be there because it was free after the race. But for me it was the best part of the day. I just hope Steve and the band could feel the vibe coming from where I was...singing along to every song. :)

I should really qualify this by saying that I thought of this quote while watching "The Sopranos" recently...not by thinking of anyone I know personally. :)

"When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

A decent sort of horse

"If you really are so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think...but as long as you know you're nobody very special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."

- the Hermit of the Southern March
to Bree (a talking Horse of Narnia)
from "The Horse and His Boy"

One more reason...

...not to get breast implants.

Time to chill

From Sloth Ethic:

"Want a break from the horrors of the news pages? From compulsively checking your rss feeds (monkey press button get treat monkey press button get treat monkey press button...)?"

Slow down. Relax.

"If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

Comments on atheism...

PZ Myers: "There is no evidence, no explanation, no mysteries which we need to fill with this superman...of the supernatural"

Really? No mysteries at all? There is nothing that exists anywhere that we humans can't completely explain?

"The only truth to which I hold here is that there is no god and no evidence for one. If someone wants to rebut that firm rock to which atheism is anchored, that's the idea they have to address. None do...."

Not so. There have been many who have pointed to evidence of God, many who address that very issue. Since none of us know everything there is to know, those who are atheists simply hold a belief that there is no God...regardless of evidence that might point someone toward belief in God.

"I think there are religious people who are much smarter than I am even now. I do not make the logical fallacy of believing that because people are wrong in one thing, religion, they are therefore wrong in all things; I don't believe that Christians are irreparably stupid or that their gullibility about god translates into some gross systemic defect in their entire ability to reason."

Well, thanks for that at least, Mr. Myers. That's something anyway...and refreshing to hear for a change.

Thought of the Day:

"...That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863)

The beginning of a beautiful friendship...

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, `What! You too? I thought I was the only one!`"

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

Imogen Heap

I'm really crazy about my Imogen Heap CD "Speak for Yourself" . In case you were not already aware, she's the former lead singer of the group "Frou Frou." For anyone interested (out of the 4 people who read this blog), my favorite songs are #1, 2, 5, 9 and 11.

Check it out!

Note to self: Courage...one day at a time

"Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, I’ll try again tomorrow."

~Unknown