Simple women's day book 7

For Today: April 19 2011

You can find more day books at Simple woman's daybook

Outside my window: Greyness, the weather has been awful lately

I am Thinking: About how to do some kind of way to blog/podcast about church history in a comprehensive way. 

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I am Thankful For: Not having to go to work today

From the Kitchen: I get to make Amish friendship bread tomorrow

I am wearing: My favorite purple PINK sweat pants that my sister got me for Christmas, and a purple tank

I am Creating: I've been fighting for weeks with the dang baby hat.  this pattern was only supposed to take a few hours not a few weeks!

I am Going:  Tonight is game night at the Jones!

I am Reading: Simarilian by Tolkien, I finished the other books I was reading and hope to read Earth by Mur Lauffferty and The Canterbury tales this week

I am Hoping: That allergy season ends soon

 

I am Hearing: washing machine

Around the House: Petty much a mess 

One of my favorite things: Late mornings with a hot breakfast.

Picture I feel like Sharing: view form Natural Bridge. 

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: The Edifice

To day I want to talk about of the the largest complaints about Victor Hugo's writing style: his attention to detail. in this book he dedicates more then one entire chapter to he description of different parts of Paris.  From the Palace Royal to the Rat Hole, what Paris would look like from the top of Notre Dame in the 1400's to the smallest detail on the alter.  When asking one friend about what he thought about this attention to detail he admitted that he probably skipped those parts.  I understand why people find this as pointless and tedious yet I found it fascinating.

To me it seemed that with the attention to detail, what the Gothic structures looked like how the houses of Paris spilled over every wall that was built to serve all gave a hint that the narrator wasn't Hugo, but the city itself. The characters are no one special and who would really care about their deaths? they were not even worth remembering in a record of funerals or executions.  but the City remembered them.

Maybe it is my strange habit of feeling that the walls of a building (especially an old building) store memories. that some how all that has happened in a house lingers in some strange metaphysical way.

though there is one other thing that needs to be talked about.  one of the chapters is called This Will Kill That. and what he talks about here is that the printing press will kill the Edifice. in history any thought that was worth remembering was written in stone.  Architecture then became the mother and director of all the arts.  if the artist and the poet wanted to say anything that was important they had to become architects. yet when Gutenberg created the printing press suddenly all the arts were now free, they were not confined to stone but became birds which flew freely though the world.  no longer was the edifice necessary, and architecture is no longer the story of humanity, only functional peice of life.

this ends my thoughts on the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I hope you enjoyed them.  Next week we are going to change gears and talk about the Afterlife Series by Mur Lafferty, just book one heave.  I promise no Spoilers this time, but if you would like to give it a listen go here.  It's only 12 chapters long and each chapter is only 45 minuets. Plus she has just published it for kindle but you can get that at the link too.

Thankful Thursday 5-26

1. My Husband.  yes I say his one a lot but particularly today because yesterday was his birthday.
2. Cards From my mother-in-law.  She loves o send us cards, in the for months that we have been married she has send us 5.
3. My Friend Jeanette who shared with me information on a job opportunity.  I don't hear about it for 2 more weeks but the interview went well and even if I don't get the job i feel encouraged to continue to try for these types of jobs.
4. the rain that just started.  I think I may have to go and enjoy it : )

Those who Sacrifice thank offerings honor me

Ps. 50:23

Holy week thoughts

I know it has been a while sense holy week but because things are kinda dry this week I thought i would go ahead and post post that I wrote a while ago and never got around to posting. 

Because I go to a high liturgical church Holy week was new this year. Holy Week means a lot of Church.  And I mean a lot.  from Thursday to Sunday I went to Church six times.  here are some of the highlights and new experiences form Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday. 

Palm Sunday: the congregation gathered outside the church and processed inside saying "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the Highest!"

Maundy Thursday: The special par of this service is that the priest washes the feet of the congregation.  So My Priest washed my feet. 

Good Friday: this year's Service was quite possibly the most  moving Good Friday Service I've been to yet.  and pretty much all we did was walk around the church; going though the Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday: The Easter vigil is by far the most amazing service of the entire year.  we don't do the all night service that the orthodox do, but my husband thinks we should.  it is scripture, songs and the reading of the best Easter Sermon ever written.  Seriously John Chrysostom says every thing that needs to ever be said on the subject. 

Esmeralda: Tragic Virgin

Esmeralda is the figure in this book that tires all the others together.  She flirts through the story and streets of Paris without really thinking about much.  she is a carefree dancer who is caught in that strange place between being a child and a women.

As a child she is innocent of the world and looking for her mother.  she was kidnapped by the gypsies and has been told that if she remains a virgin she will one day find her mother by the power of a little pink baby slipper which she wears hidden in a locket as a talisman. But as a women she is finding out about love.  her love is Pheobus, the man who saved her from an attack during one dark and fateful night on the streets of Paris.

This balancing act of being at that turning point of youth is clearly presented when she meets with Pheobus at an inn.  his plan is to deflower her.  she wants to know if he loves her as she loves him.  The reader knows that Pheobus does not love her but he smoothly convinces her that if she gives herself to him he will love her.

It is here that tragedy strikes.  Claude Frollo was hiding in a closet and he attacks Pheobus who is wounded and Esmeralda is blamed.  despite her innocence she is condemned to die for the murder of Pheobus (who isn't really dead).  She is of course saved from this fate by Quasimodo on the steps of Notre Dame. At least for the time being.

Her innocents which makes her pure is coupled with naivety of youth which is what brings about her down fall.  in her innocents she believes Pheobus loves her.  and when she has found a hiding place after being chased from her safety at Notre Dame she spies Phoebus and calls out to him.  he doesn't hear her, but the other guards do. they have their order, and they follow through with it.  In the middle ages life was cheep, and the life of a single gypsy girl worth even less to those who were above the commoner people.

Thankful Thursday 5-19

This week I am thankful for

1. Halls cough drops, Air born, and alkazelser (I am fighting a head cold)

2. My husband who is doing his best to make me feel better. 

3. Jennette who told me about a new job possibility. 

 

Simple women's day book 6

For Today: April 19 2011

You can find more day books at Simple woman's daybook

Outside my window: Greyness, the weather has been awful lately

I am Thinking: About how to do some kind of way to blog/podcast about church history in a comprehensive way. 

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I am Thankful For: The sun when it finely shows up. 

From the Kitchen: For some reason every time I do my day book Greg cooks.  today it was chicken in a cinnamon, garlic, and basil rub. 

I am wearing: Sweats, white tank, and my house coat. 

I am Creating: Writing act one of Ashes and Snowflakes and Act one of The Rescue, and a gift for my cousin's new baby. 

I am Going:  I've already been out today

I am Reading: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin, Simarilian by Tolkien, 

I am Hoping: To Get a new job (Cross your fingers)

 

I am Hearing: Greg playing Final Fantasy X-2 (or world of dress up)

Around the House: Pictures of the people I care about. 

One of my favorite things: Warm blankets. 

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: what makes a monster and what makes a man?

'Kay so last week I ragged on how bad Disney got it wrong.  Well okay the Disney version didn't get everything wrong.  They actually highlighted one of the many themes in the story very well. the opening song of the Disney version asks the question what makes a monster and what makes a man, and that is what I want to talk about today.

In the hunchback of Notre-dame we have three central male characters; Claude Frollo, Phebus, and Quasimodo. Each of them has in them qualities of humanness and monster-ness. the question is who is the monster and who is the man? We will look at this according to what they look like and how they treat Esmeralda, the gypsy girl.

Claude Frollo is a man of some importance.  He is a high ranking official of Notre-Dame and has always shown great promise.  He has (at least as far as he is concerned) separated him from sin and worldliness.  Yet he peruses the ability to have power over the world, and not natural power.  Religion for him is a public office; a means to get more power int he end.  And when it comes to the gypsy girl Esmeralda she becomes a different object of his desire.  A desire so powerful that he will let no one else have her, and will let her die for crimes she didn't commit if she will not be his. He is a monster in the shape of a man.

Phebus is hansom, Phebus is strong, Phebus is everything any women could ever want in a man.  Rich, brave,  he walks and every girl on the corner swoons.  That boy has Charisma.  And he knows it.  He knows he can talk any girl into anything he wants.  What he wants is a night with the gypsy girl, Esmeralda.  Just one night, she is a common gypsy after all, he has a reputation to protect, and that means he can't just be with any girl.  In the end she is no more then a toy for him to play with today and throw away tomorrow.  He is a monster in the shape of a man.

Then there is Quasimodo.  he is ugly, deformed, deaf, mute, and only has one eye that can be used.  people are cruel to him and he is cruel back.  He is seen following his master through the cathedral and people think 'he is a daemon that will one day take Frollo's soul to hell.' but then on the pillory in the midst of people mocking him and beating him, a young gypsy girl offers him kindness.  That kindness changed him and he never forgot it.  in repayment for this kindness he rescues her from the crowd.  He stands guard over her the door to her little room in the cathedral.  the narrator tells us that Quasimodo loves Esmeralda.  Yet he tells her that he know he is ugly.  He says to her, "The owl never goes into the nest of the lark." She is his sunshine, but he knows she will not really be his.  He is a man in the shape of a monster.

Buffy Villains

This month on Monster Madness I'd like to take a moment and talk about the villains from one of my favorite shows, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Just two which I think embody most of what makes the Horror Genre different for the other subcategories of Fantasy (which I will define as any story in which it would be conceivable to have a wizard of some kind show up.)
To Start with Angelus.

He embodies the first thing that makes horror scary.  That which is going to kill you is that which you love.  this is the evil of vampires, not that they are blood sucking fiends but because generally their first victims are their family and Friends.  At least that is what Angelus did first. after being created form the body of a harmless drunk called Liam, Angelus went home, there was no reason for Liam's little sister to not welcome inside a beloved brother. She loved and trusted him, and he murdered her with the rest of their family. that of course is all back story. long and short he got cursed with a soul and changed from Angelus to Angel.

Angel was Buffy's boyfriend, the person that she could always turn to for help and protection.  when he becomes Angelus again he is able to hurt her in ways that no other villain ever can.  Buffy loves Angel, and angel loves Buffy; she shouldn't have to be afraid of him. He will kill her and everyone she cares about if she doesn't destroy him first.

The second villain or rather villains I want to look at are The Gentlemen from Hush.

These monsters are not scary because they are something we shouldn't be afraid of, rather because they make their victim helpless. even the weakest person has the defense of screaming for help.  But when The Gentlemen come to town you can't even shout; Can't even Cry the Gentlemen are coming by.

they take everyone's ability to speak away.  the entire city of Sunnydale is mute and helpless. Mostly because one human scream and the gentlemen's heads would explode.  which is a problem when they need to take seven hearts cut from a living person.  so their victims die screaming but they won't be heard. 

Can't even Shout, Can't even Cry

The Gentlemen are coming by

Looking in windows, knocking on doors

They need to take seven and they might take yours

Can't call to mom, can't say a word

Your' gonna die screaming by your won't be heard

So our lesson today.  a good horror villain should do two things, come in the appearance of something harmless and make their victim's helpless.

Simple women's day book 5

For Today: April 19 2011

You can find more day books at Simple woman's daybook

Outside my window: too many people

I am Thinking: of how much I hate my job.

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I am Thankful For: A husband who is an amazing man of God.

From the Kitchen: Last night we had some chicken concoction Greg came up with

I am wearing: My new jeans and a white tank top

I am Creating: Knitting Christmas presents, Painting an Icon (the Cross of San Damiano) Writing act one of Ashes and Snowflakes... still

I am Going:  To a yarn shop and then to Improv practice. 

I am Reading: There are several things, but i am most excited about a new book I got called Knits men want: the 10 rules every women should know before knitting for a man.  Plus the only 10 patterns she'll ever need. I love it already. 

I am Hoping: To escape from my horrible funk

 

I am Hearing: Ari conditioning

Around the House: Blankets, knitting supplies, Writing supplies

A Picture I want to share: My own little corner: 

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: Disney Lied

Okay we all know that Disney softens the stories it tells for little ears, but the tweaks made on Hunchback go beyond omitting bloody feet, red hot dance shoes, or birds plucking out people's eyes.  Now some of them were fine and made me laugh, others mad me made, and others just caught me completely by surprise.

Lie 1: Claude Frollo is a bigoted Religious Judge who is out to condemn and kill all Gypsy. 
Truth: Claude Frollo is a high ranking priest of Notre Dame.  he has no judicial or political power in Paris.at all. He also as no real interested in purisituting gypsies to expel witchcraft.  rather he is trying to learn their secrets so he can become an Alchemist.


Lie 2: Claude Frollo took Quasimodo in as penitence for his crime of murder on the steps of Notre Dame. 
Truth: Frollo adopted Quasimodo out of pity.  the deformed child was left on the foundling bench and he knew that no one would take in the child so he took in the child.

Lie 3: Quasimodo's mother died protecting him.  
Truth: Quasimodo's mother left him in exchange for the beautiful baby girl she kidnapped.

Lie 4: Gypsies are misunderstood people or are oppressed because they are different. 
Truth: Victor Hugo portrays the gypsies as evil dregs of the society.  they steal beautiful children and leave deformed creatures in their place. it is commonly believed by the common people that the gypsies cannibalize babies as part of their dark rituals.

Lie 5: Esmeralda is a spit fire Gypsy who speaks out against the injustices done against her people no matter what anyone might do to her. 
Truth: Esmeralda is a beautiful young girl who dances bare foot for coins with her goat.  she dreams that one day she will be reunited with her mother by the power of an embroidered baby shoe she wares hidden in her necklace.  she is frightened of her two enemies, Frollo and the Nun of the Rat Hole.

Lie 6: Esmeralda can not stand to stay in the Cathedral. 
Truth: Esmeralda is quite happy to stay at the cathedral.  she is given a nice room and Quasimodo stands guard over her at all times. there is nothing about her that would say she had any real desire to leave.

Lie 7: Phoebus loves Esmeralda. 
Truth: Poebus cares nothing for Esmeralda, other then the fact that she has a pretty face and is naive enough that he can take advantage of her.

Lie 8: Peobus is a valiant knight in shining armor. 
Truth: Pheobus is a stellar example of a rich play boy.

Lie 9: Phoebus is wounded for defining Frollo's orders to burn down a house with the farmers still in side. 
Truth: Phoebus is stabbed by Frollo for attempting to have sex with Esmeralda.  Because Claude Frollo is obsessed with Esmeralda and can not stand the thought that some other man might be with her.   Of course I wonder at Phoebus' intelligence when he decided to let the strange caped man (Frollo in disguise) hide in the closet of the room where he planned to de-flower the little gypsy girl.

Lie 10: Quasimodo saves Esmeralda at the last minuet. 
Truth: He only is able to save her the first time.  when the king's men march on Notre Dame Quasimodo unknowingly thinks they are there to save her and leads them to her.  however she does escape only to be found latter and, well...

Lie 11: Everyone lives Happily Ever After.
Truth: this story is a tragedy.  Esmeralda is captured and hung in a graphic and tragic way, Claude Frollo is pushed off the heights of Notre Dame by Quasimodo.  Phoebus is married (which is a kind of death for that sort of man,) and Quasimodo's remains are found clinging to Esmeralda's at the very end of the book. Everyone dies.

So now that you know what Disney lied about do you still want to read the book? I hope so because it really is a good book.

Thankful Thursday 5-5

1. That Improv is almost over! we perform this weekend, and i am a little worried cause well I'm not funny.
2. that very soon we will begin our crazy travels for summer!
3. time spent with lisa

Give thanks to the LORD; His love endures forever

Simple women's day book 4

For Today: April 25 2011

You can find more day books at Simple woman's daybook

Outside my window: Green, spring has sprung

I am Thinking: that I don't like my job very much but i don't really know what to do about it, a new story that is dancing in my head, and how to stay warm under the electric blanket without damaging my lap top while it is on my lap. 

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I am Thankful For: Friends, and relatives

From the Kitchen: Greg is cooking green curry and beef. 

I am wearing: My blue PINK sweats and a white tank, and my house coat. 

I am Creating: a new story with no name, about a strange girl named Drucilia 

I am Going:  no where special tonight but latter this week the improv group i am in is performing so it looks to be a busy week. 

I am Reading: The Simarillian, Soul Music by Terry Pratchett and Hamlet

I am Hoping: That it will not rain tonight or  tomorrow

 

I am Hearing: The sounds of cars mostly

Around the House: Stuff.

One of My Favorite Things: Electric blankets!

A Picture I felt like Sharing: Easter Bread!

Vehicle fail

This story actually happened a couple of weeks ago but I am just now getting around to writing it down.
So I was driving back to work from my lunch break and suddenly I reolized that my car was slowing down.  and I yelled, "oh no, no no no!" because i had been driving on all but empty and I had thought i could wait till coming home from work that day.  but no i did not have enough gas to get back to work.

Well crap I thought what am I going to do? because well Greg was at work and so was Lisa.  I also needed to call my boss to let her know that I was going to be running late, but I didn't have the number for work. the problem is that I don't have a fancy smancy phone that does anything more then text and call people.  Then I remembered, I have a friend who had recently lost his job, he's not at work.  So I called Greg to get the number for work then called my friend to come and rescue me.  And it all ended good; grant it I had to go back home before I went back to work because I got gas all over my pants. You see I couldn't just be the girl and let my friend put the gas from the gas can into my car, on no I had to do it myself.  \

But wait there is a part two! Yes see not only did I run out of gas on a Wednesday but the following Sunday I locked my self out of my car while it was still running! Yes indeed; and this little venture made it so Greg and I ended up not being able to have lunch with our friends after church.  What can I say that week i was completely filled with Vehicle Fail!