I'm beyond words...OK maybe I'm not

I'm going to spend a few minutes on Haiti and the relief efforts there.

I am mortified and humbled by the devastation. My heart aches for the countless number of people who have been injured and killed. Thinking about the newly broken families is enough to make me physically sick.

Applause to the many across America who have donated money in some way to Haiti. It is very encouraging to shop at a store and be asked if I would like to donate by adding on a dollar or more to my current bill. Churches are collecting special offerings and supporting organizations who are there to help. As most of you know, you can even text to donate on your phone. Celebrities and other wealthy corporations and individuals have made substantial donations. Financially America - we have been quick to move and eager to help.

I think on that topic we can all agree.

Let's discuss our Government and Military response. I do not appreciate CNN's negative turn on our response. It angers me when people who have no ties with the Military speak out as if they know. Despite how the Government has decided to send troops, or when the Military are able to get them on the ground our soldiers are still people. They are NOT some robotic tool that we can move and place immediately where we need when needed. This is NOT a movie.

Each soldier sent represents a family back home who says goodbye to their loved one during an already deployment filled life. Some will even leave their families to go help despite facing a deployment later this year. It is not as if our Military has had a lot of free time on their hands.
Snatching up an active, reservist or National Guard unit has consequences that must be weighed. I do not believe for one second that our top Military officials dragged their feet or hindered this process in anyway. Rather that they used caution and prudence while making their plans so as not to go in half-cocked and unable to complete the task.

It is disheartening to think that our news stations are comfortable blasting across the airwaves that they do not believe we are doing enough. Of course it is going to look like that because "enough" is not possible. This is a long term rescue and rebuild not an overnight flash. Long after the media shine fades away our Soldiers, the men and women of this country will still be there helping. The News stations may be the first to arrive but they are also the first to leave. In contrast our military will be there for the duration.

In closing, I guess I should clarify that I have nothing against the media. Much like I am sure they have nothing against the US Soldiers. Yet they still report negatively and here I am merely doing the same. Calling out with my freedom of speech when I see something that doesn't seem right.

I'll shut up now, thanks...

Avatar

Let's see if this gets anyone reading, or thinking, or existing...

I was surprised to still see a line 3o minutes before the movie was even starting! This movie is making a bundle!!!

First review of the movie is a resounding - OK.



Despite the innovative and visually pleasing special effects the storyline itself was thin. Perhaps money would have better been spent making some changes to the script. My humble suggestions:



We ARE human, just so everyone remembers, and as a human I wanted to know just exactly what happened to planet Earth. A short flashback in any one of the key characters could have provided a glimpse into our home that we had to leave behind. This element would have helped me relate to the need to harvest some random black and silver material.



Let's touch on that mysterious rock, unobtanium. We were never told how or why this item was so important. We were told it was worth a lot of money - but without explanation. What made it worth so much? What did it do?



I felt like the references made to medical advances was trite and not important. It was as if we were being pacified. We destroyed the earth but made significant medical advances.... are we to believe the smarter we get the more wasteful we become?

Let's talk about our human infiltration into the tribe. Great - wonderful story line and the part I enjoyed the most. However, tell me then why it was so complicated to go ahead and just ASK them if we could mine the land below them for the element? I mean, they spoke English so where was the barrier there? And continuing on with that line of thinking.... with all of our obvious technical and mechanical advances then why did we have to destroy the tree? What would have been so hard to have tunneled in? Hello - we have been mining here on Earth for years.....oh and doing it without destroying trees.

Politically and artistically I believe a writer can do or say whatever they want. It is their story and I applaud an author that uses their gift to send a message. Whether I agree with that view or not is irrelevant. I'm the one that chooses what book I read and what movie I see, as do all of you. So attacking that part of the movie is not my style.

With regards to the Pope telling people not to go to this movie... that is not his place. He can suggest, he can encourage but ultimately just as God created us with free will it is our choice. If you are catholic and respect the man then your choice is simple. If you are catholic and choose to see the film is it a sin? No. The Pope is NOT the voice of God though God may use him, God also uses people all around in everyday walks of life - the smallest of us sometimes have the most providential words.

My recommendation to those who walk in Christian faith of any kind is to pray about it and decide for yourself. Go into it knowing that it is meant to entertain and with the expectation that there are some Eastern religious ideas flowing throughout. Take it as FICTION.

I should not even open my mouth about the movie's aftermath as it irritates me so.... but I will briefly throw out my opinion. Here is the article link:

www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html

What a travesty. What ignorance. I love that fiction can take us places beyond our wildest imagination but that is all it is. I take offense when they talk about how beautiful their planet was. I think Earth IS beautiful. It doesn't even make any sense to talk about dying to get to their planet unless of course you believe in re-incarnation because the story takes place many many years in the future - not after death. I am saddened by this whole reaction. As I mentioned in a previous blog, we are seekers. These people are seeking and we need to give them the tools to help them see this is a journey to a destination, not the end.

And so, my main complaint are the holes I mentioned above plus a few more. I have skimmed the "book" or rather "survival guide" online and found some but not all the answers that help satisfy my questions.

Will I rent the movie on video? Yes. I want to see it again without the 3-D.

In my humble opinion - this is simply a case of an entertainment movie being elevated beyond its proper place.

I'll shut up now, thanks...

Side Note

Well, I warned you there would be no regularity here. Outside of my morning cup of decaf coffee I have no routine. I simply do what I can do, when I can do it.

Something I failed to mention in my opening blog - grammar is not my strong suit. So yes, if you are one of those who like to get all bent out of shape regarding "its or it's" - you are going to be frustrated. I readily admit you are better than me and have no illusions over this issue!!

I'll shut up now, thanks.....

The Simple Life

So let me start off by saying that envy is for me, the hardest thing to avoid. I am easily swayed by what another person has or wants and it is not limited to "things".



“Envy is a symptom of lack of appreciation of our own uniqueness and self worth. Each of us has something to give that no one else has.” Anonymous



As I was driving home from the grocery store today I watched a couple walk hand in hand down one of our "small town" city streets and I was envious.

Now what did I envy of this couple taking a Saturday stroll? Was it that they were obviously in love? No, I am fortunate enough to have that. Was it that they were smiling and happy? No, I too have a happy life. Truth was that I could have taken that same walk in that same way if I were to drive straight home and asked my SO to go with me. So what was it?

I'll describe the couple a bit more in detail.... maybe then we can uncover what touched a nerve in my and sparked the feeling of envy.



The boyfriend, SO or spouse was wearing tattered blue jeans a few sizes too large with a worn out t-shirt and scuffed up tennis shoes. He was of average height and weight with nothing distinguishing about him in any way. The woman was also wearing faded blue jeans and a t-shirt with some sort of advertisement on the front. Her shoes, like his were worn. Her hair was in a dirty pony tail and her face, like the man's was just an average face. Her weight was on the heavier side but she was not obese.

The street that they walked on was part of our quaint but beaten downtown area. With stores opening and closing like doors this part of our town is slowly on its way out. I knew by where they were that their house was within walking distance and BAM - there it was....


And no, I did not envy their small run down house since I have two nice homes of my own.

It was in a nutshell, "The Simple Life". That was what I craved. The very ease of waking up after sleeping in, rolling out of bed and going for a walk because there simply was nothing else to do.

Funny huh? I would wager a bet that the very same couple if given a chance to respond would be rather irritated. Looking deeper into their life could bring light to a pile of unpaid bills on the kitchen table, unemployment about to run out and perhaps the tattered clothes they wore was their only pair.

It just shows how we can have so much and still have nothing. There will forever be something that we want - contentment is a joke and I believe that because we are designed as "seekers".

Our only way to truly find peace is to seek the right thing.

What about you?

What are you seeking? What do you envy?


I'll shut up now, thanks...

We gotta start somewhere.... why not politics?!? i.e. "I pledge"

(Past post, I intended to start this blog last year..... obviously that did not happen!)

Well - as I said we have to start somewhere.



So this blog begins with the ad "I pledge" that I found posted to my Facebook page. It was posted with some sort of negative comment regarding the content. Then a few hours later I received a full page note regarding the hypocrisy of this ad and the celebrities in it.



If you don't know what I am talking about then you should go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqcPA1ysSbw and view it for yourself before you read any further.



So here is my BIG problem with people attacking this promotional ad - there is no benefit. Regardless of what I believe or how I feel, others have the same God given right to have their own opinions. I am extremely bothered by those that profess to feel strongly about something so strongly in fact that they enjoy attacking those who think differently than them.

Why is it that the "Radical" Republican is the most critical?

What makes the most "Left" Democrat think he has it all figured out?

I see no harm in those that support the current administration saying so. Freedom of speech right? For those who say they are using their status to popularize the President - it is not their fault we elevate them into a place of false influence! They are just people like all of us, speaking out for what they believe. I also would contend that by asking them to keep their political views to themselves we further raise their importance and take away more and more of their humanity. They eat like we eat, they breathe as we breathe, they die like we die and celebrity or not, they are American.

When will we begin to understand the smallness of our place and humbly admit that not one of us has it all figured out.


I'll shut up now, thanks...

A brief introduction

Expect nothing more than a personal perspective and opinion regarding various eclectic topics. I intend to post when and if I feel so moved to do so - without warning and without regularity.

As for background on who I am I will say that I am a female in my 30's and leave it at that. Anything you draw or learn from my posts is entirely assumption on your part and well within your right to do. I take no offense to comments posted in response to something I write. Instead I welcome it as a chance to further defend my stance, to see a new perspective or perhaps on occasion to alter my view.



I have a tendency to go on and on with regards to something I feel strongly about therefore the title of this blog is "I'll shut up now, thanks..." It's something I verbally say on a regular basis and very fitting.



So I'll close with this: Take what you need, leave what you want.



I'll shut up now, thanks...