Starry Night

Last year I was talking to a friend about paintings...and, of course, the question of what our favourite paintings were. Her absolute favourite is "Starry Night"...maybe considered cliche, but there's a reason it's so popular. She then went on to describe why it was so special to her...and man, after that discourse, Starry Night is now one of my favourites too. I wrote what she said down in a notebook..and I just came across it again tonight (which is why I'm posting this). I didn't edit her words at all...just the format. It's almost like a poem. Beautiful.

(The conversation then turned towards the symbolism of stars, which actually inspired a poem I wrote last spring about the bright lights.)

Here's what she ssaid about Starry Night:
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God just feels so present
And it feels so safe
Like no one can hurt you.
And time stands still.
It's magical.

That's how the world should be.
You look at the painting and you see peace,
You feel safe,
Like God is using the great big lights
In the heavens to watch over us.
You know that it's not a perfect town,
But somehow the night falls and things
Are made right.

This is how we could be,
Should be.
Look at all the houses, how close they are,
And yet it does not look cramped.
They're living in harmony.

Even though there are still so many buildings,
The sky is all you can look at.
No matter where or when,
You can count on it to show God's presennce
In a world too busy for Him.

The way the sky rolls into one star after another,
It's like life.
People come and go,
And they all make up a part.

Eagles Tribute

The Eagles are an all around amazing band. The music ranges from classic rock to ballad... with all good lyrics. Now, I know that they're far from being Christian, but some of their songs demonstrate how even those who don't know God realize that there's something more..something that they're missing. Like, in Philosophy yesterday, an agnostic was responding to a question, and he noted that it's odd how no matter what we talk about in class, it all comes back to the question of God.
Some of the Eagles' songs hit the nail on the head, so to speak, about some of the bigger problems with people (Christians and non-Christians alike) in America.
Two examples are "Get Over It", and "Frail Grasp on the Big Picture".

P.S. Note, the part in "Big Picture" about "praying to our Lord" is meant to be sarcastic... it reflects the attitude that a good majority of Americans have towards God.
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(Get Over It)

I turn on the tube and what do I see
A whole lotta people cryin' "Don't blame me"
They point their crooked little
fingers at everybody else
Spend all their time feelin' sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your momma's too thin; your daddy's too fat

Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin' and cryin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it

You say you haven't been the same since
you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, Old Billy was right
Let's kill all the lawyers, kill 'em tonight
You don't want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn't owe you a thing

[ Find more Lyrics on www.mp3lyrics.org/d7e ]
Get over it
Get over it
If you don't want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, Get over it

It's like going to confession
every time I hear you speak
You're makin' the most of your losin' streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak

You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I'd like to find your inner child
and kick its little ass

Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it

Get over it
Get over it
It's gotta stop sometime, so why don't you quit
Get over it, get over it

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("Frail Grasp on the Big Picture")

Well ain't it a shame 'bout our short little memory
We never seem to learn the lessons of history
We keep making the same mistakes - over and over and over and over again
And then we wonder why we're in the shape we're in

Good ol' boys down at the bar
Peanuts and politics
They think they know it all
They don't know much of nothin'
Even if one of 'em was to read a newspaper, cover to cover
That ain't what's going on
Journalism dead and gone

Frail grasp on the big picture
Light fading and the fog is getting thicker
Frail grasp on the big picture
Dark ages

And you, my love-drunk friend
All that red wine and candlelight
Soulful conversations that go on until the dawn
How many times can you tell your story
How many hangovers can you endure - just to get some snogging done
You're living in a hormone dream
You don't have the slightest notion what long-term love is all about
All your romantic liaisons don't deal with eternal questions like:
"Who left the cap off the freakin' toothpaste?" "Whose turn to take the garbage out?"

Frail grasp on the big picture
You keep on rubbing that, you're gonna get a blister
Frail grasp on the big picture
I've seen it all before

And we pray to our lord, who we know is American
He reigns from on high
He speaks to us through middlemen
And he shepherds his flock
We sing out and praise his name
He supports us in war
He presides over football games
And the right will prevail
All our troubles will be resolved
We hold faith above all
Unless there's money or sex involved

Frail grasp on the big picture
Nobody's calling them for roughing up the kicker
It's a frail grasp on the big picture
Heaven help us

Frail grasp on the big picture
All waiting for that miracle elixir
Frail grasp on the big picture
I don't wonder anymore

Frail grasp on the big picture
You brought her here, so go ahead and kiss her
It's a frail grasp on the big picture

Clouds...sonnets...

Some consider it droll to talk about the weather. But come on, people, really. It rains, it snows, it's sunny, it's foggy, it's cloudy, it's partially cloudy, it's icy, it's cold, it's hot, it's humid, it hails, it sleet's... there *so* much variation. :) That said, the weather in the past week has been amazing. It's ranged everywhere from pouring rain to frigid blue skies. ^^ That was pretty much sumarized when I drove up to Santa Maria on Wednesday. Between 10 AM and 3 PM, as I drove, it changed from sunny to rainy and back to sunny again at least three times.
Today I drove near sunset, too, and the clouds looked absolutely fantabulous. I took pictures...hopefully I'll find them soon and get them up here.

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Speaking of weather, here's Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 (my favourite sonnet):

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

P.S.

I forgot to include another top photo from 2008!

Last spring I went camping at Kern River with some buddies. Apparently when the river's higher, you get some pretty high class rapids. The river was down a bit, but there was still quite a bit of rough areas. We decided to get a two-man raft and try it out. It worked out really great. =) Props to Ryon for catching the photo.

"What good fortune for those in power that people do not think."

My psychology professor put that on the board last week. Can you guess who said it?
No?
Adolf Hitler.

In the way of updates, I just returned last night from a "Answers to Darwin" conference down in Santa Ana. It was *so* good. There is so much in this universe that points to not only an intelligent designer, but a loving God! One thing I wanted to share was this clip from Ben Stein's "Expelled". Richard Dawkins basically runs in circles.



On another note, I want to recommend a musical to you. I worked on it a couple years ago, and it absolutely hilarious, with amazing music to boot. Don't be put off by the name: "Urinetown". The premise is that there is no longer enough water on earth to go around. Therefore, a monopolizing corporation (Urine Good Co.) is formed to ration the water supply (in public restrooms). No one is allowed to have a private bathroom, and you *have* to use the public ones. Here's the catch: It costs money. Ultimately one citizen, Bobby Strong, initiates a rebellion against Urine Good Co. ...as for the rest, well, you'll just have to find a theatre that's putting it on and go see it for yourself. :) Here's a clip from the Tony awards...it's probably the best number from the entire show. The first part is actually the opening lines of the play... the actual number is from later on. They just chose the best part for the Tony. =P