Stream of Consciousness 3

So, at first I thought "Do people even read these things? Should I keep doing them?" And then I thought "I don't really care if people read them or care about them. I shall do them anyway."

I realized how depressing my last blog post was, and I just want to reassure you that I am not depressed. After a few days I got over the book... So never fear, readers of my blog.

I'm currently printing out my NaNoWriMo novel so I can re-write it. It kind of sucks because you write something and you're so proud of it. But then you go to read through it again and realize that it kind of sucks. then I think about this one quote I saw I think by Ernest Hemingway that said, "The first draft of anything is [crap]." And it makes me feel better.
A lot of people would say just be proud that I finished. Which, I suppose I am. But I would like to make this good, you know?

Anyway, I'm filling out an application to be part of the Service and Leadership Training (SaLT) at Id-Ra-Ha-Je. It's kind of scary, actually. Because of all the questions I have to answer. I've never had to think so hard about what my opinions about alcohol are. Or what I believe about the Bible. THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS BEFORE YOU HAVE TO ANSWER THEM IN A JOB APPLICATION, PEOPLE.

Christmas came and went without much trouble.... It was strange because it seemed to come so quickly, with break starting the 20th and all.

I keep checking my grades on Engrade checking to see if my finals have been graded. When they haven't I get all mad, then I realize teachers have lives too.

Perhaps I'll do one of those year reflection things or whatever. I don't know. We'll see what happens.

I am seriously obsessed with Sherlock (the BBC show.) And I'm not sure why I fangirl so much.....

PICTURE TIME:

This made me laugh harder than it should have. 

Look at how legit this little guy is. 

Kay bye

-Amanda

The Fault in Our Stars.

So, there's all this garbage going on in my life right now. It's not necessarily happening to me, but I see it happening to everyone else. And this kind of sucks because I can't do anything to help them. So, I'm already kind of depressed and down, so I decide to read The Fault in Our Stars. Now, if you don't know anything about this book- I don't know why you wouldn't. It's supposed to be this great book. They're turning it into a movie, it was on the NYT bestseller list... It's about this girl who has cancer and falls in love. It's suppose to make you cry. I didn't cry. I was pretty close, though. The book just basically ruined my day. 

Seriously. I was in the car when I finished it. So I threw it in the trunk and just stared out the window for the last twenty minutes of our journey. (I was just going to Severance. So I suppose it wasn't that much of an adventure. But whatever.) My family kept asking me if I was okay. And why I read it if I knew it was going to depress me. In all honesty, I'm not sure why I read it. Perhaps I still had a little bit of faith in the YA fiction department. It didn't end how I expected it, but it didn't end any better than I predicted. 

Since the beginning of life, humans have been trying to figure out why we're here. Not collectively as a race, but each individual. Why am I here? Why are you here? This is the second book I've read that has tried to answer this question. (The first was called The Book of Blood and Shadow.)And both times it ends up with a horrible answer like There is no god. And since there's no god there's no afterlife. And since there's no afterlife there's only oblivion. No one's going to remember you when you die, so why try to do something memorable? Anything noteworthy you do will do more harm than good.

 And that is simply not true. 

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. And, quite ironically, my situation can be described perfectly by a quote from this book. 

I suppose I could have written it out instead of putting a picture. But, whatever. 

I'm not going to explicitly tell you to not read this book. 

It sure made me think, and there are a lot of symbolism and metaphors throughout the story. Also, if you care about this sort of stuff, there's some language and a little bit of sex. The content didn't really bother me, though.  But the whole theme and mood of the book is just depressing. The writing itself was excellent. 

If you do read it or have read it in the past, I would love to hear your thoughts about it. Especially if you liked it. 

Needless to say, I will not be seeing the movie... 

- Amanda 

When Tragedy Hits

This is simply another response to the Arapahoe shooting that happened recently... I've been thinking a lot about it this past weekend and at church this morning the youth pastor basically just answered questions from the students about the whole issue. I thought it provided a really nice perspective. There are just a few things that I want to say:

First, it's horrible. I'm so tired of all these things happening. Seriously. The theater shooting was terrible, and very alarming since I live fairly close to the theater. And then the Sandy Hook shooting made me think since I lead a group of first graders in my AWANA group. And now there's this, my school is like two miles away from Arapahoe. I was at school when it happened and it was kind of scary because no one really told us what was going on, but my principle was going around and making sure the doors were locked. Eventually word got around of what happened. And the whole school was in this eerie silence for the rest of the day.
Honestly, my first thought was "Not again."  Not ANOTHER shooting. Not ANOTHER tragedy. My mom texted me to let me know that my cousin wasn't hurt. Well, I didn't even know that she went to that school. So I was simultaneously glad she was okay and then terrified that there was a chance she could have gotten hurt. Then I got home and saw that my other cousin went there too. And it was just... terrible....

That being said, these past few days have really made me think hard about life. It's scary to think that we aren't guaranteed life. There is no reason why I should expect to make it to tomorrow. I remember after the theater shooting I didn't want to go anywhere, because what if I got shot?
And to that I say- don't live in fear. If you just stay in your home for the rest of your life, well- you might as well be dead, right?
At youth group this one kid asked "How can I feel safe if anyone can come in and shoot me?" I thought it was a reasonable question. One that all of us struggle with when this happens. As a Christian, I think, we can answer that question better than most.
This life is not all there is. Death is tragic. It's horrible. But really, this isn't our home. Life on this earth is fragile. What happens when it ends? As a Christian, I know for certain that if someone were to come in and shoot me right at this instant, I would go to heaven, which is incredibly better than anything that I could have right now.
Now, I don't want to turn this into a preachy gospel thing, but it needs to be said. In light of this tragedy, I have hope. I have joy that some may say is unreasonable. I trust that God holds my life in his hands and cares about me. I honestly, don't understand how someone who doesn't believe in God can function. Even if I am fooling myself. Even if religion is made up by some lunatics, would you not rather have hope than trying to live a "good" life while you still have it and then- what? Die and cease to exist? I don't know....
So, even though all this happened, I will not live in fear. A life lived in fear is not worth living.

One thing that I have been taught every year at Summer camp and was reminded of today- what's your anchor? Have you ever been repelling? Like, legit repelling down a cliff? Well, there are these things called anchors that you use. At Id-Ra-Ha-Je (the camp) they are screwed into the rock, and then the bolts expand into the rock. Basically it would be very, very difficult to pull them out. Pretty much impossible. That is what you hook into to go and walk down a cliff. The hardest thing to do is trust. You need to trust the rope, the anchor, the equipment, and the counselors who are trained to do this stuff. It was seriously one of the most terrifying things that I've ever done. But I didn't have it as bad as my other friend who got her hair stuck in the rope. When that happens, your weight is taken off of the main rope and put on the backup rope which is in the hands of the person at the top. I remember my friend freaking out because she was just hanging there trying to get her hair out of the thing.
The point of that long winded story is, when things go wrong, who do you put your trust in? If my friend had continued freaking out and pulling on the rope instead of trust the counselors and the equipment, she never would have gotten out. Instead, she probably would have gotten herself into more trouble and pain. So when struggles come, are you going to trust yourself? Or your friends? Or whatever else you think will help you and make you succeed. If you do that, you'll only disappoint yourself.
God, however, will never fail. If you trust him, he will get you through anything. Hard times will still happen, but dealing with them becomes immensely easier when you have the one thing that you know for a fact is true. One of my teachers who is also my principle always tells us that whenever stuff like this happens, go back to Jesus. Go back to what you know is true and rest in that. 

Things like this shake us. They scare us. But we can't dwell on the fear. God loves us and he give those to believe in him a life beyond this, one without school shootings, and cancer, and abuse. Once you have that, no one can harm you. Well, sure, they can kill you. But none of that matters when you have Jesus!!! 

I pray for all the students and their families. Especially the families of Claire and Karl. I pray that the community will surround them and help them, but I also pray that God will use this horrible effect of sin and turn it into something good. And I ask you to do the same. I also pray that the community will be able to forgive the shooter for what he did. Not excuse it, but forgive.


I leave you with a verse from Psalm 27:1 
"The LORD is my life and my salvation-
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life-
Of whom I be afraid?

- Amanda 

Stream of Consciousness 2

I changed the name of my blog... In case anyone noticed....

It is the last few weeks of the semester and there is quite a lot going on right now. I felt the need to blog. Also, I may be procrastinating my History paper. But that doesn't matter here.

Junior year is more challenging than I expected it to be. Last year, when my brother was a junior and I was a sophomore, he hated junior year. And all I kept thinking was “It can’t be THAT bad, come on, Tim.” 

However, now that I am here and I am actually facing the horror that is junior year, I am seeing that he was right.

Anyway, I’m almost halfway done with Junior year. Which means that I’m almost a senior. And that’s just terrifying.

Probably the most frustrating thing about this year is my teachers. Up until this point I've always felt that my teachers were  fair in the way that they graded and treated me and my classmates. Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect teacher. But some are better than others. Having a teacher that is constantly talking down to you, or treating you like you’re five when really you’re a high school student, is probably one of the most frustrating things in life. Especially since you have to respect them, even when they have no respect for you.

A teacher should expect a lot from their students. Challenge them and actually believing that the students can achieve what you set out for them. Rather than expecting nothing from most of your students, and treating the few students that you like more than the others as if they are somehow perfect. Of course, you’re going to have your favorites, but perhaps just a little more impartiality when it comes to grading, yes?

Nevertheless, Junior year hasn't sucked too bad. But it is quite difficult to write all these papers after creative writing for a month straight. Like… Really difficult. I was trying to write this History paper and I just had this sudden urge to write a scene from some story that I don’t even know….

And after I did that… Well… Hope was lost and I couldn't go back to writing about Manifest Destiny….

But speaking of writing, I've been reading some fanfiction lately. Mostly because I end up getting consumed by fictional worlds, and after that I’m basically gone. But one of my biggest pet peeves in fanfiction is when an author changes a character.

No. You just don’t do that.

If the character you want to write about is evil, ruthless, yet charming. Do not make him goofy, sweet, and of average intelligence. Sure, give them a soft side that you imagine they could have, but do not change the character.

The whole point of fanfiction is to take the characters/situations/settings and put your own spin on them. For instance, the Percy Jackson characters in the Hunger Games, or a romance between Oh.. I don’t know… Hermione Granger and… Draco Malfoy? That’d be interesting.. I don’t ship it…. But either way you get my point. If I’m going with the Hermione-Draco (I need a ship name…) I’m not suddenly going to make Draco nice, now, am I? If the two went on a date, how would they react to each other? The characters that JK already created. How would THEY react to each other, not the characters you made up with the same names. Arg. Goodness….  Now, I love fanfiction. It’s like… the best.. when it’s done correctly. 

Also, I know that you are more creative than to just write about the sex that you wish the characters had. Come on, I know you can write about more than that!

That’s why I don’t write it. I can’t do it.

Writing is beautiful, though. Any kind. It’s beautiful. It takes skill to construct a story that will cause the reader to actually feel invested in the story, in the characters. To make them feel the same way that a character does. I had to write a paper on this in my Lit class. It really does take a lot to describe things. It’s beautiful.

I heard a quote one time that said something along the lines of  -  Every reader brings something different to the story. Their own pains, victories, and love. – Isn't that just amazing? Just thinking about it makes me happy.

I seriously cannot understand why people don’t like to read. Sure, if you’re busy and don’t have time. But not getting enjoyment from it? I cannot understand it. It makes no sense to me.

Perhaps people think the same of me when I say that I don’t like art. Like, actual paintings and whatnot. But seriously. HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE TO READ. DAJSFKLASD JGKLFASDJ”FKACLJSDKV

 My Facebook has been hacked twice in the passed two days.... Dang flabbit.....

I'M GOING TO SEE THE HOBBIT ON FRIDAY.

Okay.... I guess that's all. Now I have to go and edit papers and take tests. 

-Amanda Page

Dora's Apprentices

Quite some time ago, my friend and I wrote some marvelous stories about us becoming Dora the Explorer's apprentices.... Here's Sarah's, it's pretty much the best thing ever:
______________________________________________________

You can't always trust what the TV tells you. The television screen twists and distorts reality. There is one person for whom this is most true: Dora the Explorer.
Sure, she may seem nice and adorable. She's a little girl who goes on adventures with her money friend, Boots, and teaches children basic Spanish, right?

WRONG.

In reality Dora is the most hardcore, no-nonsense, ruthless little girl you will ever meet. I should know. My best friend, Amanda, and I were her apprentices.
Dora means business. She has to in a world where fictional characters are constantly fighting for your mind. That's why you must go through a specialized training program before you can get a permit to write fiction.
Amanda and I went to Dora. She's the best. She only accepts 2 students for every year-long training program. Amanda and I were very fortunate to be chosen. Dora believed that both of our stories had great potential.
Training was hellish, but it was well worth it. We learned how to use all of the vital tools: Map, Backpack, and seat belts for safety.
Amanda and I graduated successfully after the program and received our writing permits. As we wrote we took extra precautions to make sure our characters stayed on the safe and not in our minds.

That was before Brandon.

Brandon: Amanda's amazing villain. He was handsome, charming, ruthless, the perfect villain. Too perfect. He began to grow powerful and jealous. It wasn't enough for him to be perfect in Amanda's book, he wanted to be the perfect villain. He wanted to escape the pages and inhabit the Page. Through Amanda he could execute his plan. 
Brandon struck quickly when Amanda was at her weakest. He infiltrated her dreams and penetrated her consciousness. Amanda never woke up, but Brandon did. I went over to Amanda's house after I called her multiple times and got no answer. I felt that something was wrong. 
When I knocked on the door, Brandon answered.
"What have you done with my muffin?" I demanded.
"Silly girl, Amanda meant nothing to me in the scheme of things. How could you not see that? It was only blazingly obvious." Brandon replied in his intoxicating voice.
 I was panicking. I would be lost without my muffin. Suddenly, I heard Dora's voice echo through my mind. "Swiper no swiping." It said. All of my training rushed back to me. 
"Brandon no swiping." I said weakly.
"I can't stop now! Oh no. I've come to far!"
"BRANDON NO SWIPING!!" I screamed. "Dora taught me how to handle these situations!"
Amanda punched Brandon in the face and stood for a moment to ponder the shame of ruining such a gorgeous face. Then she turned to her muffin, "Dora's taught you well."
"Tis a shame indeed that such a beautiful face must be shattered." I replied, "But it's for the greater good."
I linked arms with Amanda and we skipped gloriously off into Muffinland together.

THE END.
___________________
Mine isn't as great, but I shall share it since I promised my muffin that I would do so:

The jungle was dark at this time of night. The backpack was heavy on my shoulders. I opened up the map that I had been given and spread it out on the damp ground. My partner and sole companion was standing above me, watching for thieves and other animals. I hurriedly chanted the small song that I had been taught. “I’m the map. I’m the map. I’m the map.” It was a boring yet crucial step in survival. I couldn't see the path that was supposed to appear on the map, though. It was pitch black. I muttered something under my breath.

            “What?” My companion, Sarah, whispered.

            “Nothing.” I said irritably, regretting my tone.  I fumbled around in the violet backpack for a while. My hand closed around the flashlight, but I couldn't lift it. I sighed and looked up, “You need to do this part.”

            I stood up and watched my friend’s back as she muttered Spanish into the backpack. Soon she had the flashlight in her hands and was examining the map. “Okay.” She announced. “We simply need to keep going through the jungle. There should be a banana tree on the left. After that we cross the bridge and we should be at the magic cave by noon.” She said, pointing at the map.

            I nodded and wrapped the map up. Sarah put the backpack back on and brought out a machete. She began slashing at the vines in front of us. I followed her, pointing my pistol behind me in case we were to get attacked. After a while of hearing nothing but our own breathing and footsteps, I heard Sarah whisper, “Amanda! Swiper!” I turned to see a man standing in our path. He held a machete similar to Sarah’s. Sarah shone the flashlight beam into his face.

            “Gosh! Will you please turn that dang thing off? What, are you trying to blind me or something?” He wore a fedora and a pinstriped suit.

            “You came all the way out here in a suit?” I asked.

            The man shrugged, “It’s all about the style, is it not?”

             Neither I nor Sarah said anything. 

            Swiper began to walk forward, “So, you are the two ‘chosen ones?’ The next big explorers?”

            “One more step and I’ll shoot you.”

            “No you won’t!” Swiper laughed as he continued to walk towards us.

            I shot him. He fell to the ground with a thud.

            Sarah looked over to me, “That was uncalled for.”

            I shrugged. “How many things would be solved if the good guy just shot the bad guy when he had the chance?”

            Sarah shrugged and stepped over the body, continuing down the path.

            The rest of our journey was quite uneventful. Once we arrived at the cave, we called out for Dora to come and greet us. “We did it! We did it!” I yelled. Dora jumped down from the trees, congratulating us.

            And then Seal Team 6 came in and attacked us all, apparently Dora was in cahoots with the terrorists…..

THE END 
__________________
Kay so, that's all. haha. 

Much love,
Amanda. :)

In Defense Of Harry Potter

            I read Harry Potter.

                               I have re-read Harry Potter.
                 I have seen all the movies.
And I enjoyed them.

Among Christians, Harry Potter and anything like it, is usually "banned." I, myself, don't understand why. Especially since most of the people doing the "banning" haven't ever read the stories.
Nevertheless, I am here to lay my case out for Harry Potter.


1) The Glorification Of Witchcraft
I hear this one all the time. It is the main argument against these books. It's almost as if I am going to start doing witchcraft because of Harry Potter... I get that God says to stay away from witchcraft. But this is fiction. It's a story that someone made up. I don't think JK Rowling was encouraging it, and it's hardly an instruction manual for witchcraft.
Also, to all my Christian friends that don't read Harry Potter because of the witchcraft, why is Narnia and The Lord of the Rings okay? There's magic in there, too. There's magic usedf or good, and magic used for evil. Same concept.
To this argument, I hear "Narnia and LOTR have good themes and even some references to Biblical principles." And to this I say a) Harry Potter has great themes, too. And b) those books have quite a lot of witchcraft in it, based on what you're saying, would it not be almost sinful to pair biblical principles and witchcraft?
I've thought about it for a while and the conclusion I've reached is that these books are fiction. It is not encouraging witchcraft and it has some great lessons in it, like friendship, sacrifice, love, evil vs good, racism and bias, family, forgiveness.... I could go on....  

2) Please Read The Books First
I have quite a few pet peeves, but the one that bugs me the most is when people condemn Harry Potter to its fiery doom without actually reading it. 
But this doesn't apply only to Harry Potter. It applies to Twilight, The Hunger Games, and so many other things. I don't think you can properly judge something if you haven't actually read it. Or, at least, done enough research about it and asked people who have read it about it. 
I have a friend that always talked down about Twilight, but she'd never seen it. So I showed her Twilight. She still hates it, but now she's seen it so I don't have a problem with it.  Some with Hunger Games. That same friend hates the Hunger Games, for a while she talked about it without actually seeing it or reading it. She still hasn't read it, but we've talked about it enough that she's gained an understanding of the series in its entirety. She still hates it and refuses to read it, but I've no problem with that because she doesn't talked about it ignorantly. 
In the same way, please learn about the series before you tell me that it is not biblical. 

3) I Don't Really Care If You Disagree With Me, But Please Leave Me Alone
 I understand that there are differences in opinion. And I get that. We both have our strong convictions. But please leave me alone. I'm so tired of getting strange looks wherever I go when I say I like Harry Potter. And all the passive-aggressive comments about how you're "not judging buuuut...." And if you want to talk to me about it, talk to me about it respectfully. I don't mind if people disagree with me on this. Just please be respectful of my beliefs and I'll try to be respectful of yours. If you find I'm not, please tell me. I'd hate to by a hypocrite. 

4) In The World But Not Of It
I hear this one a lot, too. So I tried to find it in the Bible to find out more about it, since it's always quoted from the Bible.... 
I couldn't find anything that says this. So, if you know where this is, please enlighten me. 
But anyway, I'm not really sure how this applies to this issue, but people always bring it around to this issue So please, also enlighten me on this...


I love Harry Potter. You don't have to love it like I do. But at least learn something about it and be respectful when discussing it with. 
I'm not saying all of the people who refuse to read Harry Potter don't know anything about what they're talking about. But the majority of the people I have talked to have not read the books, seen the movies, or know anything about it other than what they know from hearsay. Most of the people don't even give me a chance to explain myself. After that I'm branded for life as a heretic or something. 

Bottom Line: I don't mind if you disagree with me, but please know what you're talking about and be respectful. My Potterhead friends and anti-Potter friends alike, I'd love to know what you think of this issue. 



Also, here are some hilarious pictures I've found that have almost nothing to do with this topic. But I needed to share them: 

I think I shared this one already but...... IT'S MY BLOG I CAN DO WHAT I WANT

Benedict Cumberbatch is my man... <3

Okay. That is all....D 

Love,
Amanda :)

Stream of Consciousness

I have nothing to blog about. So here's my thoughts as they come to me:::

Well, September kind of stunk a little bit. I'm not sure why, exactly. But I'm thankful I'm in October now.

• What is it about starting a new month or day or week that makes us think we can do better than the next? Like- why do you have to wait until the end of the week to start our healthy eating choices, or to decide to give up a certain thing you know is getting in the way of you're life? If you mess up on Tuesday, why not restart on Wednesday instead of waiting until Sunday again?
• 
  
• Just so you know, if I ask you how you are doing. I actually care. I genuinely want to know how your life is going. 
• 
  
• Also, I'm really fed up with this whole "hipster" movement. Just let me enjoy my mainstream music and you go listen to you stupid indie band no one has ever heard of. If you stopped listening to a bad because they were too mainstream- good for you. Just please don't tell me about it. 
• 
  
• Would everyone stop talking about homosexuality? We all have our opinions, they aren't going to be swayed by debates over Facebook. And I'm fairly certain celebrities are "coming out" for publicity now. #justsayin
• 
  
• You know what makes me mad? When teachers state their opinions like it's the truth and then don't listen to their students if they disagree. In case you didn't know this, you can, in fact, be wrong sometimes. 
• 
  
• How many tickles does it take to get an octopus to laugh?
• 
  
• Anyone reading any good books? "A Separate Peace" is good. I think you should read it. 
• 
  
• Ten-tickles. Get it? hahaha
• 
  
• I just found out Hobby Lobby might close. I'M SO MAD RIGHT NOW. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE GOVERNMENT?!!?
• 
  
• Speaking of that, so the government shut down today, huh. 

Okay so... I think I'm done now. To finish, here are some pictures I have found while browsing the Internet (Google spellchecked "internet" because I didn't capitalize it. Huh?)-

 

#disneyfordayz

How I feel about sports in general. 

But IDK what movie this is from so...

Google vs. Bing

And to end on a positive yet hilarious note:

Have a great month! :) 

-Amanda