Can we ever do too much thinking?

This is me this week. It's spring break, and I'm having a delightful time. So far I have had some good times of just "thinking." I don't think I do enough of it. Do you? What do you think about when you sit down for a rest? What do you wake up thinking about? What do you fall asleep thinking about? Thinking is definitely underrated. We should do more of it, I think.

Ok, now I've got to get up and "do" something. Of course, there are all of those requisite jobs such as laundry, grocery shopping, etc. to catch up on. See what I mean. We always think we have to get up and do something.

Now I'm reading Anne Lamott's Blue Shoe. I can't say that I'm really getting into it that much. I think her strength lies in the personal narrative, essay. I read Rosie which is also fiction and liked it. But Blue Shoe just hasn't grabbed me so far. I should finish it today. Who knows what I'll think about reading next.

By the way, I found a great site for free images. Stock.xchng: http://www.sxc.hu/home. I think it's pretty nifty.

Grey's Anatomy

I just downloaded all of the episodes of Grey's Anatomy from Itunes. If you know me well you know the reason I like this show is that it takes place in Seattle. I just learned that it is filmed in California, but there are some nice outside shots of the city. So, here's a great snippet between Meredith and Derek from the first season.

DEREK: "Seattle has ferryboats?"
MEREDITH: "Yes."
DEREK: "I didn’t know that. I've been living here six weeks, and had no idea there were ferryboats."
MEREDITH: "Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides."
DEREK: "Hence the ferryboats. Now I have to like it here. I wasn’t planning on liking it here, since I'm from New York, and am genetically engineered to dislike everywhere except Manhattan. But I do have a thing for ferryboats."

I could have a thing about ferries and Derek. More quotes to come...

Water

Deepa Mehta has made an incredible movie, Water, that affected the depths of my soul. In a nutshell -- during the British colonial period of India and around this time of Gandhi, Chuyia, a child of 7-8, is given into marriage to a much older husband. He dies shortly after, and Chuyia is returned to her parents who then send her to "the widows' house." This young girl does not understand that her parents have abandoned her and that she is destined to live unvalued and shunned for the rest of her life. The other elderly women, all widows, live with the same fated life. Chuyia, like all widows, has just three options: to marry the husband's younger brother (if agreed upon by the families,) to kill herself at the time of her husband's cremation, or to live a life of celibacy with other widows. Even thought a new law permits a widow to re-marry, it is not accepted practice.

A second parallel plot involves another young and beautiful widow, Kalyani, who befriends Chuyia and meets and falls in love with Narayan who wants to marry her. When he comes to take her to his home to meet his family, as they cross the river to go to his family estate, Kalyani recognizes that his house is the same house where she had been forced to visit as a "prostitute," to be with Narayan's father. Throughout the movie I asked myself-- what will become of them, Kalyani and Chuyia? With so few options the observer is faced with the stark and real world of women in that time and place. The reality is, I feel certain that there are women today who have limited options and are forced into exile, slavery, and prostitution.

As I was watching this movie, water became a powerful metaphor for the lives of both Kalyani and Chuyia. It reminded me, too, of the book and movie, Siddhartha, which I teach in the fall. Our lives are a lot like water sometimes, as a universal theme. The tide's current sometimes takes us where we do not want to go. How apt is this movie, and how much I respect Mehta for working so hard to make a powerful movie. Definitely a 5 star winner.

Amazing Grace

Some friends and I saw Amazing Grace, the movie, a while ago. It was a good historical piece about William Wilberforce, John Newton and the abolition of the slave trade. What is sad to me is that we still have human trafficking going on today. Have we learned anything from that terrible torture inflicted on other human beings? There are direct relationships to that movie going on today. Human trafficking, Darfur, AIDS orphans in Africa, human rights issues all over the world. It makes my head spin and my spirit heavy to think about it. I know God is sovereign and good. I have to believe He allows suffering for a reason. But I can't help wondering how much of the suffering of others is caused by the institutionalized carefree and selfish western lifestyle that I live. And how much of that suffering is inflicted by other human beings. This is what I can't understand. I tend more and more to a pacifist point of view. It must be the influence of Quakers in my past.

Books I've Read So Far This Year

The Fifth Mountain. Paulo Coelho
Reading Like a Writer. Francine Prose
The Kingdom by the Sea. Paul Theroux
The Looming Tower. Lawrence Wright
Sacred Thirst. M. Craig Barnes
The World is Flat. Thomas L. Friedman
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. Robert Olen Butler
The Kindness of Strangers. Don George
Our Town. Cynthia Carr
Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed. Phillip Hallie
31 Days. Barry Werth
Christ the Lord: out of Egypt. Anne Rice
Judas and the Gospel of Jesus. N.T. Wright
How to Read Literature Like a Profesor. Thomas C. Foster

So there's been a long hiatus since I've posted on this blog. Not that all I've been doing is reading. I've seen a bunch of movies; I've had a bunch of company, and gone a 3 week missions trip to Northern Ireland and stuff like that. I'll post some pictures of Northern Ireland one of these days. At least we got through the month of February. It's my least favorite month. Now I see some hope that spring is coming.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter and The Time Traveler's Wife

Well, here are two interesting books I've read recently. First, I'll tell you that The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards was great. I thought it was inventive, well written and engaging. Even if some things were implausible, I liked this book a lot. Briefly, it is the story of a doctor who delivers his own set of twins, one of which is a Down's Syndrome baby. This book is all about making choices and telling lies, then living with bad choices and lies that are perpetuated with sad results. 5 stars.

The second book, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was trippy. Even though the main character, Henry, is a librarian, the author was losing me when she had him shelving books. (We don't do that folks. Well, rarely, and not in the course of a typical day. Please, author, do your homework.) But when she characterizes him several times: "well, he looks like a librarian" or something to that effect, I mumbled hateful words under my breath. So, I ask, just what does a librarian look like? How long must we keep perpetuating silly stereotypes? In case you can't tell, I hate the simple mindedness of stereotyping anyone. I would have been bothered if it had been an accountant, doctor, used car salesperson, or lawyer. (Well, maybe not lawyers. gentle smile inserted here.) Also, I had a beef with the language. I got bothered by her cavalier use of crude anatomical descriptions. For an aspiring writer who I assume wants her work to be considered literature, not trash, this was a disconnect. The theme was, like I said, a bit trippy. I could deal with the concept of Henry's moving through time involuntarily. In fact, I think it was engaging and innovative. That plus the fact that the book had a good sense of place (Chicago) I finished it, though by the end I was wondering why. My low rating is because language has power; potty mouth language shows weakness. I don't give it much of a rating . 1 1/2 stars might even be too kind.

Wit

Oh, my. I saw Wit this weekend after getting it from my wonderful Netflix. This movie was just about the best acting I've seen. Emma Thompson is her outstanding self. The dialog is sharp and insightful. The screenplay is wonderful, funny, sad, ironic, and highly telling about contemporary academic and medical communities. I can't think of any other movie I've seen recently that has affected me more. Oh, my. Can I give it about 10 stars? There are so many wonderful lines. I have to share one. It goes something like: "Do not go back to the Library. Go out and live." How can one go wrong with advice like that? Take it from me, as one who lives in the Library. Yes, there is life inside books and movies, but there is a bigger life in the world for us to experience for ourselves.

The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini

The Kite Runner was the "kick-off" book for our monthly book club and I led the discussion on the book. The book was generally well received by the women who attended. I thought we had a good discussion and a diversity of opinion.

I had read The Kite Runner a few years ago when it first came out and then read it again in preparation for the discussion last week. It was a fast read and has some interesting twists and turns of fate. I won't go into specific details for people who haven't read the book as I don't want to spoil it. The movie is due to come out sometime in 07, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the theater and who will play Amir, Baba, and Hassan. Truthfully, I had difficulty believing some of the events that reoccur, of fated meetings and reunions, and particularly the resolution at the end. But that is what makes fiction fiction. I give this book 3.5 stars.

www.khaledhosseini.com/

The 2007 Lighthouse Team

Here is a photo of the greatest Lighthouse team ever.

Trinity by Leon Uris

I found Trinity by Leon Uris a huge disappointment. While there are historical events woven into the story, this is so soap opera. I have read my share of "airport books" and have found many of them satisfying and enjoyable. This, unfortunately, is not one of them. I gave it my requisite 50 pages and because of it's girth, 50 more, which I thought it a waste of time.

One reviewer says it better than I can:

"Rather than Irishmen in the book I found 1970s Americans and American sentiments and prejudices: sexually liberated women, crooked priests, female revolutionaries, protestant ministers who should have worn brown shirts rather than vestments and plenty of evil industrialists. The one big question I am left with is why Irish women were portrayed so poorly? Surely there were enough pages for the development of one woman like my grandmothers: strong, faithful, loving, intelligent and honest. As a novel it was a fine read, but as an historical fiction it was far more fiction than history. Considering Uris' biased and inaccurate portrayal of the Irish Roman Catholic Clergy and the the Church, one should be more than a little suspicious of the foundation of the whole novel. The tragedy of Ireland is real and still alive; unfortunately Trinity by Leon Uris doesn't take us very far towards any real understanding of the issue."
Amazon. com Reviewer: Joseph Rooney

Two Books by Cambodia author: Loung Ung. First They Killed My Father; Lucky Child

Now here was a gripping personal narrative account of Cambodia in the late 1970s. First They Killed My Father: a daughter of Cambodia Remembers is about the Khmer Rouge and the story of a young girl who was orphaned at a young age 8. (I think.) because of the war.
Ung tells the story of how she and her siblings survived war-torn Cambodia. Sadly, some family members did not survive and faced brutal death. Her later book, Lucky Child describes her journey to Vermont as a refugee along with an older brother and his wife.

Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God. I will praise him again, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11

History of Britain DVD Series

Now here's a DVD series that will fill your whole weekend if you have a whole weekend with nothing going on. I've been watching the series bit by bit over the past few weeks. It's engaging and covers interesting aspects of British history and culture that I hadn't picked up in previous reading or other sources. Truthfully, it got a little old hearing the one voice of Simon Schama in every video. (He seemed like a bobblehead doll at times. If you've seen this you know what I'm talking about.) He had a bit too much face time for my tastes. While I found the topics greatly interesting, there were often not enough variety in speaking voices. So I tended to find myself nodding off. I give it 4 stars.

Fade To Black by Robert Goldsborough

Ho Hum. I couldn't get inspired or excited about this mystery. It's about two vying advertising agencies, and Nero Wolfe steps in to save the day with his trusty assistant Archie Goodwin. Rex Stout was the original creator of Nero Wolfe mysteries, and Goldsborough has recreated the character with several other books. Amazon.com (Publishers Weekly) also reviews this book as "flat." I'd say so too. Two stars are generous.

The Civil War DVD by Ken Burns

If you want to know the truth, I don't like war stories. But I watched all parts of The Civil War (1990). It is very well done, but there were times I found myself falling asleep during the parts when they talked about the battles. I forced myself to go back and listen what I missed in order to get the full impact and enormity of the Civil War and its costs. I'd recommend it for an impressionistic view of the War, the gravity and importance of the War to Americans today. It is easy to forget history and what has happened in the past (and why), yet we are who we are as a country, a culture, and individuals because of the sacrifices of those in the past who participated in democracy and for freedom as they understood it. The Civil War frames us even today. I would rate this series a 4 1/2 stars. It probably deserves 5 stars, and know I am showing my bias against war stories by my rating.

Ireland

My thoughts and readings are turning to Ireland these days. I'm reading Culture Shock: Ireland at the moment. This is book of pretty random facts about Ireland that are helpful for understanding the history and culture. Since I'm interested in Northern Ireland I have found a couple of titles that are helpful and are providing guidance for my thoughts. The first title is a modern classic that every person interested in Ireland must read. It's How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. It is a book of highly developed thought and parts of it are written for readers who are highly motivated. I have Trinity by Leon Uris on my to read pile. It came highly recommended and I'll give an opinion when I'm finished. You could go to my LibraryThing site for other recommendations of both books and films. To see my library log in as lnlamb.

The Knitster

One of my most favorite things to do is to knit. Only trouble is I don't have many pictures of the results. Here's a baby sweater I made a while ago.

Shipshewana Indiana

The first picture is where I stayed in July when I visited with my friends, Aileen and Randy. I pointed out the Wells Fargo sign and Aileen quickly snapped this great picture. I appreciate her sharing it with me. I can't rave enough about the wonderful bed and breakfast: The Checkerberry Inn (the picture is from their website.) I took some pictures on that trip, too, but mine aren't worth posting. I have a nice picture of Randy and Aileen, but I'm not sure they want to be public so I'll keep it to myself.

Paradise Now

I happened onto the movie, Paradise Now (PG 13) through Netflix which has wonderful access to the kinds of movies that appeal to me. It was a haunting portrayal of the hopelessness of Palestinian young men, raising questions of what options are available to them and the shattering results of a life lived in refugee camps. This movie made me think about choices people have. Easy for me to say, given my socio-economic condition. I don't agree that becoming a suicide bomber is a good choice. It is a terrible one. But this movie helps me to understand that people all over the world need to be offered options of self determination and opportunities for hope. I appreciate movies that tell a story that is meaningful and extremely relevant. As always, Internet Movie Database has more details and a plot synopsis that I need not repeat. According to their description, Paradise Now is the first Palestinian film to be nominated for an Academy Award. I look forward to seeing more creative films by director, Hany Abu-Assad. For its honesty and the ability to delve deep into the psychological underpinnings of the choices of two potential suicide bombers, I give Paradise Now 5 stars.

Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

I have had several people recommend Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain* over the years, so I finally got around to reading it. I can't say that it was the best book on contemplative Christian life that I've ever read. But I did like reading about Merton's spiritual journey. I would give this book *** (3 stars.)

*This links to a review essay from First Things 70 (February 1997): 34-38 written by Robert Royal titled: The Several Storied Merton. I liked how Royal described Merton: "Merton is beyond doubt one of the great spiritual masters of our century."

You Know You Are From Seattle When...

I really miss Seattle about now. Here are a few things that remind me about Seattle.

--Summer means taking a ferry to Bainbridge, Whidbey, or San Juans.
--You love the way people dress up "the Fremont people." (And people who live in the Fremont area must miss seeing it during the bridge renovations. The statue is actually called "Waiting for the Interurban".)
--A fun Saturday means going to bookstores. My favorites are Third Place Books, Elliot Bay Books, University Books, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Magus Bookstore, Half Price Books, Wits End, Wide World Travel Books.
--A walk around Green Lake is a regular habit.
--You've been to Bumbleshoot and know what the word means.
--You’ve hung out with friends at Dicks.
--You make sure to go to Folklife, the Bite and the Torchlight parade.
--You’ve been to the Puyallup Fair or at least know how to pronounce it. You can also pronounce Issaquah and Sequim.
--You are tired of people asking "does it really rain a lot in Seattle?"
--You know where the "AVE" is and still call it by that name.
--You feel guilty throwing an aluminum can in the trash.
--You know what the phrase "the mountain is out" means.
--You use the words "sun break" and know what it means.
--You know at least eight people who work for either Microsoft or Boeing and they all make double your salary.
--You know what Lutefisk is. And maybe you've tried it. You have certainly been to Ballard.
--You consider floating bridges a pain, not an engineering marvel.
--You use more than 5 words to order a cup of coffee. "I want to order an unleaded, double, short, skinny, wet cappuccino with a shot of Amaretto please."
--A "designer" wardrobe comes from Eddie Bauer, LL Bean, REI, and Birkenstock.
--You consider it a sunny day if the sun is visible at some point of the day.
--You've been "snow" skiing in the RAIN more than in the snow.
--When you're discussing rainforests and volcanoes, you're NOT talking about Hawaii.
--You remember the Kingdome especially when the Mariners played there and Lou was manager.
--You have tried to forget about WTO.
--You have umbrellas but don't ever use them.