hast thou no scar?
no hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
i hear thee sung as might in the land,
i hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star,
has thou no scar?

has thou no wound?
yet i was wounded by the archers, spent,
leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
by ravening beast that compassed Me, i swooned;
hast thou no wound?

no wound? no scar?
yet, as the Mater shall the servant be,
and pierced are the feet that follow Me;
but thine are whole: can he have followed far
who has nor wound nor scar?
-amy carmichael

AND THE ACADEMY AWARD GOES TO...

as the season of the Oscars approaches, i find myself asking more and more, what makes a movie good? is it script? character development? direction? acting? an original plot? what is it? what makes a movie worthy of an Oscar?
according to my extensive research (i seen a few of the movies that are up for Oscars. and i've watched other movies besides those. WHAT NOW!!), i've come to the conclusion that it's a mixture of all those things and others. but everybody knows that. finding the perfect blend of all these essential ingredients is the key to making a memorable film. and few people can do it. true, different movies appeal to different audiences, and while people who think rom coms are the best things since luke's haircut may not particularly enjoy "silence of the lambs", they can at least appreciate the talent and effort that went into making the film.
but there's another thing that makes movie critics do a double take; originality. take the best picture noms for this year: black swan, the kids are all right, 127 hours, inception. all movies that that either made your head spin or pushed the social envelope in a way that was too monumental to be ignored. so the academy rewarded it. but only one film will join the 82 other immortal Oscar winners and become extraordinary.
as i start to plan a movie of my own and look at elements that will make it successful, i wonder what the process really is, how the judges break down the categories and rate them. how do they assess performances? just what makes a script worthy of an award?
i'll probably never know for sure, but it sure will be fun trying to figure it out.

the putting off of the imminent history paper[s]

did you ever want to tell a story but you couldn't find the words?
did you ever have just the words to say but no story to go with it?
have you ever told THE story with THE words, but found it made no sense?
it wasn't original?
it didn't fit?
it wasn't right?
it wasn't smart?
it wasn't thrilling?
it wasn't breathtaking?
life isn't very interesting. that's why storytellers change it.
but sometime they don't. and we still like it.
why is that?
it's because life is relatable. we like to be entertained.
but sometimes,
that doesn't cut it.
guns, explosions, impossible romances, magical fairytales, feats of strength, greatness, nobility; they're all well and good.
but something within us responds

when a man comes home from work
tired,
stressed,
worn out,

and looks at his wife
and smiles
and says


"what's for dinner?"

offensively indifferent

i love movies. a lot. and as a movie lover, i tend to have favourite actors and actresses. as a result, i read a significant amount of material pertaining to these people and their movies. often times this is in the form of blogs and online articles, which allow the readers to comment. more often than not, the comments are entirely unintelligent and useless because people are stupid. especially people who don't appreciate the artistic work that goes into making a movie and only critique it based on the level of entertainment that it afforded them.
but i digress. suffice to say, even when the comments were clearly written by ignorant movie watchers, i'll get offended when they insult one of my actors or actresses (because they are MINE, after all). as i was thinking about this the other day, something suddenly hit me; do i feel the same way when people slam Jesus as i do when they slam an actor i like?
this was a very sobering thought. i'd like to say that i do, but that's not true all of the time. if i'm in a conversation with someone and they say "ughhhh, i hate gwyneth paltrow" i'll immediately jump to her defense. but if someone takes the Lord's name in vain, i practically don't even notice.
my culture has numbed me to the point of indifference. may God give me grace to begin to feel again.

Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues

if i'm going to be made to read this stuff for history, then by golly i'm going to make the best of it.

1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or your­
self; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each
part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; per­
form without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others
or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in some­
thing useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and
justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the
benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting inju­ries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body,
cloaths, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents
common or unavoidable.
12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring,
never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own
or another's peace or reputation.
13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

isaiah 12

you will say in that day:
“i will give thanks to you, o Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.
behold, God is my salvation;
i will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. and you will say in that day:

“give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
shout, and sing for joy, o inhabitant of zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of israel.”

THE MONTHLY CHALLENGE.......CHALLENGE

(disclaimer: this would have been much more appropriate if i had posted it in january.) greetings earthlings! happy new month!!
so this year, instead of doing new year's resolutions, i've been inspired by my supertastic friend kara to do (cue the snl voice over guy) *MONTHLY CHALLENGES*.
now you may ask, what is a monthly challenge? it's a challenge that you have to complete every month. obviously.
basically, the game plan is to set a challenge at the beginning of every month, and if you complete the challenge, you give your self a prize. *arrested development quote of the day* "a lovely, lovely prize."
my january challenge was to do yoga every day. i never thought of a reward for myself if i completed that one, so i failed. shame HOWEVER, it was good for me to do, because now i know what realistic monthly goals are. and i know to give myself a prize at the end. it IS the most important part of this exercise.
as today is the first of february (the day when charlie went to the chocolate factory, in case anyone was wondering), i have my monthly challenge; i am going to read THREE spiritual books. a chance to die (a biography of amy carmichael) by elizabeth elliot, a praying life by paul miller, and either just do something by kevin deyoung or worldliness by cj mahaney. my prize will be to go to borders at the end of the month, and buy myself a novel. i'll probably read it too.
the reason i'm blogging this is so i have massive amounts of accountability on the matter. cuz, ya know, accountability is good.
oh yeah, and i'm going to tweet nothing but bible verses. henceforth, february shall be known as "the holy month".
thank you, and good night.

ps february is also wes anderson character profile picture month. please plan accordingly.