On passing deforesting construction on the way to school

No more as merry shall be our young men
In the coming generations
As those of olden time forest and fen,
For instead of grand, adventurous play
They learn skills and calculations,
Thus painting their lives drab, dutiful gray.

School + bike = fun

Brief Update, on the rare chance that I haven't driven off my dear readership from blog neglect:

• back in school - Zoology, Drug Education, General Chemistry 1 (again), and History of Civilization 1
• haven't moved back in to grandma's yet - lots of schoolwork!
• been biking more - bus from school to work, bike from work to home
• first Zoology test this Tuesday!

That's all for now, but I hope to manage a true update soon. Love y'all!

beautimus

I love reading, but I haven't been good about actually picking up a book I've been interested in. Margaret Feinberg is an author whose work I've been wanting to read for a while and I finally got the chance thanks to a friend (Elizabeth!!) letting me borrow her copy of the organic God. The first chapter was read a few weeks ago, but last Monday and Tuesday when my aunt and I road-tripped to pick my littlest sister up I read through to the fourth or fifth chapter. This book is wonderful. She is an engaging writer sharing some of the aspects of God's character as found in the scriptures and relating some of the ways He has worked in her life. My brief critique doesn't begin to do it justice - I had as many "haha" moments as I did "aha" moments.

In one chapter she talks of God's beauty. The way she wrote it, that we often have a bottom-up view of beauty instead of a top-down view, has been stewing in my brain somewhat. We often look at the beauty in the people or things around us, nature, art, architecture, and appreciate the beauty found there. However we don't often look at the author of that beauty, the One who infused the lovliness found in the people and things around us. And our perception of beauty is often a bit lopsided and skewed, focusing very much on physical beauty, aesthetic appeal, and symmetry to some degree. I've also been watching some of the Dove Self-esteem & True beauty videos and just mulling over this idea of beauty - that the beauty and value to be found in a person is a reflection of the value of their Creator, the One who loves them and calls them beautiful. I don't think I'm smart enough to put it in my own words and I don't want to plagiarize either. Thankfully, as Derek Webb says, the truth is public domain:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.- Ecclesiastes 3:11

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.-Psalm 27:4

And the following is not scripture but a poem that is often cited as Audrey Hepburn's favorite, one that she lived by. I found it posted on the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty forums:

Time Tested Beauty Tips

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody. Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

--Sam Levenson

What is beauty to you?

Graphic content

This forlorn blog has been left untended too long. I've since updated account information, but haven't taken the time to post a real entry. This attempt at a post may not be a remedy to this slight internet injustice, but it will have to make due for now.

FACTS:

• I'm working over the summer.
• Fall semester looming ever nearer while I have yet to visit the academic advisor.
• My advisor will be receiving an email from me within the week.
• I've been bicycling to and from work at least once a week. Fun times! Adventure stories to come soon!

This image is some of the work that I did for our mom's birthday. I took some pictures of the sibs and I that I had on the computer, as well as lifting one from sissy's DeviantArt page, and then looked up "mother" in different languages with the help of Babelfish. From there I used the graphic editor that sissy downloaded onto my computer for me: GIMP.

I have limited previous experience from way back with an old version of PhotoShop and leave most of the cool photo manipulation and graphics rendering to my sis and bro, but it's been fun watching what sis can do, so I figured I would take a stab at it. And the software is a free download. The end product turned out pretty well and was printed on iron-on transfer paper, then ironed onto a cotton purse from Hobby Lobby. Ironed on the other side of the purse was a poem that I found which reminded me of our mom. She taught us to look at things differently, to look for a different perspective on things.

THE LOCKET

It was tarnished and old with a broken clasp.
I tossed it into the drawer.
Why did my mother give it to me,
and what would I want it for?
She said I liked it long ago
when it was shiny and new.
But why she thought I'd like it now,
I really wished I knew.
The years passed by, and my little girl
was going through my things,
slipping bracelets on her arm
and trying on my rings.
"What's this?" I heard my daughter ask
as she held it for me to see.
"Why, it's just an old locket," I replied,
"that your grandma gave to me."
"Oh, Mommy, isn't it beautiful? It's shaped just like a book
with pages you can turn inside and pictures...
Oh, look, Mommy, look."
I saw it then through a child's new eyes,
what I should have seen from the start,
the reason my mother treasured it so
and wore it close to her heart.
Now when I'm tempted to look at the surface,
discounting what's broken or old,
I think of the locket all tarnished outside
with an inside of purest gold.
~~ Author Unknown ~~

It kind of reminds me of the way God sees things too. He doesn't look at the outside, but looks to the inner parts of us, even the parts we don't really like or don't want others to see. God's beauty is on display everywhere. His majesty openly abounds to be seen if we'll let Him open our eyes.