Atonement

Atonement by Ian McEwan

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Atonement has given me a lot of cause for thought. I identified with Briony's discovery that other people must each have their own secret lives happening in their head. She views that thought with distaste. I have simply had moments, at work, or the grocery store, where it's as if a light has gone on, and I'm suddenly looking around and thinking that all these people are absorbed in a different story from mine. It is so easy to see people as simple actors in our own private play. It's so easy to be wrapped up in our own head, and forget that others have thoughts and feelings. If we allow that to happen, we run the risk of making the same choices that Briony made. Perhaps in smaller ways, perhaps not.

Another lesson I took away from this book, is that we cannot foresee how our actions have the potential to change the course of another life. Even the possibility of ruining lives. We must always be aware that our actions, no matter how small, will affect others in ways we cannot reverse...and that we may never have the chance for atonement.




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The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Manchurian Candidate is a picture of national fear, family dysfunction, and truly terrible betrayals. Raymond Shaw is one of the least likable main characters I've ever met. But I still had compassion for him, as a product of so many people's desires and psychosis, his character is not his fault. Richard Condon describes him as one with his armor. Which is a sad thing, to be unable to shed that.

Even though I know the sort of brainwashing discussed in this book isn't currently possible (as far as we know) it was still very frightening. The idea of not being in control of yourself, and being unaware of that fact, is particularly repellent. This story gave me a lot to think about, and it has been on my mind for days. I keep coming back to certain parts of it, taking them out, examining them again.

I would suggest this book should be required reading. And I also think that Raymond's mother should be on a list somewhere of fictions most disturbing villanesses!


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The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was utterly amazing. I finished it a few weeks ago, and have still been thinking about it. It's a new twist on your typical romantic story. I was brought to care so deeply for the people in this book. Audrey created a fascinating problem, and forces you to see the world in a different light. It's a hard world, and a hard problem. There is terrible beauty in it. She brings her story full circle in a classic and horrific way. And even so, even with all the tears I cried reading it, I smiled as I cried over the ending. I want to read it again.


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A review

The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was wonderful. I've read the Silmarillion, but it's been a very long time. I knew this was one of the sad tales, but I'm glad to have gotten to read the whole thing. It honestly made me cry in the very end.


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A Goal

I now have a goal. A very big goal. Rachel turned me onto this list of 1000 books that everyone should read. I'm a little skeptical about some of them...I've seen the movies and hated them. (yes, I know, the book is always better than the movie)

This is going to take me a while, but it should be interesting! I'm always needing new books. I should probably post the Commandant's Reading list as well, just so I can have a list that I've read much of already! ;)

Here are the books I've already read:
Louisa May Alcott Little Women
Jane Austin Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austin Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austin Emma
Jane Austin Northanger Abbey
Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre
Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights
Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Kate Chopin The Awakening
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
Michael Crichton The Andromeda Strain
Michael Crichton Jurassic Park
Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe
Charles Dickens Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens Great Expectations
Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment
Arthur Conan Doyle A Study in Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca
Alexandre Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers
F Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
William Golding Lord of the Flies
Kenneth Grahame The Wind in the Willows
John Grisham A Time to Kill
John Grisham The King of Torts
H Rider Haggard King Solomon's Mines
Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter
Robert A Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land
Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea
Frank Herbert Dune
Khaled Hosseini The Kite Runner
MM Kaye The Far Pavilions
Jack Kerouac On the Road
Rudyard Kipling Kim
CS Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia
Jack London The Call of the Wild
Robert Ludlum The Bourne Identity
Alastair Maclean The Guns of Navarone
Cormac McCarthy The Road
Larry Niven Ringworld
George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-four
Boris Pasternak Doctor Zhivago
Terry Pratchett The Discworld series
JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
Dodie Smith I Capture the Castle
John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath
Robert Louis Stevenson Treasure Island
JRR Tolkien The Hobbit
JRR Tolkien The Lord of the Rings
Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Voltaire Candide
HG Wells The War of the Worlds
TH White The Sword in the Stone

Wow... 58 down, only 942 to go. Although, I do think I should get more credit for some of the series' that they are counting as one book! ;)

As I read more, I'm going to start listing them below. I'm going to try and post a little review when I get done with one as well...nothing fancy! :)

Audrey Niffenegger The Time Traveler's Wife
Richard Condon The Manchurian Candidate
Ian McEwan Atonement
Evelyn Waugh Brideshead Revisited (not on the list I posted, but others include it.
Margaret Atwood The Handmaid's Tale
Jane Austin Mansfield Park
Agatha Christie The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Agatha Christie The Murder at the Vicarage

Goodbye, Ricardo

In memory of Ricardo Montalban. One of the greatest performers of our time.



Rest in peace.

Another photographic life update

I realized I hadn't gotten around to this yet, so here we go, the happenings of November in all their photo captured glory.

We are learning a little bit about military life on a base, Steve has been having 24 hour duties, and we got to go watch them raise the morning colors one day.


I got the chance to go wander around the base a little bit, and see what there is to see. I'm really bummed, they have taken the old airfield and are using it as a parking lot. It just seems like sacrilige.


One weekend one of my best friends and her husband came up for a football game, and stayed with us. We got to go out to a movie, just us adults, which was a lot of fun!


I made a friend through flickr, and so I got to go out with someone and really shoot for the first time in quite a while! We wandered around Union Station and the Liberty Memorial.








We explored a little bit north of Union Station, and really liked this bridge that crosses the tracks.



It's nice to have someone here that I can go out shooting with, and it was great to get out for a bit!

Personalities

I've known for a while that I'm an INFP. I recently ran across a different type of personality profiling that is compatible with the Myers-Briggs typing. So, here is me:

View Full MyPersonality.org Profile

0 50 100	%
Openness	83%
Conscientiousness	29%
Extraversion	48%
Agreeableness	79%
Neuroticism	38%

The thing that is highly amusing to me, is that when my Marine took it, they rated me as the least compatible of all of his friends...I guess opposites do attract!

Manna Storehouse Raid

I can't even tell you how sickening and extremely frightening this is. The implications to our freedoms hardly bear thinking of. I've taken the time to e-mail the state of Ohio about this travesty. Please help me spread the word, and if you have the time to send your own e-mail, please do.

Ohio Department of Agriculture
call: 614-728-6201
email: administration@agri.ohio.gov, enforcement@agri.ohio.gov

To Whom it may concern:

I am writing to express my extreme concern regarding the recent raid on the Stowers family. Regardless of their guilt or innocence, the rights that the United States Constitution has given them were severely infringed upon. The 4th amendment was placed high on the list because of it's extreme importance. We have the right to live without fear of our government invading our homes over a small charge. A misdemeanor is called such because it is not a major threat to the people. Even were someone accused of the most heinous of crimes, they are still innocent until proven guilty, and the law must still be obeyed.

Ohio claims that their SWAT is to be used only for:

* Hostage Situations: the holding of any person(s) against their will by an armed or potentially armed suspect.
* Barricade Situation: the stand-off created by an armed or potentially armed suspect in any location, whether fortified or not, who is refusing to comply with law enforcement demands for surrender.
* Sniper Situations: the firing upon citizens and/or law enforcement officers by an armed suspect, whether stationary or mobile.
* High-Risk Apprehension: the arrest or apprehension of armed or potentially armed suspects where the likelihood of armed resistance is high.
* High-Risk Warrant Service: the service of search or arrest warrants where the warrant service matrix or policy recommends or requires the use of SWAT.
* Personal Protection: the security of special persons, such as VIP's, witnesses, or suspects, based on threat or potential threat to the well being of those persons.
* Special Assignments: any assignment, approved by the SWAT Operations Commander, based on a high level of threat and/or need.

It seems obvious to all that the SWAT team is to provide assistance for highly dangerous situations. I'm not certain how a family with small children, a family who runs a co-op qualifies.

As the wife of a fire arms instructor and former LEO, I am highly disturbed that it was deemed necessary for children and infants to be held at gun point. Anyone who has been trained in the use of firearms understands that you do not point a weapon at another person unless you are prepared to kill them. Are children now perceived to be so dangerous that this was necessary?

No matter what the reasoning for this attack was, it was completely mishandled. This has become a debacle, and whoever authorized it should be ashamed of themselves. Our country is a free country, or it is supposed to be. Stop doing things to give law enforcement a bad name, and stop abusing power.

I hope to hear of a formal apology and appropriate reparations to the Stowers for the unprofessional way this whole event was planned and handled.

Sincerely,
Angela Bare

Behold the chocolate mustache

My son ate 3/4 of the candy in an advent calender today.

You will notice that even with the tear on his cheek, he still doesn't seem too upset.

And now, even as I was typing, I heard a massive crash. Our family picture got knocked off the shelf, along with a candle stick that was a wedding present. Of course, it shattered. What a day!

Mumbai

MUMBAI TERROR ATTACK on 26/11/2008, originally uploaded by priyam_dhar.

In Memory of the Fallen

Trouble in Thailand

Rachel pointed me towards a story this morning that I would normally be interested in, but not massively.

But this one is different! You see, my aunt and uncle along with my grandmother are currently in the middle of their first trip to Thailand. They have been visiting my great-aunt, and are now enjoying the sunshine in Phuket. They are supposed to be coming home in the next few days. I'm not really sure how that's going to work at the moment. This is one of those things that you feel like you need to do SOMETHING, but I can't think of anything I can do. Besides pray. So far the protestors are not being violent. Lets all hope that things stay that way, and that my family can get safely out of the country and back home.

That's silly...or is it?

I couldn't resist. It's too funny.

Actually I finished this one first...

The Ugly American by William J. Lederer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a must read for anyone who cares about the state of our world. This book should absolutely be required reading for anyone who wants to pursue a career in politics. It is written fictionally, but each of the events portrayed actually happened. It is horrific how ethnocentric citizens of the United States are and how horribly that has affected our foreign policy all over the world.


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Just finished a book...

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was an amazing look at the battle of Thermopylae. I'm going through the Marine Corps reading list with my husband, and I couldn't agree with them more for this pick. The principles and ideas the Spartans held to are the ideal of the warrior. I even cried.


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Kids are dumb. Right?

Apparently you can be hostile to a child, you can say things that make it obvious you think they are stupid, but it's ok, you are really letting them make their own choice. Because they are really that dumb. Right?



I don't know about other kids, but mine are very smart. I have to work sometimes NOT to influence them. Obviously, as a mother, it is my job to teach them things, and to influence their minds to a certain extent. I want them to learn what is moral, what is right and what is wrong. But I also want them to learn to think on their own. I do my best to explain why something isn't a good idea, or why it is, although I admit I'm sure I've made them feel stupid in the past. But I really don't want that.

Apparently this teacher doesn't feel the same way. What, a child that age isn't going to understand that they are saying something "bad" if an adult repeats it and adds "Oh Lord!! Oh Jesus!!" Because kids are stupid, right? Or we just want to make them feel that way? I don't know how this little girls parents reacted to this, but I would have been furious. No teacher should DARE to humiliate my child in a classroom setting like that. If they are misbehaving, sure, they should get in trouble. But does a personal choice like this rank as misbehavior? I guess so. That tone of voice sure is doing it's best to let Kathy know that her decision is "bad".

Our kids need to learn about the voting process. But obviously they don't have the right to a private opinion until they reach their majority. And the schools don't really want to let us know about it...I never heard a word about voting in my sons school till the day he came home with an "I voted" sticker. Why is that? Why, when they send home seven million pieces of paper every day, do they fail to mention that they will be discussing an important election, and having my kiddo vote? Maybe this kind of behavior is why.

Lolcats and Politics

I've been doing some reading on www.change.gov. I'm attempting to be open-minded and graceful. I believe that it is my duty to stay involved in my government, but that doesn't mean following a strict party line, or simply having knee-jerk reactions. But there is phrasing that worries me. Things that taken alone seem great, but added to a bunch of other things I can't help but think: Where in the world is all that money coming from?!

I'll try to go into more thoughtful depth about this later, after all, no knee jerking here, so I want to be able to lay out my arguments and thoughts in a precise reasonable manner. Not to convince anyone, but simply because I feel it's important for me, that I have thoroughly researched something. I want to be certain of my position. For now, I'll leave you with a cute kitty picture that sums up my feelings about...pretty much all politicians right now! (thanks Renee for getting me started on that silly website tonight!)

Since I left out the little one...

Grinning Baby, originally uploaded by baresilver.

I realized I didn't really put a picture in of the little one. So, We have another blog entry all for him. The picture is out of focus...he just moves too fast sometimes! But I love his little "I'm cute and I know it" grin.

Photography, and my recent activites

So, I've been toting around a growing pile of film for the last few weeks. I loath running in and out of the grocery store multiple times with a bunch of kids in tow. So the film has been taking over a counter, and then my purse. It's so much more painful financially when I do this. Not that it cost less when I do it all at once, but I don't notice it as much!

I finally got all my shots uploaded to flickr, but I figured I'd post some of my favorites here...and some that are more significant. That way we can have a little run down on what I've been doing for the past month or so! Ready?

The Mr. and I took the boys to experience our new town. Lucky us, they had a little festival on main street which we got to explore. Lots of nifty little antique shops, typical fair food, and a petting zoo. We all had lots of fun!

On the eldest's birthday, we all went to a local football game. Apparently, the Belton Pirate's were division champs last year...not so much this year. We still had lots of fun though!

And just because he's so hot...

The next week, we had a joint birthday party for me, the Mr., the oldest and the middle. Grandparents came, an aunt, uncle and cousins, all much to the joy of my boys.

With so many people in the house, I had the chance to run out to the grocery store...and, smart girl, I took my camera. Which gave me the opportunity to shoot something I'd wanted to catch for a while.

Halloween weekend was crazy: My birthday lunch,

trick-or-treating fun,

getting to see an old friend...we spent our whole growing up together, running in the woods, peeking through the neighbors fence, building fires and smoking fake cigarettes...and I haven't seen her since I was preggers with the eldest!

That evening, we had the Marine Corps Ball. Which was amazing, and tons of fun, and I'm ever so greatful to my parents for watching the short people. I really didn't get pictures, so as soon as we get the professional ones, I promise they'll be here.

That's really about it, for now. Besides the election. But I didn't take any pictures of that. So, I'll leave you with a couple that I like how they turned out, particularly well.

Uhm...Ok...

The United States is reviled by many because "we get into other peoples business." Much of the world thinks that we should mind our own country, and ignore problems in other countries.

And yet, we have this:
http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/

Essentially it reminds us that world opinion matters, that we should take into account how others would vote when we are voting. While our foreign policy is obviously a major consideration in this election, it seems to me that there is something of a double standard here. "The World" does not want The USA to be involved in running other peoples countries...and yet, wants to tell us how to run ours? Huh. Funny.