Joseph Hon-Fu Sin

   This is old news for some of you, probably most of you, but... I met someone. And I'm going to rave about him for approximately the next five minutes. I'll try not to gush for those of you who have sensitive stomachs (or witty minds to mock me with later... Janna...)

Toronto airport

Anyway, he's absolutely wonderful. 

He's brilliant. I tend to go to him with all of my questions- 

medical, spiritual, common sense, familial, friend, doctrinal, academic, etc.

He's musical. I've always felt buckets of peace when listening to the piano.

And he's impressive- as in sight-reading-difficult-classical-music-beautifully impressive.

He's athletic. Way more than me. Not that it takes a whole lot most of the time. 

He's genuine and kind. They're the first things that drew me to him. 

He's loving. For some reason he seems to love me dearly and think I'm something incredible. I'm all about keeping that little exaggeration perfectly in tact. 

He's happy and peaceful. And a bit of that gets radiated out to me.

Especially on those days when I want to strangle students 

or when I'm stressed about some dumb little thing. 

He loves the Gospel. He has such strength and testimony that brightens my life.

I love talking to him about it and sharing experiences and beliefs.

Bored at the Toronto airport, waiting for our flight, which was cancelled...

   So, yes, Lindsay is in love. As trite and ridiculous as that sounds and as much as I NEVER thought I would write that in a blog... well... the time has come to tackle my pride and say it out loud for my family and friends. I realize love has different levels and I know I'm only starting, but I'm starting nonetheless. 

Isn't that lovely?

(I'm done gushing/raving now... see, that really wasn't that bad, was it?)

An 18 Year Old Poet

   First of all, I realize there are some dashes in 18-year-old, but it looked weird in the title, so I'm omitting them. (Poets can take certain grammatical liberties that 7th grade English teachers cannot.)

   If you read my entry about the bookcase, you know that I've been cleaning. Part of that cleaning made me get rid of my filing cabinet which has steadily been with me since I first moved to college. It's pretty organized, but I haven't sorted through any of it for a very long time. Well, when I was emptying it out I found something- sketchbook papers with poetry on them.

   Now, the first time I ever wrote poetry (not for a class assignment) was on the Church History Tour after high school graduation (June 2003). Every so often in the last 7 1/2 years I've wondered what happened to those poems, but figured I probably threw them out long ago or that they were in some box somewhere full of 'memory things' as I like to label them. Surprise! Some were with me all along! Now, I'm definitely not saying I'm a brilliant poet now (definitely not), and I definitely wasn't a brilliant poet then (most have the exact same meter). However, I am saying that it's really fun to have these to look at and remember. I know I had more because I remember vaguely writing some others, but these must have been the ones I deemed good enough to make 'final drafts' of. (They have decorative borders and are written in what I guess would have been my best handwriting at the time.) I also found a song I'd written. I didn't remember I'd ever written a song, and I didn't remember it even was a song until about halfway through the second verse when it hit me what those little marks were by each line- since I can't write music, I'd just put little dashes to indicate that the pitch went up or down relative to the last note.  haha Believe me, we should all be happy I didn't pursue a career as a songwriter. I'll happily leave that up to Ry in the family.

This is one right after I went to the Sacred Grove.

I went to where the prophet stood

I walked his very steps

And in my heart I knew the good

Brought by the Lord’s concepts

I seemed to feel his very soul

It merged intent with mine

The tempests ‘round me seemed to lull

Through sacred peace divine

I felt assured of love and grace

As well as knowledge learned,

I did not see His very face

But my heart no longer yearned

 The Holy Spirit’s loving arms

Were wrapped around so tight 

That all the worldly wealth and charms

Couldn’t touch with their fake might

This Gospel means so much to me

Faith growing each new day

That though Christ lived across the sea

He forged for me the way

My heart’s been touched by Holy Hands

The tender seed caressed

 When I walk through this sacred land

I know I have been blessed.

His Holy House

     Last night I went to the Salt Lake temple with Sara and Laura. As I was there I began thinking about the beauty of the earth and all the blessings we are each given. And, most importantly, about the Holy Ghost and the humbling promise to always have Him with us if we so choose. The greatest and most needed blessings poured through me- peace, hope, steadiness, strength, reassurance, love. Who wouldn't want to enter a place that reminds us of those dearly held blessings we already have access to? So often I forget and go about my life without paying much attention to, and not leaning on, those hallowed gifts from God. 
   There are many things I love about the temple, but one of them is how it helps me to see clearly and in perspective. Priorities are no longer upside-down and topsy-turvy, expectations and rules are centered in the Gospel instead of ten different places that I'm trying to remember and figure out when they contradict. Life can be so much simpler than I allow it to be. The most important things in life are simple and all-encompassing and that is the majesty of the Heavens. Yes, life can be difficult and complicated and confusing, but the things that truly matter never will be, and they will be a guide to help us through those things that seemingly are. 

   I'm still so new at being in the temple, but the beauty is that it doesn't matter whether you've been twice or six hundred times... the Lord is there, waiting to speak to you, and teach you at whatever level you may be at. Each time I learn more, and though I often feel like I'm only grasping the basics, I feel peace that I'm at the level I need to be at. It's okay to work to understand the basics. The Lord has promised that we will understand all that we need in order to make the decisions that are in front of us. 

   As I was reading a Church article before I went, it asked a few questions: What does this decision do for me? and What does this decision do to me? As I sat in the temple and pondered these things, I realized that I have been given light sufficient for my needs. I have received strength sufficient to move forward. I have been blessed. I am being blessed. I am a daughter of God. And He loves me. And now I must "fresh courage take, [for] our God will never us forsake". 

A Bookcase and the Excitement of My Life

Have you ever noticed that the busier you become, the more excited you get over doing the little, mundane things? For example- finally getting new watch batteries or new soles on shoes or picking up something more than necessities at the grocery store and actually planning a decent meal...? Or, in my case, rearranging and cleaning my room and adding a new bookcase.

Now, we all know that I'm not really a cleaner at heart. Never been my forte. However, it's been a disaster since before Christmas break. And I've been craving a change for a while, so when my parents gave me a bookcase for Christmas (woohoo!) I decided to rearrange everything. Cleaning, though, has been intense. There was the typical amount of clothes discarded after being tried on, a few stacks of papers I promised I'd "sort through as soon as I could", bobby pins in every corner, and books, books, books... on the floor stacked vertically, horizontally set against the wall, scattered on the dresser, piled on my nightstand, even a few that had permanent homes on my bed that I just avoided while sleeping (or tried to avoid- occasionally I would wake up to the thud of a book hitting the floor at 3 a.m. after I'd pulled the covers wrong). Point being- the new bookcase is the best Christmas present I could have ever received and is now packed with all the books that are no longer flooding my room.

In addition, everything else is clean too, baseboards included. Well, except that stubborn stack of papers that I still don't know what to do with even though I've sorted through them twice. Why on earth does filing take so long?

Oh, and you may ask, "Lindsay, is your life really so mundane that cleaning and a new bookcase are the best things you can post about?" Well, my answer to you is that bookcases are simple and easy to understand and are therefore much more conducive to being written about than anything and everything else. I'm starting a blogging streak though (I can feel it in my blood), so don't worry (as I know you are), I'll try to be less shallow in the future. :)

Misjudging the Snowy Season

   This morning I woke up early and went out to scrape the walks in the dewy morning light from the snow that fell, literally, all day yesterday. It was beautiful and crisp and fresh and the whole world felt magically new and pristine. It was just light enough that the sky is that foggy-gray color without any sunlight peeping through yet. 
   As I was shoveling I was thinking about a couple different things. A) How beautiful it is early in the morning. B) The fact that I may get stronger arms and shoulders from it- always excellent. C) The peace that comes from just being by yourself with your own thoughts to start out the day. D) Writing a blog about the idea that maybe snow isn't all that cold after all (If you have the right clothes and are doing something active) and that maybe I've been misjudging it all this time and should really give things a second chance this winter. 
   After I finished I went inside, got ready (the hot shower was blessed), and was leaving for work, my neighbor was outside helping his wife into their car. We exchanged good mornings and I thought he would head back inside, but instead he stayed out and said he'd wait to be sure I didn't get stuck. He waited for a few minutes while I scraped my windows and gathered my stuff and then he made sure I got onto the cleared road before he waved goodbye and went inside. What a beautiful example of brotherly love and service. How kind it was of him to wait to be sure I was safe and didn't get stuck in the snow plow's drift. 
   I used to dread the coming of winter- the only really good thing about it was that you can sit by a window and watch the beauty of snow as you drink hot chocolate and read. Yesterday and today though, I noticed how much service is naturally given in the snow. I scraped the walks for my neighbors and my neighbors scraped our walks later. Windows were scraped without being asked and snow was swept off the top of cars long before it was actually needed. Girls were helped to cross snow drifts in heels and arms were offered to help each other from slipping. Advice is freely given and warnings are shared. Cookies are accepted and people admit to needing help, which is freely and lovingly given. The warmth of homes is enjoyed a little more. The hello's of passerby's are more readily returned. 

Dear Winter, I'm sorry for misjudging you and not seeing the beauty you bring out in people. You have your not-so-pretty parts too, like all of us do, but you are beautiful in many, many ways. 

Thank you

Shining Moments

Today it seems like winter is officially here. Not only am I sad that the cold, frozen months presented themselves, but I'm also sad that the crisp fall months are saying farewell. However, there have been some absolutely beautiful, shining moments that have lit up my cloudy sky with brilliant sunshine. 

1

This morning, one of my friends, Derek, stopped by the school to say a quick hello before classes started. Not only was I super surprised (he lives in Washington), but so glad. It brightened my whole morning to see him unexpectedly step into my doorway. He has a smile that can light up absolutely any situation and I feel all sorts of lucky in being able to see it!

2

As we were dancing I was able to look out the doors and see the rain turn to snow. There's something magical about dancing while watching the snow fall outside. It also reminds me of countless days at BYU-Idaho rehearsing... and those are always fabulous memories to bring back.

3

Last night I went on a walk and it was the perfect fall evening. How lucky is it that the night before winter comes I was able to stroll around Sugarhouse with perfect weather and perfect conversation? I thought about it all day long- it's always nice to be able to say goodbye properly to a season and usually I don't quite get around to it. 

4

There was a voicemail on my phone at work and after taking a few minutes to figure out how on earth to check it, I listened and it wasn't for me. So happy! I was able to hit the 'Mark as New' button and send an email off to another teacher who needed to take care of it. Whew!

5

I received a couple of emails today that just made me smile. I check my email in the middle of my classes while my students are working independently because it's the only free time I have. And today, waiting for me in the midst of the craziness were a few moments of total warmth and comfort. 

So very, very lovely! Thank you.

"I panicked!"

Students aren't allowed to chew gum; students who choose to go against this rule and are caught with gum get sent to the office to get a lunch detention slip. Being me, I have a hard time sending kids out for detentions. (Partly this is because I'm just a softie, but mostly it's because they'll be out of class for ten minutes while they get the  paperwork and lecture and etc., and they end up missing so much that they never catch up.) Anyway, today one of my students was chewing gum. I told him to spit it out and he did. Less than five minutes later he was chewing gum again. (May I mention that it was bright blue gum that was extremely strong smelling and he is completely unable to chew without opening his mouth widely...) This particular student knew not to push me twice- I usually bend the rules once, but twice and they're out. I told him to spit out his gum and he tried to lie and say he didn't have any. I told him the color and flavor and his face just lit into this shocked look of "How did she know?" And then........      He swallowed it. Blatantly. He and I just kept staring at one another. Finally I asked, "Did you really just swallow it?!" He looked at me, frozen, and blurted out, 

"I panicked! I didn't know what to do!" 

I then put my head in my hands and broke out laughing (while sending him to the office for a lunch detention of course). He tries to lie all the time about trivial things, but he can't help but blurt out the truth every once in a while and it just cracks me up. And yes, I'm still laughing about it- I hope you see the humor. :) 

Election Day

First of all, you need to understand that I absolutely love being in Glenwood precinct. I love being able to go down and vote for the elections I really care about and research well. Usually I figure time out enough that I can vote early, however this year, somehow, time just zipped  by me and I found myself on November 1st without having made it to the Richfield County Building.

Last night I was considering running down to Richfield to vote this afternoon after school. I needed to stop by UVU anyway, I thought, and if I left right after school, I could make it, right? Unfortunately, two of my students decided to choose today to tell their parents they needed to work on homework for my class after school. What was I supposed to do? Tell them I actually had a life outside of school? (One that consists of driving hours to vote... nothing they'd be impressed with anyways.) Thus, at 4:45 I was still sitting at school helping them with vocabulary and how to format an essay. Very good things, but... voting just wasn't going to happen.

Thankfully the political equivalent of a knight in shining armor, Chris Wharton, called to remind me to vote and told me I could do a provisional ballot. Woohoo! I had to miss dance class and went to three different places looking for a place to vote before finally finding one at Highland High. There was a line at least thirty people long and I spent far longer than I planned there, but I finally voted. Success! I can keep harping on the importance of voting to my students without being hypocritical. Whew!

Just a side note, I think it usually happens that my vote is the kiss of death for candidates- they never seem to win. I've considered voting for the candidates I don't like to see if it will work inversely, but my political drive just won't quite let me go there. haha

Best Friends

Janna and her amazing family came up and spent Fall Break with Sara and I this past weekend. Let me tell you, I needed the break desperately and it was absolutely perfect to have them come up. (A very big thank you to them for sacrificing their Fall Break just to make my life better...) We ended up doing a lot of really fun things- The Utah State Historic Park, The Children's Museum, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (during which Josie held my hand and made me feel more comfortable and safe than I have for a while. She's really one of the coolest girls ever.), shopping, playing football, going to the park... All out awesomeness. Janna's kids are amazing- all of them. So unique and special in their own way. I'll probably get around to writing posts about all of them some time or another just because of that, but this one is specifically dedicated to her youngest: Miss Jainie Elizabeth Belle Thalman. 

Jainie and I have been pretty tight. However, lately she's been upset with me for not going home more often. It's stunk! No good at all. After spending the weekend though, she was getting back to her old self more and more. On the last day they were here, we went to the park and swung, doing the octopus- where one person sits normally and the other sits on their lap, facing the other person- making their legs go the opposite way (does that make sense?). We were swinging away and laughing and when we finished she said, "Linds, you're my best friend." In case the weekend hadn't been healing enough with Janna's advice and humor, and Jaxon's energy and wit, and Josie's tenderness and attitude, and Josh's sweetness and athletic macho-ness, and Jake's pure craziness and expression, this added the little extra I needed. Facing the week is do-able all over again. :) Whew!

(This is obviously from last winter, but I didn't take my camera with me this weekend, so... I just decided to put up a favorite of Jainie Belle and I...)

Books, Books, and More Books

Apparently when I'm stressed I decide it would be more advantageous to read for hours on end rather than work on the To Do list that should be filling that time. Logical sense, right? Yep... I know. Pure brilliance on this side of the computer. Anyway, I've read a couple books in the last few weeks that have left an impression (there have been others, but... don't want to bore you). 

Fallen

by Lauren Kate

  After a crazy stressful day at school I escaped to B&N and bought this (I'd heard recommendations). The premise is a doomed love affair with the whole 'fallen angel' angle thrown in. The main characters are destined to fall in love during each life, but once they find one another, the girl always gets killed, but is reincarnated so they can fall in love again in the next life. (Sounds sketchy, right? Up to this point I agree.) This life, however, is different and the entire battle of good vs. evil is brought to a point around them. 
Is the book going to win a Newbery award? Probably not. Is it entertaining? For sure. It has a lot of over the top drama with a little teenage angst and some dreaminess thrown in. There's romance, a little mystery and pretty good plot and character development. I'll probably end up reading the rest of the series, but... not until I get some other books out of the way. 

The Hero and the Crown

by Robin McKinley

While at B&N during that same stressed out spree, I happened to pass by the shelf that held the staff recommendations and this was on it. I'd never heard of it before, but it's about a dragon and a hero and fantasy and medieval and on top of all that, it was a Newbery winner... what more could I ask to recommend it to me? And.... I absolutely loved it! Honestly, it was great. Very well written with a complex plot that continues to twist and turn as you read. The story line is a very fantasy, so if you aren't into that, this isn't for you, but it's cohesive with lots of old legends involved, which of course made me love it even more. It has all the aspects of a book that make it a great teen read and I honestly would recommend it to anyone who likes the genre. The only thing I didn't like was one aspect of the end that didn't quite get tied up completely... at least to my liking. After you read it, we'll chat. I'm itching for someone to discuss it with... : )

Book orders just came in yesterday... you can bet I have a whole stack waiting on my book shelf again right now. In fact, I'm pretty sure I feel a pull from them... a need to immerse myself in one right NOW.

On Friday morning I was...

Getting ready to pass out the weekly vocabulary tests.

...

Jumping at least two feet off the floor (exaggeration) and losing ALL the papers when my arms jerked because of said jump (not an exaggeration) when that blasted, annoying, buzzer-thing went off.

...

Walking out into the rain with all of my students.

...

Taking roll and having at least eight of my students, individually, ask me why I had to raise a red flag when I knew perfectly well the two kids missing were absent. 

"Umm... Ms. Oldroyd? Don't you remember...."

...

Giving my jacket to two students who were shivering and who then found a way to both fit inside, zip it up, and promptly forget that they would have to walk together. (Actually quite funny- it was like watching two four year olds try to master a three-legged race.)

...

Getting my students back into the school without their writing on every dirty car window they could find.

...

Gathering the scattered vocabulary tests and trying, in vain, to get the students back to thinking about words such as 'lionize' and 'dissension' and 'indifferent' so I wouldn't have to enter depressing scores like 6/15 into my computer. 

Teachers hate low scores probably more than students do.

...

Wondering why a fire drill could possibly cause this much drama.

The Greatest Show on Earth!

The WHAT:

The WHO:

Sara, Emma Frost, Jamie Walker, and ME

The WHY:

 The Ring Master

Contortionists being spun high in the air

He was holding on to two straps on his wrists.

She was holding a strap he was holding with his teeth.

The blur is from how fast they were spinning.

Tiger tamer... not nearly as cool as you'd think.

Contortionists... exactly as cool as you'd think.

Who knows what their technical job title was, but they were rockin' awesome. Pretty sure they have muscles visible that I didn't know existed.

"The Mighty Meetal!"

He's the one you can't really see laying on his back. He's holding up 1,257 pounds. Or some such number like that.

Seven motorcyclists going in two directions- vertically and horizontally- in a very small metal sphere. Definitely gasp-worthy.

Trapeze Artists. Again- just as cool as you've always imagined. Tight rope walkers? Not necessarily as cool as you've imagined... and that's why they didn't merit a picture.

Just like in Thoroughly Modern Millie...

Classic. The whole thing was perfect- right down to the trained elephants. Here they're spinning, but they also all came out holding trunk to tail- just like in Dumbo and Jungle Book. Way to go Disney!

Best Part? 

Smiling and laughing (and getting as excited as little kids) 

Beautiful Moments

Some things just make life better. For example:

Favorite recipes for comfort foods that brighten absolutely ANY day or night. Thanks Janna for THE Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever! (milk chocolate, of course)

Coming home to an absolutely delicious dinner after a grueling day at work. Sara made this and it was a perfect combination of lightness and fulfilling-ness. The broccoli on top surprisingly made it double delicious.

Unexpected kindnesses... I broke down in front of one of my supervisors as he was critiquing me after school. (Was he harsh? Definitely. Still... when did I get so danged emotional? I used to be so collected and content...) Anyway, afterwards he brought me one of his perfect peaches- that he was saving for dinner for himself. Unexpected, thoughtful, kind. 

Lastly, I wish I could put up a picture of some of the sunsets I've been seeing. As I drive home from work I see the sunset reflected on the east mountains and oh my... beautiful. Yesterday the moon was sitting so poised between the mountains and brewing storm clouds. It was beautiful and I get to see images like that on the way home from work. A beautiful little moment at the end of a long, long day.

P.S. I just realized this was 3/4 about food. Apparently I need to do something besides work, read, and cook/eat. haha Too bad! Love it. :)

Something to do late at night.

I've been spending long hours at school, so when I finally get home I'm all for doing anything but correcting vocabulary packets, student writing, or mentally sweating from trying to think of a way to motivate a few unmotivatable students. The choice for tonight was a new book, "Surviving the Applewhites."

Jake is a 13 year old delinquent from the city who has run out of foster families and has thus moved to the North Carolina country to the Applewhite family farm and their home school, the only place left that will take him. E.D. is the only Applewhite who is his age and who isn't all artsy-shmartsy and flighty. The story is about a change of heart in both characters and follows fun and rolling events to help make it all believable and heart warming.
The story won the Newbery Award and definitely deserves it. It's at a seventh grade level in ideas, plot and vocabulary, but the morals and themes are beautiful to think about. All of us are needed in our own special ways and there's such value in finding something in life that you're both good at and passionate about. It's an easy read- it took me only a few hours to get through. I'd definitely recommend it if you happen to have time.. I know, I know... you're already thinking that only single, SLC teachers have time to read books for pleasure. It's quite the life, I know! :)

Leapin' Lizards!

We started leaps today in dance.... you definitely should wish you were here. As a class, we all said that "a leap is from one foot to the other" many times. We then began and most of the students proceeded to hop... with one knee up in a jerking deer-hitting-a-fence-post type of movement, almost moving backwards. After most students were moving forwards and getting from one foot to the other, I noticed one student watching me. She asked, "How come ours don't look like yours?" (I was doing really tiny leaps- more walking with a little air time- just fyi) I told her my legs were straight and toes were pointed, and demonstrated the difference it made. The class listened, and... that's when they went back to hopping jerkily... Toes pointed? Yes! Legs straight? Trying. Leap vs. hop? Not a chance. Hilarious? Absolutely!
Pretty sure we're going to stick with working on leaps for the next couple weeks. When are we going to start turning, you ask? Maybe second semester. :)

Camper vs. Leader (Apparently I'm growing up)

Between my junior and senior year in high school, I went to Freedom Academy at Camp Williams where we learned all about leadership, facing our fears, teamwork, patriotism... all those great values. Anyway, I remember the rappel tower looked SO HIGH when I was 17 and surrounded by my peers. I was terrified as I went up those stairs and looked down through the grating to see how high 45 feet looked.

Today, I chaperoned the 9th graders to... yes! Camp Williams. It was the opening activity for the year for our Ambassador program- a mix of social leadership and student government (-ish). Anyway, I ended up at the rappel tower belaying for the afternoon. Can I just say that 45 feet isn't nearly as high as it seemed 8 years ago? Also, being a participant who is expected to be a little nervous is vastly different from being the leader who is expected to be outgoing, fearless, and the general cheerleader. Vastly different! It's much more fun to me, but also much more exhausting. One student took almost twenty minutes to come down, as well as multiple individual pump-up sessions, conversations to get her mind off of it, lots and lots and lots of encouragement, my going down next to her and a National Guard guy joking around with her on the way down. I even started chants and cheering as a group and eventually had to convince my group to just walk away and leave her with the adults to come down. (Followed by a whole lot of praise when she finally made the venture). Wow... who knew that teen psychology was going to be part of my training? And who knew that I'd be loving it this much? Even with the frustration of mispronouncing 30% of their names. :)

The Hunger Games

Before school started I wanted to get in some last minute reading that I knew I wouldn't have time nor energy for once school began. I read the first book on Janna's suggestion a while ago. I loved it! However, I hate being caught in book two in a three book series; the authors usually wrap up book one in case it doesn't go very far and two and three never get published. Book two, however, always leaves the reader hanging. They usually know there will be a promise of getting book three published, so there's no need to wrap up the loose ends snugly. The author also usually gets busy with popularity and it takes a long time to get book three out. Therefore, I didn't read the second 'til the third came out, which was just a few weeks ago. I was going to just skim the first again, but I got completely pulled in. I just couldn't help reading it all over again.

The first book is pretty well written with a lot of powerful, yet subtle, themes. The most powerful of these was the question of what people will do for entertainment's sake and for power's sake. It's an interesting look at what motivates people and how those motivations can be positive or negative; how they can be for good or evil. Granted, she takes some liberties with the graphic nature of some sections. There are some violent deaths in there. They aren't overly depicted, but it's for an older teen audience. Some really great conversations could come out of it though, and actually have... in my life at least. :)

The second book... well... I had low expectations from what I'd heard. It was better than I expected, but not as great as the first. Still interesting and catching, but it did leave you hanging. There weren't as many powerful themes in it, nor was it as subtle. It was more of a surface read. The one theme that I pulled out of it was the question of what people are willing to give up and live with/without as long as they have something to hold on to, someone to hold on to. The things we're willing to sacrifice because others are worth it. The nobleness of the human spirit contrasted with the baseness and manipulation of the human spirit. Again, though, it took a bit of thinking to pull that idea out and clarify it.

The third book is the one that just came out, Mockingjay. The book started out well and kept up a gripping pace throughout. Like the other two books, I was riveted inside the story and the characters. I know some of you haven't read it yet, so I'm not going to go into details, but... just a warning... it gets pretty violent and graphic in there. Parents, read it first... I'm not sure I'd want my child reading it without figuring out how to talk about the themes that are in there. They are dramatic and a little heavy handed, but powerful and disconcerting. If any of you read it, please let me know what you think. I'm very curious to hear your thoughts- I may just be over reacting because of outside influences- very possible.

Anyway, I wanted to post this before I forgot all the details and get wrapped up in school on Monday. I let school stop me from posting about some awesome books I read this summer. So sad. :)  Anyway, let me know if you read them!

So Long Summer

It's almost shocking to me that summer is coming to an end. I haven't posted anything since right around June sometime, so here are a few things I've been up to in no particular order. **Warning: this post contains two months worth of activity in two semi-busy months. **

I'm saying goodbye to this building. I'm officially finished with my English endorsement; the last step for my teaching certification. I took my last two classes (both American Lit) this summer at UVU. I've walked through this parking lot and up those stairs oh-so-many times.

I'm saying hello to this building- American Preparatory Academy in West Valley. I've already spent two weeks training and today I went in to set up my classroom. (Getting paper on those bulletin boards isn't as easy as it should be.) I'm teaching English and Dance- so excited for it! I love the staff and students I've met so far. 

I still get to see her everyday, which I absolutely love and thank my lucky stars for.

  

And... a few other random events that have rocked my summer:

Tuacahn's "Tarzan"

So fun to get some of the family together for a couple days and play. 

Ry's back in SLC! Woohoo! We went to the Salt Lake Parade of Homes; this was a kids play house- intense. And yes, we did get lost in Draper, because it's laid out ridiculously.

 

Fourth of July in Richfield! 'Nough said.

Oh the Children's Parade... I thought I missed it this year because I was running late, but I was thankfully an hour off. Decorated bikes, wagons, scooters, and hair-do's. Perfect country classic.

Mmmm... naps at the cabin. I was really hoping for one right then; Jainie, however, was pretending, and not very well at that. Still, it was fun to cuddle up momentarily.

And lastly, what would a summer be without baseball? Thankfully Janna's kids play and don't mind me hanging out and watching all their games. I really do love it. Makes summer wonderful!

This summer's been busy, but wonderful. I'm excited to start teaching again and to get into fall (my favorite season), but this summer has truly been awesome. Always a little sad to see it go. 

Northern Lights or The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

It's one of my goals this summer to read at least a book a week. I realized during the school year how busy life gets with work and just trying to keep up with the students, so summertime has become my time to catch up on things I want to read, things I should read so I can stay in touch with my students, and things I should read to stay in touch with the literary world. Thankfully, often these categories cross over and I get to immerse myself in a new novel every week that will add to my library.

The first for the summer was actually an audio book I picked up from dad. It was a trilogy called His Dark Materials, with the first book being Northern Lights. One of my students had mentioned the books in passing and they were readily available, so I picked the trilogy up. Only later did I realize that in the USA it was popularized as The Golden Compass.

  

Listening to the book wasn't my favorite. There were missing links throughout that sometimes were connected and put to rest, but often the reader was left dangling. Obviously there are those things that are purposely left dangling because it's a trilogy, but these were small things, such as "How did the armored bear know where she was?" or "Apparently there must be a second entrance because that character wasn't in the room a few minutes ago." Moments like that aren't a big deal, but tend to pull the reader out of the story. Also, the audio books seemed to leave out quite a bit. Rather than explaining the sounds that are happening and reading the full book on tape, often it was as if they replaced the words with actual sounds. Seems like that would be a good thing, doesn't it? Well, it is, until you realize how hard it is to tell the difference between a door opening and a trunk opening and either option is possible in the story. Since it doesn't explain in the dialog for a couple of sentences, the reader is left unsure of what is actually being found and how it was found, thus pulling them out of the story yet again.  I just picked up the second book at the library yesterday, so I'm hoping that the audio book's interpretation is at fault for the lack of good, solid writing style. I'll let you know. 

As for the more intriguing discussion, many people say The Golden Compass is anti-organized religion. Honestly I didn't think about that when I was listening. It has a heavy-handed, moralistic feeling to it of being against anything organized that remains unquestioned by the majority of people. This isn't a new theme in literature though; it's been done over and over in different ways. My problem with it was how heavily the author chose to write it in. Rather than keeping the story line and plot foremost in the work, it almost felt as is Pullman made his message and moral the first priority and then tacked the story on to make it a little more palatable. Bad choice. Never is it a good thing when the reader can hear a dogmatic author voicing thoughts in his or her ear. Sadly, this defect cannot be the result of a poor audio tape reading or interpretation. Nor can the fact be that Pullman's characters can be flat, lifeless, and utterly one-dimensional. These cliched stereotypes drag the book down, creating even less of a plot to really sink yourself into on a rainy afternoon. Whereas some authors choose to make minor characters one dimensional because the stereotype is quicker, Pullman uses the stereotypes to criticize and find fault with people alive today. He chooses to create a one-dimensional character because it helps his moral, not because it helps the story. Again, never a good decision. Hopefully the second book will allow the reader to think their own thoughts and choose their own pathways of interpretation. Again, I'll be sure to let you know.