06 September 2009

Purdue Football 2009


(image from the Purdue Sports website)


I'm so darned happy that football season has arrived! Aside from the nostalgic college football games and parties and tailgating, I'm absolutely happy about it!

Purdue is off to a winning start for the season. We played Toledo and won 52-31. Next Saturday (also my 23rd birthday and cousin's wedding!) Purdue will play Oregon (away game for us). Let's keep the momentum, Purdue!

Here's a blog entry by a Purdeu alum that I came by this week regarding Purdue's new coach and team: A Season of Hope.

Boiler up!

Amanda

A Little Princess


Book Cover


I'll never forget that I am my daddy's little princess. Vividly I remember him tucking me in at night, leaning down for the good-night kiss and whispering that I'm his little princess. Those encounters have been long gone save in my memory, but he still declares my royalty in emails and voicemails now that I'm far from home. In this respect I was very much like Sara Crewe; she grew up being totally aware that all girls are princesses.

When I was a young girl I would watch A Little Princess all the time. It was one of my favorite movies, and the only one I can recall that made tears well up in my eyes as a child.


Movie Cover


It wasn't for many years that I learned the movie was based on Frances Hodgson Burnettt's book, A Little Princess. It was a treat to read the story and turn the pages of a story I already knew and loved.

The story is simply magical. It's enchanting. It's strong, kind and, reading the story as an adult, I see how powerful a story it really is. Burnett weaves together a lovely tale about how being the bigger, better person is always the way to be; it's how a princess would behave. Giving to those in need, standing up for those who cannot defend themselves, sharing, being honest, doing what's right - these are all descriptions of what made Sara herself.

But Sara demonstrates that not only behaving in actions and words is important but also to pause and think! That is the major point I only just picked up about what Burnett was saying. Many times in the book Burnett describes Sara's patience with her own words, holding her tongue, fighting the urge to flash back at someone who'd treated her wrongly. She paused and thought out her words before she spoke them, and what a difference it can make!

Another aspect I loved about the story was that of India! Ever since seeing the movie I've had a fascination with India. I bet it had something to do with my love of the story Siddhartha, The Kite Runner and my yearning to one day visit India.

Yet another aspect that I loved about the story was the pretending and story-telling! Sara had such a wild and amazing sense of imagination! And her stories were so intense! When I was a child I could hold a candle to Sara's imagination, but to her story-telling, haha, that I wouldn't stand a chance against, but if you know me, that fact is obvious. Anyway, Sara young mind was very grand, and everyone adored her for it being that way.

By the way, most of you know I hardly ever and very rarely cry during movies. Well, I sobbed a good three separate times as I re-watched this movie. I remember being pretty shook up - maybe crying - even when I was young when I watched it! It's just so moving and emotionally powerful! It's a story I cherish very much so.

I've just realized that Princess Sara Crewe is my favorite princess, and that I want to always be just like her. Funny how an imaginary character can be an excellent role model - and one who's much younger than I am presently, and so forth, given that I will always age and she will never. She truly is a little princess.

Here's to all the little princesses,

Amanda

Fahrenheit 451


Fahrenheit 451



This book was the first we read at the East Orlando Twenty-Something Book Club. Turned out to be a pretty good book to kick off with, too: it's a classic, Ray Bradbury is well-known, and being about books, book lovers are bound to appreciate the novel.

At the book club meeting we discussed the book for a good hour and a half. Here are my thoughts:

I'd read a time-travel short-story by Bradbury (A Sound of Thunder) a few years ago for an English class at Purdue, so I knew I was a Bradbury fan. I don't know how to describe his writing style other than it's kind of choppy like those of actual thoughts, at times anyway, and it's poetic, and it has beautiful imagery and his work is just fantastic.

I found the idea of burning books as a punishment for the crime of owning/reading them to be very intriguing. Firemen were meant for burning books when they were discovered, not for putting fires out. Guy, the story's protagonist, is living ignorantly, along with the rest of society, until a young girl - an odd young girl, in comparison to the rest of the population - gets the ball rolling and makes Guy question what he is doing as a fireman. I really liked Clarisse's character because she was so different, dreamy and elegant. It was sad when her role in the story ended.

I enjoyed that the former historians, librarians and professors upheld their own libraries (in their minds). Memorization fascinated me in the story. And it made me realize how accurate Bradbury's story has become in our day and age. We live in a super-sonic speed of life; information flashing all around us; hurry up; let's go! What happened to those old chats with friends, family and neighbors on a nice summer evening out on the porch? That reminds me. I had a professor once tell me that air conditioning was what started all of these changes in society. I believe there's a lot of truth in that: convenience = degradation in many ways. Same with the TV as Ray points out in the novel. A great reason as to why I didn't own my own TV for years and years (I'm just a sucker for watching movies, but know that they are seen on my own time and it's not like TV where it controls my agenda).

Anyway, the book is really great. Definitely worthy of being on several Top 100 Books of All Time lists. Certainly makes you question the world we live in, and it's good to question things and take stands and be true to yourself.

I'm excited for later this month because I'm hosting a movie night for the Book Club to watch this book's film! I've no doubt that it'll be a fun time!

Amanda

The Bubba Roll

Just a quick blurb about the remainder of Sam's visit back in August (for a quick link to the first part, click here).

After a great weekend at the beach and Busch Gardens we settled into a work-week sort of routine. I, of course, went to work as I normally do, while Sam, of course, managed to mix up his days and nights by staying up to ungodly hours of the night (well, morning, really) playing his beloved X-Box. I'm really happy I had an HDTV for him on which he could play his video games.

Through the week we hit the gym a couple times. Sam seemed to like my gym, but he wasn't as blown away as Mom was, haha. Anyway, he was glad to get a couple workouts into his visit. Aside from the gym we saw a movie: The Collector, which neither of us were impressed with. Sam was a little mislead by the preview, apparently. The movie was by the same director as the Saw movies, just to give you an idea of what the film entailed. If it had attended to a small bit of the plot towards the end it would have at least been a decent movie, despite the blood, guts and gore. Oh, well.

The other big event during the week was my taking Sam out for sushi for the first time. I'm happy to report that I've converted yet another person to enjoy sushi. One of my colleagues, Jesse Henderson III, was in town from Maryland, and whenever Jesse visits, a group of us go to Wine Down Wednesdays at Urban Flats, then we have sushi at Fuji Sushi. Sam and I skipped Wine Down and went straight for the sushi. Given that we were with Jesse, it was a fun time; always a riot! Sam and Jesse almost instantly clicked and had a couple moments that I'll chuck under "bonding," haha. Sam's favorite roll was The Bubba Roll; he didn't care at all for my spicy tuna roll, haha. Anyway, the food was delicious and we had a good night.


myself, Sam, Jesse, et. al. at Fuji Sushi



I really enjoyed Sam's company for the week that he visited. I'm so glad we've reached that point in our relationship where we can start to relate and be friends as well as siblings. (The four year age gap made that difficult until recently.) Thanks for a fun visit, Sam! Love you!

Amanda

The Golden Compass


The Golden Compass


A few days ago I finished reading the first book of the trilogy entitled His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass. Here's Mr. Pullman:


Phillip Pullman


First of all, this book series, and most of Pullman's work, from what I gather, is geared towards children. When I picked up the book and began reading I found that I sometimes had to consciously bear that fact in mind. For a children's book, however, the story is pretty deep and fairly well developed - almost in the ranks with that of Harry Potter; almost.

Lyra is the main character, and she is quite a little spit-fire. I found that I liked her spunk, but not her lying habits so much; she didn't grow on my quite as much as I think the author had aimed for, but then, again, I am an adult and a child would be much more savvy and embracing towards Lyra.

I wish I'd read the book as a young girl because the imagination and fantasy was definitely present, I just felt like I couldn't quite tap into it. However, I can tap into that when I read HP, so it must be due to other things about the book or author. There were a few twists at the end which sort of left a bad taste in my mouth and declined my interest in continuing the trilogy with the second book. We'll see about that.

One thing I really enjoyed about Pullman's world in the novel (and series, I'm presuming) was that of the dæmons. Dæmons are animal forms of a human's soul; one can talk to them, listen to them, etc. Dæmons are a human's best friend; they are one being emotionally and psychologically. When the humans are children their dæmons can shift animal shapes, and the animals mimic the child's (and later, the adult's - though by then the animal is permanent) mood. It was very fascinating to see how characters were thinking/feeling based on the descriptions of their dæmons. I really liked the dæmons concept. I wonder what life would be like if dæmons were real. Everyone would have one. Almost all of the time the dæmon is the opposite sex of its respective human. People can only physically distance themselves from their dæmons by so much or there is a terrific emotional and physical strain on both the human and the dæmon. When a dæmon dies the human often does, too. When a human dies the dæmon, too, deceases. It is taboo for a human to touch another's dæmons, although dæmons may touch one another. Pullman created a very interesting culture of humans and dæmons.

So now I've added The Golden Compass to my Netflix queue; it's next up. Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliot, Daniel Craig and Eva Green are all in the cast, and I've heard decent things about the movie despite its 3.5/5 star rating.

-Amanda

The Positive Campaign

EDIT

Just came across this: The Compliment Guys in The American Profile

Keepin' it positive,

Amanda

ORIGINAL POST (30 August 2009):

One day last fall I was on the phone with Sallie Mae, discussing important loan details, when all of a sudden I was bombarded with a compliment. Confounded, I looked towards the voice to see a complete stranger with a sign that read "free compliments." I managed to spit out a thank you, because I was running late for my next lecture and wanted to wrap up the phone call, and was on my way. Later that day I got to thinking about what had happened, and what a wonderful stand the two Compliment Guys were taking on being positive in this day and age.

Since then these two Purdue guys, now known world-wide as The Compliment Guys, have made leaps and bounds for what I've began calling The Positive Campaign. Here they are with their trusty sign:


Purdue's The Compliment Guys


Here are a few links to articles featuring the Delighted Duo:

Chicago Tribune Article

Lafayette Online Article

And here's the link to their website: Brightside Tour


Also making waves in the Positive Campaign is Caitlin. She's the one behind Operation Beautiful, an anonymous Post-It war being waged against women who berate themselves with fat talk.


Operation Beautiful



I just wanted to post a bit about some really great people who are making a difference for the better.

Here's to the good in the world,

Amanda

05 September 2009

Photos of 2009

What's changed?

6 September: added "September 2009" album

27 August: added photos to "August 2009" album

12 August: added "August 2009" album

2 August: added "July 2009" album

28 July: added photos to "June 2009" album

7 June: added photos to "May 2009" album, added "Kristin & Aric's Wedding" album, & added "June 2009" album

January



February



March



April







May



Kristin & Aric's Wedding



June 2009



July 2009



August 2009



September 2009