Book reviews

I think I will write book reviews this summer. I don't really know how to at the moment, but I'll figure it out and hopefully *inspire* some person or persons to read some books that I like. I have already read two books this summer, skipped through a third, am in the last quarter of a fourth, and in the middle of a fifth and a sixth. Hehe...

Read:
The Promise
I Should Have Stayed Home: The Worst Trips of Great Writers

Skipped through:
Little Women (for the two-billionth time)

Last quarter:
Life with Jeeves

Middle:
The Flying Carpet
Cheaper by the Dozen (for the one-billionth time)

Jeeves and Wooster

I got home a week and a half ago and stopped at a local library on the way. I was looking for the second part of the fictional story of Jewish boys Reuven and Danny, The Promise by Chaim Potok. The first book is The Chosen (I liked the first book better than the second). Any way, I didn't find the book, so I went to a different library last Monday, found the book, and finished it later that week (I had already read some of it at school, after finals were over :) ).
I also found a travel book called I Should Have Stayed Home: The Worst Trips of Great Writers. It is hilarious! Some of the stories could/should be skipped, but it was a very funny book. I liked the story about the army ants and scorpions in Guatemala. A different story mentions Dan Rather, the famous news man. Friends have heard this story many times (sorry) but my dad almost ran over Dan Rather! My dad worked in a greenhouse about 18 years ago. He and my Uncle Brian (Mom's brother) were delivering plants in San Francisco. Dan Rather stepped off a curb "like he owned the world" and almost got hit by Dad's truck (it was big, not a pickup)! Yep, my dad almost hit a famous person...though both my family and I'm sure Dan Rather are glad that he didn't. I should tell interesting experiences my dad has had; hmm, some other time...
I also got Life with Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse! There are three books in this volume: Right Ho, Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves, and Very Good, Jeeves. They are very funny, though I admit if I had not seen the series "Jeeves and Wooster" I probably would not be very interested in the books. The books are both hysterical and odd. Here are some samples:
Quotes
"We leave our country for our country's good," said Eustace.

"Pardon me, sir, but would it not be wiser to wear a hat? There is a keen wind."
I blinked.
"Aren't I wearing a hat?"
"No, sir."
I put up a hand and felt the lemon. He was perfectly right.

"Curse him!" said Sippy. "May he tread on a banana-skin on his way to chapel and sprain both ankles!"

"I would always hesitate to recommend as a life's companion a young lady with quite such a vivid shade of red hair. Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is dangerous."
(My favorite so far, hehe)

Chapter Titles
Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum
Startling Dressiness of a Life Attendant
The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy

This is very long, but to end it all...
Good things today
Seeing extended family
Petting my puppy
Reading books
Talking to 2 friends in NY, NY
Driving around the Sierra Nevada Foothills
Bad things today
No job
Spending money on gas
Having Mom roll up the automatic car window, catching my fingers (she rolled it back down when I yelled; she felt bad, but I'm not hurt, I just think it is interesting)

My old friend...

I am hoping to become reacquainted with a high school friend who has been serving in Iraq...
Two years and two purple hearts later...
I'm proud of my friend...
Even before the medals of honor...
Not everyone is willing or able to go out and fight physically for something they believe to be important...
Not everyone is willing or able to watch their friends die in mortal combat...
Not everyone is willing or able to keep on going while surrounded by death...
Not everyone is willing or able to sign their life away for years at a time...
Not everyone is willing or able to spend months in a merciless desert with merciless enemies...
Not everyone is willing or able to hope against hope that they'll see the next day...
Not everyone is willing or able to defend this country...
Not everyone is willing or able to defend me...
So...thanks.
We are so selfish so much of the time...

Haha, home

Funny commercials:
- "We know what Mom really wants for Mother's Day! She wants you to move out! Cornerstone Apartments are available for rent..."
- "John wanted a new car. John went to the credit union. John got financing. John went to the dealership. John looked at the money from the credit union. John got the convertible. John stopped at a red light. John was rear-ended. John got her insurance information. John got her to smile. John got her number. Credit unions get you dates."

Funny bumpersticker:
I don't eat anything with a face.

Funny little sister:
- That's a nice skirt. Does it look worse on the other side?
- Choir. But "choir" isn't spelled "q-u-i-r-e". It's spelled "c-h-o-i-r".

Over dinner

Pablo to Sara: Someone could draw your face and make money off of it.

Emily, smiling really big: Eugene doesn't look like a nerd at all!
Shane, while Emily is laughing: Eugene was a stud!
Pablo: Hey, nerds can be studs!

Hmmmmm

So some friends and I just watched an intriguing Agatha Christie movie. It was set in Egypt, which was fun, because 4 out of the 5 of us have been there. Some interesting quotes came from that movie...

Miss Balfour: Is he [Mr. Doyle] alright?
Doctor: Of course he's not alright, you just shot him!

Communist guy: She can't go around shooting people. Who does she think she is, Annie Oakley?

Rich lady: Who is that plump man, with the shaved head and Bismarck moustache?

Viola Sighting #37

It's Finals Week, and Viola is studying hard.
With Amos and Kai to help her, how can she fail?

Overheard

Two Bible professors, Dr. Boyd and Dr. Hutchison, are good friends. Dr. Hutchison's office is right down the hall from my office. Dr. Boyd will come down a different hallway yelling "Dennis! Dennis!" The two of them will talk for a long time on many wide and varied subjects. I can hear some interesting things from my office. Today I heard about hair.
"In my day, you know, they had hair cream, the Brill cream for guys. But you know, they had hair spray for women but not for men. So my friends in high school, during the winter, they realized that sugar water would keep your hair stiff! Well, that worked but come spring, there were flies all over them!"
-Dr. Hutchison

Haha, I like my job.

Late nights

Nothing says "I love you" like a goldfish to the head.
-Michelle Vierra

I just saw Mount Rushmore; that was really weird. And I wasn't there.
-Adrienne McCabe

Adrienne: What is going on with my back?! Ahhhh!! Get it off!
Amal: I heard you all the way down the hall.
Adrienne: There was something on my back. I'm sure it was a mouse.
Amal: That's cool.

Are we strange enough yet?

Goodbye, Jezebel...

IBEXers are no longer allowed to visit this site...

Happy Valentine's Day, Smiley!

Yotvata chocolate milk is best from a bag...

Ummm, can dead fish fall in love?

Tetherball in the Wilderness...with a camel salt lick...

A porcupine left Heather a quill for her hair...

Jer went a little too long without a shower...it started to affect his brain...

You never know what you will find/buy in Bethlehem...

Don't you just love Elvis...

Viola Sightings #24 and #25

Viola was spotted at Ventura Beach, sporting new headgear and taking in the sun.

Immature

So I have been recognizing recently, our society loves immaturity. Do I think I am mature? No, not completely. I believe we are all mature in different areas. But what I have found disturbing is society's obsession with immaturity.
It is in the cartoons. It is in the movies. It is in the comic strips. It is in the advertising. We laugh at immaturity. I am not talking about immaturity in children. They are "supposed" to be immature; they are children. High schoolers and junior highers and college students are all learning how to be mature. In fact, the maturation process should never stop. But when we are entertained by immaturity, then I worry.
It is in the cartoons.
- It is supposed to be funny when someone is acting in a childish way, like getting worked up over something small (a brother saying something harmless, for example) and throwing a fit. This is not attractive. This is disturbing.
It is in the movies.
- It is supposed to be funny when people do not have the maturity to handle various situations, such a breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend (screaming, yelling, shifting blame, lying, etc.) or learning some piece of upsetting news (not like death, more like, the car is broken). Or it is supposed to be funny when people cannot relate well to others and they make fun of them instead (their language, clothes, mannerisms, whatever).
It is in the advertising.
- It is supposed to be funny when some lady on a radio commercial can't handle a certain question and she "flies off the handle," screaming. Or it is supposed to be funny when someone else compares getting rid of an old car to getting a divorce ("You never do what I want! You are good for nothing!").

Why should we be entertained by this? If we were to see these things in person, we would not be entertained. We would be appalled and/or saddened. Things are bad enough in real life. Yet if it is in the media, we are supposed to be entertained by it. Don't be a brainless observer. Decide things for youself.