NAVIGATING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

So I have a link from my Facebook page to this blog. And that message came up when I tried to use the link. Is THIS blog "malicious"? That is so weird. I wonder why it says that...

I was reading facebook again... needing to go home from a long day of work... and found this cool quote on the facebook page of my teaching partner, Amber, in Cambodia. I don't know who this person is... I don't know if this quote is legit. I don't have time to google. But I wanted to put it somewhere. 'Cause it is timely. I am not a pacifist. But I do think we need to pause and question violence as a means to an end much more than we seem to do now, as a society. I don't have time to process it. I just wanted to document it.

Here is the quote:

"... peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication... it's like telling someone murder is wrong and then showing them by way of execution... when justice is bought and sold just like weapons of war the ones who always pay are the poorest of the poor..."

-Derek Webb

I haven't been blogging in a while... I guess it is because I am in one of those "wait and see" moments in my life... between what is now and what could be. Those of you who are job searching can relate, I am sure. It has been several years now for me. But I am hopeful that I may be at the end of my current journey and onto another one. But nothing is certain. So I wait and see...

but while I am waiting... I asked for a television from my folks for Christmas. The best price we found was at Target one of those "come early" and get it sales. I honestly have NEVER woken up early to go shopping before on black Friday. I never thought I would. But this deal was honestly too good to pass up. So we took a chance. My dad and I (my mom wisely stayed home) got up and were at the Target before 6am. And I have to say I was SUPER IMPRESSED. I don't know who runs Target's Black Friday sales day... but I want to shake their hand! While we waited in a long line some Target team members circulated flyers with maps of the store and the location of each of the "hot button" items. Wisely they dispersed them throughout the store so that people wouldn't be pushing and shoving at the electronics section over multiple items. When we arrived at the location where the tv's were they were ALREADY loaded into carts for us. We just took a cart and kept going. It was almost easy. Then we looked for the two other items on our list (sheets on sale for my parents - I am introducing them to "nice" sheets AND a stainless steel toaster for me). We went to the register (all of the registers were open) and waited behind ONE person... and then we were out the door. We were at the car WITH the TV at 6:20 (I seriously thought we would be there for hours trying to deal with the craziness). We saved so much money on the TV that my parents got me the other item I wanted for Christmas: the Italian stove-top cappuccino maker from Williams-Sonoma.

So... now all I need is a full time job... so I can afford the apartment where I will watch shows on my new TV while drinking yummy cappuccino's. So... buy it and it will come? I hope so!

Last night my very good friend and I went to the chick-flick, Australia. How do I know it is a chick-flick? Gratuitous male shirtless scenes and lots of kissing. I mean don't get my wrong. I am fine with plenty of both... when Hugh bathed shirtless some may call it unnecessary... but I call it "getting my money's worth" (I am the one in the theater of the first X-Men bummed when Wolverine finds that darn sweatshirt to put on... I mean they could have had him shirtless that ENTIRE scene, don't you think?). I am not a fan of Hugh Jackman BECAUSE he is now named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine... I have been a fan since the Wolverine days of old... OK... well... not that long ago... but still.

I digress... truly the movie was EPIC in every way. Baz Luhrmann is a genius as far as I am concerned. He skated "cheesy" a bit but always pulled it out (a fate that the movie "Twilight" was not so fortunate in negotiating- this teen movie was ALL CHEESE, sadly). I think we are a jaded movie-going audience... we are used to the more gritty side of life. But this movie is NOT gritty... it is gloriously beautiful even in its perfection. Sure Hugh Jackman's character is a little "too" much of a man at times. Sure Nicole Kidman's face & hair are a little too perfectly flawless at times. Sure the bad guy is a bit ONE dimensional. But those are the characteristics of a EPIC movie, right? So you go with it... the little native boy is wonderful and adds heart to this movie. The scenery is spectacular... the action is good. The humor is well done. I laughed... I cried... I clutched the edge of my seat... all good responses in a movie that is long (2 hours 45 mins) without feeling TOO long.

But what really got me was the story. It is true. Well, I am sure the storyline is not (the romance)... but the surrounding backdrop is historically accurate. Northern Australian city of Darwin had their own "Pearl Harbor" and I had never known about that. The same forces that came down on Pearl Harbor also swept down on this little harbor town in Australia. It was a severe bombing that decimated that region. And it is also the true story of the "Stolen Generations" it seems indigenous and mixed-race children were taken from their homes by the government and placed into institutions and missions, to "civilize" or Christianize them (this practice went on until the early 1970's).

I think for the history lesson alone it is worth the price of admission (oh, and the shirtless scenes with Hugh)... I think it is a nice movie to have in the theaters around the holidays. It is a nice story to escape into. I recommend it highly!