So I was reading the other day...

And now this might seem to be like, "yah whatever." But tell you the truth, I haven't sat down and read in so long I've almost forgotten how to do it. I kid you not.

But that's not what's important. I'm currently reading a book called The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis. I would like to preface by saying, C.S. Lewis is a GENIUS! His logic just runs circles around every argument that I try to bring up against him. I guess the only problem with the things that he talks about is that these discussions are not merely logical discussions but very emotional and experiential discussions as well (which is why we will be arguing and debating such things to the end of time no matter how logically air tight one makes their arguments. People are pretty stubborn once they've made their mind up about something.)

The thing that I find really weird about all this, however, is not that I'm reading... but that I'm reading non-fiction and highly enjoying it. I remember a time when I would abhor having to read non-fiction because it was boring and unimaginitive and so adultish. I would stick to my fictions... then as I started growing older, I started finding the quality of adult fiction is so much lower than children's fiction. When one was in the 2nd grade, you had an infinite number of choices to make on good fiction that one could read. You could very literally go up to the shelf, randomly select a book and chances are it would be pretty good. But I've been trying to do that with adult fiction for the past 5 or 6 years now and it just isn't working out the same way. Led me to the realization that this is probably why you see adults reading more non-fiction than children (argument that adult's minds are more mature and developped not withstanding. Give me a child's imagination over an adult's mature and developped mind anyday).And yet the funny thing about all of the above is that pretty much all of children's fiction is written not by children, but by adults. So here's a wish that I devoutly hold, that those adults would sink from the heavenly paradise of children's literature once in a while to write to us older audiences. I want edifying good fiction! Hey if anyone knows any good books that I should read, let me know. As soon as I get home, I'm starting up on Harry Turtledove.

And if you've tried to post a comment before and it didn't work... I realized just today that I had restricted commenting abilities to logged in users only. My apologies to you all. Knock yourself out.

Chick flicks

You know I was talking with someone the other week and that conversation suddenly occurred to me because I just recently saw The Devil Wears Prada.

On The Devil Wears Prada, I'd have to give it at least one thumb up. Meryl Streep is the awesome, Anne Hathaway does her typical "I have no fashion sense" girl to "holy smoking hot" girl. But it was more than just a movie about fashion and accessories and shoes and makeup... because otherwise I would have not understood a thing that was going on. The movie was an amazing commentary about the corporate world and women in the corporate world. One of those, what is your main priority in life movies. It wasn't bad at all.

But on chick flicks, the question just popped up in my head as to what exactly defines something as a chick flick. I decided to wikipedia it and it came up with a stub (meaning that nobody has decided to post anything substantial just yet.)

I realized that the reason that guys are derided when they profess to like chick flicks (or why they pretend to hate them) is because (and the following statement is one of those "Duh captain obvious" statements) they are related to things that are traditionally and sociologically related to women. But I'd like to challenge that idea. I mean if you take the Devil Wears Prada for instance, it's a movie about a girl that is looking for a job, gets one and is climbing the corporate ladder when she realizes "What for?" So the people that label the Devil Wears Prada a chick flick are they now saying that men don't go through the same questions or do they label it thus because on the surface it's about "fashion, clothes, and accessories"? Or are movies like... oh say A Walk to Remember chick flicks because it is about boy meets girl? Well, why is it that the fact that it's ok for a girl to like "boy meets girl" but then when the guy people wonder "Is he gay?" Doesn't that seem a bit moronic to you? Why would a gay person like boy meets girl? (but that's an aside)

-I'm going to have to stop and say that I'm not sure how to conclude this anymore. This happens to me quite often, thus why I keep writing, hoping that this syndrome will eventually disappear. In the meantime, I'll let you chew on what I've written so far.

So I was up....

And I got bored. So here I am writing.

I don't know how many of you that will eventually read this have ever tried to write creatively, but I just remembered how hard it actually is after trying to start up after a very long hiatus. I remember I used to write stories just by looking at random objects and then coming up with plot lines later. Then I tried a new style of writing where even I did not know where the story was going to end up. A word of advice. Unless you're incredibly motivated, don't do that shit. It doesn't work, and you just get so confused you never finish what you started. At least I don't.

What I find usually works best if I know who my characters are and what their problem is. From there, everything comes easy, but up to that point, I have a hard time focusing my story on anything. You should see my computer back at home. I have at least 6 or 7 unfinished stories. My goal is to finish at least two of them in short story format when I get home in August but before I start school and get too busy to start doing other things.

I can't think of anything else to say, so good night.

On an aside, I noticed that the time that blogger says that I'm posting these thigns is WAY off... it is actually 12:40 AM on July 17 of 2006.

Writing and such

Seeing as how I figure I should be writing more often than this if I'm going to stay in good practice for it, I decided to try and post on this site more regularly. Gives me a reason to sit down and force myself to think of something to write about.

And if you've read the original premise of this site (i.e. rants that have nothing to do about researched fact) I have from this point on abandoned that purpose and will now talk about things that do actually make sense and have been researched. This is partly due to the fact that I've grown up a bit, and also partly due to the fact that I'm going back to school soon and quite desperately need to get back into the flow of things before I hit the books.

My experiences have led me to a lot of people that rave and rant about a guy called John Piper. Now I don't know if you know who he is (and if you're not a Christian, you may have never had a chance to hear who this guy is) but he's got some pretty interesting insights and views about how Christians should live their lives in relation to God.

I recently read his book called Desiring God and figured I'd express my thoughts about it somewhat here.

The basic premise of the book is something called Christian Hedonism. Now to a Christian, that sounds like sacrilege and to a non-Christian, that sounds like a reasoning for why Christians should go out and party their brains out. Truth to tell, it's neither. Why? Well let's unpack the statement.

Hedonism is defined by dictionary.com as "the pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to pleasure of the senses." It also talks about "the ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good." So basically, when someone lives hedonistically, they seek what causes them the most pleasure. John Piper then goes on to say that this is how people are geared, to desire the most pleasure for themselves, and indeed this is what God wants us to do, that is to find the greatest pleasure in our lives.

But before you stop and go, "Great! An excuse to start going out with the buddies everyday and indulging in the most sensual things ever! Strip clubs, massage spas, and bars here I come" Piper goes on. He says that people can only truly be happy and joyful when they are satisfied by the greatest thing in the universe. And no, those greatest things are not sex, drink, and the like but God. We can only be most satisfied when we are satisfied with God. This then leads to his statement "The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him."

This is an interesting idea, especially for me as a Christian. For I've heard everywhere that we must do what we do out of love and as if we were speaking the words of God and doing things with God's strength, but a lot of the time, I have asked myself the question, how? This idea that we glorify God by enjoying him gives me one idea as to how to do that. If I make the primary focus of my life getting to know God better and spending time with him and immersing myself with him, my life and attitudes will naturally change to become more like him. No actions on my part can make me more like God; after all, I'm only a human and can't even begin to fathom God. Only by immersing myself in his presence can I even begin to grasp the idea of what it means to be like God.