Instruments Singing

Ok, I have respect for this story.  At first I was apprehensive, but then towards the end, it wasn’t so bad.  I will jump to one place, simply because I laughed, along with Alexis when we read it.  The part with the street evangelists was absolutely hilarious.  “Not a soul under the sound of their voices was hearing this song for the first time, not one of them had been rescued” really rang true to me.  It makes me think about not only how street ministry can be ineffective, but also how ministry in general can be ineffective.  The part about the tambourine was what caused both me and Alexis to laugh.  It is so true and funny, I am a visual person and I can totally see that happening.  I can see these three nuns and the father of the church out in the worst part of New York trying to win hearts for God and raise money for the church.  I am not at all undermining street ministry but I do find it funny the opinion of one of the “lost souls” that the group it trying to save. 

In the end, the last scene in the club was something that I could connect with it.  I played the violin for five years.  Any musician can truly bring his instrument to life.  A violin is nothing unless it is in the hands of a musician.  A Stradivarius violin is quite possibly one of the greatest violins in the world.  In the hands of a student, a Strat is just another violin. In the hands of a violinist that can use the proper vibrato and bow strokes, a great violin can be “danced with.”  A true virtuoso, on the other hand, can literally breathe life into the instrument.  A warm tone and beautiful song pour out of the instrument and can bring tears to the listener’s eyes.  I truly could feel how the conversation between the performers and their instruments progressed and developed.  I liked this one; I could actually understand it and feel the story in the end.  This story was a well written story for sure.

painting

here is my picture that i painted from Joel.  it represents the grain, wine, and oil mentioned in the book.

Graves and Greiving

"I went to the Lakeview, Roselawn and Tiger Flowers cemetery complex for this fieldtrip, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes."

I must say after reading the part in chapter 2 with the man and going to the cemetery to visit his “mum,” part of me says to let it go. But then I sit back and realize that it isn’t really possible to ever let them go completely.  Every day is a struggle when you miss someone that you love.  Whether it is the death of a person or death of a relationship, loosing someone is very hard and difficult.  I have never really had to deal with much death fortunately.  I have all four grandparents left still and for that I am thankful.  I can definitely see how a man who loses his mother, visited his mother’s grave so that he can still have some form of a connection with her.  Another reason why I personally would groom and upkeep a loved one’s grave, especially someone I was especially close too, would be in a form of respect.  So that others who were there at the cemetery would see how great of a person was buried there that someone cared enough to take care of the area around the grave.  I struggle with cemeteries, especially when it is the grave of a loved one.  My great grandparents are buried up in Washington and whenever we are up in the area we go to the local store and get some flowers for them; it is never anything extravagant, but with a place filled with death, like a cemetery, life as little as flowers helps brighten up the area.  I didn’t know my great grandfather very well because he died when I was very young, and even though I did not know him very well it still yanks at my heart strings when I think about my loved one being buried there.  And I am not even going to start about how I feel about my great grandmother’s grave.  I couldn’t get over it for years after her death.  I prayed for weeks that winter to be able to see snow. And then she passed away on January 7^th I think.  The funeral was to be held in Idaho so my family flew up north.  It started snowing within 30 min of our plane landing.  It snowed the entire time we were up there and stopped the day we left.  When pondering the snow later I felt as though God said “well you got your wish.”  It took me years to get over it and I still struggle.   When we left the cemetery, Alexis asked me how I would be able to handle it when I lose my immediate family.  I will be flat out honest I get very sad and depressed very easily.  I watched the Pixar movie, UP, one night with my family.  I cried my eyes out and to this day I still can’t watch it.  Why? You ask. Because from the first scene all I could think about was losing Alexis.  It may be immature or whatever but that is all I could think about.  When you love somebody more than anything, like that man loved his mom; you will do anything to keep a connection with them.  There is one thing that I fear in life more than anything, and that is losing Alexis.  I had trouble at the cemetery. I felt as though I was not able to truly get anything out of it, for one it was not kept up at all and I did not know anyone that was buried there. If I knew someone there I could go and mourn or reflect on their life.  We came reverent and left reverent but I had some trouble reflecting and reacting upon the cemetery.   

Throw me a Zynax

DISCLAIMER: I am not intentionally negative, I probably should have said this in the beginning on my first post but I did not think it to be an issue, and I did not think that people would assume that I was, that was my fault.  I just naturally see the bad. 

                Now that we have gotten that out of the way, Let us begin unpacking this sad and depressing story.   As I have stated before, I feel as though this story was very depressing.  I know that you have questioned me and said that not everything in life is happy and positive, but I must say to you that not everything in life is sad, negative, depressing, and otherwise upsetting.  You must be able to see it from my perspective; our readings have a severe negative twist.  I am going to show the negativity in our past stories because that is how they are all intertwined.  There was the story about the two couples having different opinions about love, the example with Terri and her abuse being “love.” Your essay about darkness (I did feel as though it was written very well and did like it); there is also the story about Sanjeev and his wife, well this one was probably the most positive (even though he wanted to lock her in the attic but that was just funny).  Joel, although it had some (namely one) positivity, was negative with drought.  I am sorry, but this one takes the cake. This is the most depressing literature that I have ever read.  I feel like there is nothing else that I can write about because of all the sadness. 

Please Professor Corrigan, THROW ME A BONE.  All I ask for is a chance.  Give us something to read that is not LOADED with sadness.  I understand that life not happy, in fact it rarely is.  BUT, and I stress the word “BUT,” there are a few times in life that are positive.  For some it is shooting, others finding a good book to read, but everyone has a time that is positive and happy.  Why are we not able to read about that?  I look forward to the future and the positivity that you will have us reading. Thank you

Now… Time for a Zynex.

Joel and his images

There are a few images that I did find slightly striking.  All in all I feel like the beginning of the book is slightly depressing BUT not all of it is depressing. 

The first image that I see is that of locusts and bugs destroying all that God’s people have.  The elders talk about having never seen anything like it.  All the oil is gone. The wine, it too is no more.  All the people are sad and morn.  Joel, told the drunkards to awake and weep.  Even the drunks are sad because of the famine and drought. In my opinion it is because they finally were sobered up because of the lack of wine. (Joking) 

One other image that is just after that is that of Joel calling God’s people into a fast, that shouldn’t be too hard. Now all they have to do is focus on God more, seeing as how they have no food.  An image of fire burning up everything ensues.  The pastures, the wilderness, even the vineyards are decimated from the flames.  There was talk about all the herds of the field wandering aimlessly due to the fact that all the pastures were gone.  “How the beasts groan!” what a terrible image indeed

Finally an image of hope.  Joel talks about an image of God sending fresh grains and oils.  He says that the people will be satisfied with them in full with them.  He also talked about how God would send all the enemy armies away.  He was going to send the north army into what is basically the desert, and other armies into the seas.  The pastures would be turned green and all hope would not be lost.  Joel calls all the different types of locusts his army. He said that he would make up for the years that the army ravaged the land. 

The lord will take care of his people and that is for sure.

Beauty?

I was not surprised when the book started out in a very negative and sad thought process.  I also was surprised when there were no verses.  I understand that the original Bible did not have verses or chapters, but why go through and Edit the Bible? Alexis read the KJV the second time through and I followed through with the printed out, edited version.  There was one part that talked about a nation invading his land.  The nation was described as “Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness.” The KJV said something along the lines of teeth of a lion and cheeks of a great lion.  How much distortion does this translation have?  I do not think that any one version of the Bible is perfectly translated but I do not know how true this one really is.

As for lines that “sound beautiful,” I do not really know how war can seem beautiful.  The beginning is literally entitled “The Devastation of Locusts.” Devastation, I am not sure but I do not think that famine is beautiful. Nor do I think that watching all the crops that you have labored over for months get eaten up and ruined because of some bugs.  That would be very disheartening, not “beautiful.”  The second title, “Starvation and Drought,” gives me a really happy feeling and vibe as well.  Droughts are not a good thing, without water we would all die.  We can last a few days without food, but without water we will be dead in just a few days.  So unless seeing thousands upon thousands of dead, dehydrated, and decaying corpses is beautiful, there is still nothing good and “beautiful.”  Only until I read about “The land is like the garden of Eden before them” so I see anything truly “beautiful.”  The only reason why I see the garden as truly beautiful is because man has not scared that area.  God designed Eden and I feel as though it truly is the most beautiful on this planet.  (When I say Eden, I mean any nature that has not been touched by man in any way, shape, or form.) 

There is one more quote that I will leave you with that really ends it one a good note.  “And its ^(AV) stench will arise and its foul smell will come up.” O what a “beautiful” sight.

Reason... can you hear me now???

Not going to lie, these are the two shortest stories I think that I have ever read.  And when I say short; I not only mean short in length; but also, short in content.  I legitimately try to get something out of these stories.  I have all semester. This class is probably the class that I try hardest in due to the fact that it is my weakest subject and the fact it I know that I am not the Professor’s favorite student.  I know that I probably came off a bit harsh on the first day of class when I said that I did not like reading, or literature, but I want to enjoy this class and I have gone into it with an open mind.  My lack of enjoying literature is due mostly to the literature that I had in high school; however, these two stories I feel have given me nothing, even less than the stories in high school.

The first one about the lady visiting these people in another country and having dinner at their house was surprising.  From what I could tell there were two visitors, one male and one female, that visited this house in a country.  I am merely speculating when I say that this country was probably somewhere in South or Central America.  The TV was showing an English program, so I am guessing a “Westernized area”, but Spanish commercials, hence the continent guess.  This country was probably a third world country.  The house was protected by broken off bottles in the walls, to slice the knees of the intruder wide open, and bars over the windows, to protect all entry.  With this form of protection, the fact that they had a colonel eating dinner with them, and the fact that they had a gold bell to call their maid, I feel as though they were wealthy. Probably in the government somewhere, due to the fact that they mentioned about how hard the country was getting to govern.  When the colonel walked out with a bag of dried human ears, I was creeped out.  Why would one keep a bag of dried HUMAN ears on hand?  Furthermore why rehydrate them and throw them on the floor? As quickly as this story started, it ended.  All in all I would rather read something that is more applicable in my life than about some random person’s experience in a third world country.

The Showdown in Shadow Canyon

He stood in the entry way of the bank.  “Don’t even think about moving,” he said. 

His visage was cold, hard, and stern.  He was as tall as an old oak and equally as wide. 

“You again,” Blaine the outlaw replied, surprised with who was in the door way. 

You see, Blaine had already escaped Marshal John Buckwheat’s grasp 3 years back.  Blaine’s reputation was not small by any stretch of the imagination.  He was wanted in 13 states, hated by all states. He was caught three times and thanks to his two accomplices, Swifty Smithy and Fast Tony, he was able to escape all three times.  John was the only one to have ever captured Blaine for any extended amount of time and actually survived to tell about it.

 Blaine went for his hog leg and fired off a wild shot.  The Marshal, with his gun seated firmly in his hand by the time the shot is fired, lets two precise shots off.  The first, hits Blaine’s 44. The gun, now useless, is launched out of his hand and onto the floor behind him.  The second shot hit Swifty in the hand.  John knew that a gunman was only as good as his draw and Swifty, who had started going for his gun needed to know that Marshal John was in no mood to deal with hired killers.  Fast tony was yellow clear through.  John figured that and planned on it. Tony, having passed out because of the shooting and oozing blood from Swifty’s hand, was now of no use to Blaine. 

Doc Philips who was in the bank at the time looked at Smithy’s hand to see if he would be okay or if there would be lead poisoning that would ensue. John was a hard man, but he was not heartless.  He allowed the doc to help the outlaw because the outlaw was a person, and he deserved some medical attention.  Last time John tried to take in Blaine and his men, he was almost gunned down.  And he probably should have if it were not for a lucky shot and an angel.

  Blaine and his two gunmen were riding in a small canyon relaxed and enjoying the cool shade that the canyon provided.  John, trailing them because of their recent horse rustling, saw them enter the canyon and knew where the canyon emptied out into, so he dug his spurs into his horse and set for the exit of the canyon.  He checked his peacemakers and both were full.  His ’94, the one that his father gave to him the day he died, was loaded on the way to the other side of the canyon.  Would this finally be the day that he avenged his father’s death?  Blaine shot and killed John’s father 10 years ago next month and John swore to his father that he would watch Blaine die, either by watching him swing on the gallows or by his own lead.  One day Blaine would be dead.  John Buckwheat reached the end of the canyon. Not knowing where the three outlaws were he stayed at the top of the ridge so he could watch the entire opening.  One, two, three; all three men rode calmly and rejuvenated out of the canyon, in a single file line, due to the cool shade.  John, with both peacemakers out, sends a hurricane of bullets in the direction of the outlaws.  The distance was just too far. Not a single shot hit the outlaws. Blaine found where the fire was coming from and set off towards it. There were three outlaws and only one lawman; the odds were not in the favor of the lawman.  With all three of the gunmen barreling towards him, John holsters the .45s and shoulders the ’94; he chambered a round and with one harsh, loud crack he severs one of the reins on Blaine’s horse. With two more Tony falls to the ground with an arm shot and an upper shoulder shot.  There were only 3 shots left.  One went after Smithy, which missed, and the other two went after Blaine.  Blaine’s horse would never see a sunrise again, or the sunset for that matter.  Now out of bullets, John was defenseless; Blaine came up on him running and fired 3 quick shots off, all were aimed at John’s head.  Only one hit; John passed out due to the trauma delivered to his head.  Blaine walks up to the, what appeared to be dead Marshal, kicks him in the foot, and walks back to get Tony and his horse.

  John wakes up 3 days later in the same canyon. Only, there was someone different there.  A girl, one who seemed to be an angel sent from God. John was not an overly religious person, but he did believe there was a God.  In his words, “How can there not be a God, the west is just too beautiful.”  The girl that showed up was a new doctor; one of them feministic women from the east.  She thought that she could come west alone but did not realize how hard it was.  The stopped the bleeding in his head and saved his life.

  When he had gotten feeling better he went out and shot a deer.  He said it was because they needed food, but in his mind he knew that he needed to shoot something.  His patience was wearing thin because of all the feministic rants that she would go on.  He figured that if he didn’t kill a deer, then he might just shoot her to make her shut up.  Three more days passed and they headed into the town that she was to work in. He said his thanks and moved on.

  The thought of Blaine and what he did to his father would not escape John.  Beer did no good to help him forget; when he was asleep he would dream about how he would kill Blaine. 

Back in the bank, John knew that Blaine was done for.  Taking Blaine’s other gun; Marshal John Buckwheat took all three into custody and put them in separate cells.  Two days later the judge showed up in town and there was a trial.  All three were tried and found guilty.  The next sunrise would be Blaine’s last sunrise.  John held the promise he made to his father; John watched his brother, Blaine the outlaw, hang for his life of crime.