Bonfire

On Sunday night, Mount Berry Church hosted a bonfire in the Clara Bowl.  The event was highlighted with singing, a sermon, s'mores and hot chocolate.  Their was a good student turn out for the bonfire, and even after the bonfire collapsed, a crowd of students pushed in together as they sang next to the fading embers.

The message was on the nature of the Holy Spirit.  A special offering was taken up to help fund one student's voyage on a ship delivering educational and devotional books to countries overseas.

Students by the fire

Hot chocolate

The bonfire at its high point

High Museum

On Saturday night, Scott and I went up to the High for college night.  Somehow, I ended out driving the whole way up, so that was interesting.  Atlanta traffic scares the bejeebies out of me.  Being us, we of course got lost for a while, which led to the quote of the night which involved bus lanes:

"You're not a bus! You're not a bus either! You're not a bus, you're a Democrat!"

In my defense, the guy did have an Obama/ Change bumper sticker on the back of his car.  *sigh*  I really shouldn't be so nit picky about people obeying lane laws in downtown Atlanta while in traffic, yet... I dunno.  What was I talking about?  Oh, right, the High!

The High was gorgeous, as usual, and I got to giggle over Scott's fascination with weapons, then Scott got to giggle over my fascination with European artists.  It was wonderful.  Between the Louvre exhibit and the terra cotta warriors, its a miracle that we ever left.  It was late and cold though, and we were both exhausted, so we wondered out about 5 min before the museum closed.  We still had a long drive after all.

Inkdeath Review

You may recognize the name Inkheart from the commercials that has been playing for the movie that will be in theaters soon.  The movie looks like it might be good but, as always, not as good as the book.  In honor of the upcoming movie release, I'd like to write a review on Inkdeath.  Inkdeath is the third part of the Inkheart trilogy.  

Inkdeath is a wonderful end to a great series.  This book is targeted towards children but is a great read for readers of all ages.  The series is custom fit for people who love to read, and this book is no exception to that fitting.  

While the first two books centered primarily on Meggie, the bookbinder's daughter, the final book shifts its gaze to a view of the entire cast's intricacies.  From the Arabian boy, Farid, to everyone's favorite fire-eater, Dustfinger, all of the major supporting character's get their turn in the spotlight.  

This higher level of character development is both rewarding and frustrating for the reader.  While it is nice to get to peak inside the heads of a few more characters, after two books it is kind of saddening when one finds that he misses the former central character.  

Despite this switch, Funke does a good job of wrapping up a lot of loose ends and creating enough new loose ends to make the story ring true.  Not an easy feat for a story where giants and fairies roam.  Overall, I give Inkdeath a 4 out of 5.  

Now I'm just hoping that the movies will be able to reach even a fraction of the series' potential.  I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers when I make my way over to the silver screen.  

Rocky Horror Picture Show

On Friday night I took my boyfriend to see Rocky Horror Picture Show in a little theatre in Atlanta.  The show was great, and my boyfriend was a Rocky Horror virgin until that night, so I got to watch more then just Brad and Janet's reactions to the craziness.  ;)  Ha ha.  

The show was great to such a point that it almost overshadowed the clear view of Tim Curry in a corset.  Almost.  Of course the crowd was the best part though.  The small theatre was filled with regulars who seemed to know as much about the film as the acting group that proudly wondered around in their corsets and short skirts joking with the audience.  

Both my boyfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  Who knows?  Maybe we'll even go back.  It may be a while before we go again though, the two hour drive at 3 am was killer.

First Day Back!

Today was my first day back in class!  Yeah!

Today was lots of fun.  I had four communication classes. :)  The things that I am most excited about this semester are learning about photojournalism and creating a web site all by myself. (Okay, so there is a computer program that will help, but I should be able to make one with out other people after this class.)  Maybe at the end of the semester, I can apply some of what I learn to this blog to make it more original.  Maybe not.  It all depends on what exactly I end out learning both in and out of class.

The bad news is the professor who teaches the course I want to audit seems to be really dragging his feet on the idea.  I just told him that I'd show up for the first class then if it works out then great, if not then... well, I should be able to hide out in the air vents without too much trouble.  Ha ha.  I really do want to listen in on that course though.  My schedule might not do well with the extra 3 hrs. though, so ce la vie.  

The best part of being back is the people though.  It is easy to forget how the friends here have already become a second family to me.  Though, I don't really want to think about how any of my friends would be related to me... They are both older and younger, more and less mature, more and less knowledgeable, cynical and overly trusting...  They are part of my generation.  They are part of that group that remembers the tragedies that occurred while we were still in our school days: Columbine, 9/11, Virginia Tech.  They remember the good things too though: watching Power Rangers and Captain Planet, digging prizes out of cereal boxes, stomping around in light-up shoes.  Older generations view these experiences from a distance, while the newer generations look off in the direction of new things and new experiences that are just now beginning to unravel before our eyes.  But what we knew in our youth has shaped us.  It has helped make us who we are, for better or worse.

Either way, back to what I was going to say...

Right now I'm trying to enact my New Year's Resolutions with my return to college.  The structured schedule seems to help keep me on track better.  I've been reading a lot, checking out ways to mellow out and this evening I exercised with two friends.  One, who is on a post-husband-deployment plan, is aiming to shape up her legs; the other, who is a determined chic who got the bum end of the metabolic-stick, wants to be able to fit into a size smaller in dresses by the time spring formal rolls around.  Both are good goals.  I just want to be able to run more, longer and harder.  Okay, maybe I want a bit out of this.  I can be very competitive with myself sometimes.  At least this competitiveness bodes well for my goals for the year.

New Year's Resolutions

2009 began on Thursday with fireworks, yet some things don't change.  Like my work schedule.  Today is my off day though, so I figured that I would go ahead and write a bit about my New Year's Resolutions despite the fact that I'm coming in a bit late...

1. In 2009 I will run 8x a month (minimum).  
2. In 2009 I will fill up my portfolio binder.
3. In 2009 I will get at least a B in all of my classes.
4. In 2009 I will read 25 books.
5. In 2009 I will learn how to relax.

There are one or two others, but that is the basic jest of it.  Now, what I need is an action plan, so that I can actually get these things done instead of throwing them back into the pile of unmet resolutions.

So, here is my action plan:

Resolution 1:  Run 8x a month

    I will schedule runs on days that aren't too busy then will make myself actually go out and do it.  Because they are scheduled, I can't procrastinate and put off running until later.  I will reward myself at the end of every month that I accomplish this goal by letting myself buy a new book and read the first chapter or so over coffee.

Resolution 2:  Fill my portfolio

    I will start writing for the campus paper, and ask the local paper if it needs a free-lance person to cover a few events.  I will also put some serious effort into getting an internship with my hometown's paper this summer.

Resolution 3:  Get B's or higher

  Tough one... Read the books?  Study?  Pay attention in class?  Don't panic?  I'm still working on this one...

Resolution 4:  Read 25 books

    25 books in a year means roughly two books a month.  That sounds easy, at least until one considers that at the same time there will be a number of pages that need to be read for classes too.  I guess the big thing is to make sure that I'm done reading 15 books by the end of July.

Resolution 5: Relax

    I'm trying to figure out where a good place would be to just chill sans distractions.  I think that would help a lot... but where is there to go?  I keep thinking in my car, but that seems somehow ill advised.  

So, here I go, off into the wild blue yonder.  Will I succeed?  Will I fail?  I guess, as Jimmy Buffet put it, only time will tell.