On little women.

This one is for the girls, and it's long, so stick with me here :) Well for those of you who don't know me, I'll enlighten you to the fact that I deeply get into books and movies and revel in them, usually to the point of tears in most cases, sometimes - more often then not - at ridiculous things, like The Wizards of Waverly Place, (and you can read all about that, as well as my queer knack for crying at kids movies, in a previous blog post.). Luckily, I rarely cry so hard that anyone notices besides a runny nose, but I found today, to my great chagrin, that one of the books I pined over and grumbled over and hated with every particle of my body proved to be, on re-reading, the second most moving book I have ever read, and I pride myself on a wide variety of novels. 

How sad it is that people these days are so caught up in the Vampire Chronicles and such things that they've forgotten how to read a truly good book! Three years ago, in my Harry-Potter mindset (after re-reading the excellent series for about the fourth time) I set about to read the classic Little Women, and only after my mother had forbidden any other book until I read it. As I had attempted to pick it up at least thrice before and always put it down early, it did not bode well. but I got through it, hated it, and resolved never to read it again.

I should have known better than to judge a book from my first reading of it, having had a similar experience with Pride and Prejudice, and after declaring how much I hated the dry book, which I had only read in order to watch the movie, I have promptly re-read it six times. 

This summer, I was about to start my annual summer reading of Harry Potter, when my amazing mother stopped me and told me flat out that I wasn't allowed to read it until I had read Little Men and Jo's boys. Much as it pains me to write, I must honestly say that I have rarely been in such a bad mood about having to read a book. 

And I couldn't put Little Men down. Immediately after it I picked up Jo's Boys, which I had heard from my sister was the weakest of the trilogy, and prepared myself for the worst. 

And never at a book, and rarely in a film, have I cried so much. I don't expect anyone who hasn't read it to understand what it was that made me feel this way, but I felt a keen connection in Louisa May Alcott's writing that made lines to my own family, and she had a way of writing that moved my heart. 

After that, Mom completely banned Harry Potter until Christmas, and though I complained then, now I see that I have to thank her for so much. I put together a book list that maybe some of you saw, but I have, in the course of the summer, expanded far beyond that. This year, I have been to France, London, Middle Earth, Perelandra, The Great Depression, Russia, Outer Space (multiple times) and many other places. 

But then, two days ago, I felt a deep need, suddenly, for something old. Something I had already read, something that would relieve me from the stress of a Tale of Two cities, just for a few days.

I chose Little Women.

Little Women; even the title suggests something great, something really amazing that most people seem to brush past. I started from the very beginning, and from the very beginning began to find something that I had missed my first time around in a haste to be over with it. In the title characters I saw people who I wanted to be, and wanted to have in my life. There's a depth to her book that my frustration had skipped over.
I saw my small vanities in Meg, but I also saw the housewifely woman that I've always wished I could be. In Jo the faults of a hot temper and tactless tongue; I also saw the desperate struggle of always trying, but not always succeeding, to be truly good. 
Beth was the one that truly brought tears to me, because I bear her name (there goes my secret identity), and because she is someone I am constantly wishing to be like, and know that I will never be as good as little Bethy.
My mother calls me "Amy" due to my tendency to make up my own words, or use incorrect ones in context. But out the four girls, Amy is the one I strive the most to be alike to - a true little woman, who won't let herself be taken in my the ways of the world, and though she enjoys life to it's fullest, remains a true lady.
If only we could all be such girls! The timeless struggle for goodness that Louisa May Alcott threads into her story makes me cry - not because it is sad, but because it is beautiful. The simple wishes of the girls' mother and father for them to be no more than "little women" remind me of my own parents' wishes for me and my sisters.
So I'm calling to you girls out there! In today's society it is a hundred times harder to be who God meant us to be, but we need to "shoulder our burdens and toil on" so that we can find the peace that every girl who tries to be her best will find. Little Women shows the beginning of the downhill society, and we are getting it in it's prime. But Mr. and Mrs. March aren't the only parents who pray for their girls to be the female leaders of society - by example, not by wealth or position. Your parents also are begging you, praying for you, and helping you to grow up and be the little women that you were born to be. 
"I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock it remains to be seen." - Little Women
-Rhian

On aiming high

While it may not be the best thing to do whilst practicing target shooting, I find it really good advice. Take your goals and make them the biggest that you possibly can - why, though? Why just get disappointing with everything? For example, if you decide that you want to aim for the goal of becoming President of the United States (although why anyone would is beyond me...), if you don't, you'll be crushed, that's the end of your dreaming, kaput, gone forever, time to go back to bed. Right?
Wrong.
The higher you aim, the higher you go. You might not reach where you wanted, but you will go farther than if you had aimed lower. We'll use the allegory of a target and a gun, though I know I previously advised against this (don't try this at home, kids!). There's a bird on the top of a tree that you want to hit (but make sure it's not a mockingbird - its a sin to kill those!...now I'm just being weird...) There's another bird farther down, too, but you want to hit the top one. You shoot, you miss the first bird, but you hit the second.
But what if you had aimed for the second bird? If you had only aimed as high as that bird, you might have missed it and gone even lower. Now, this isn't an insult to sharpshooters, who could probably hit it anyway, and I'm not saying to people who can't aim (like me) that they're goals have been buried with a grave marker. This is strictly allegorical, and a pretty badly written at that, but I'm hoping you get the point. Pope Francis said the words "aim high" at World Youth Day, and I plan to. I've always been a big dreamer with big plans for a big future. But there's a difference between wishing and hoping and planning and actually aiming for the goals. I say again that the higher you aim, the higher you'll go! And in the words of Les Brown:
"Shoot for the moon...even if you miss, you'll land somewhere among the stars."
-Rhian

On Siblings and Selena Gomez

You can probably guess from the title alone that I have nothing to write about, but I figured since a month exactly is long enough to be absent from my blog, I have to write about something. So here we go; try to stay with me here. It has now been a while since I watched the screen adaption of Beverly Cleary's Ramona and Beezus, and consequently feel like like an idiot every time I see it because I bawl like a baby. Maybe its because the character of Ramona was brought brilliantly to life by Joey King, but I'm guessing it was more the fact that Ramona herself reminds me freakishly of my own little sister - and the character of Beezus maybe just a little bit like myself. Not really trying to be mean, but just has it in her veins to tease the life from her rambunctious little sis. The death of the family cat and Beezus asking Ramona to sleep in her room because she misses her little sister, and the confidences the two share reminded me a great deal of my own relationship with Genevieve, and about how even the age difference between us still can make us close. After watching the film, after sobbing, I decided wholeheartedly to be nicer to Genna than Beezus was to Ramona. I suppose only Genna will be able to tell me if there was any change, but it woke me up to the reality of maybe that's why I don't feel close to her and I know for a fact that we've certainly enjoyed a better relationship after watching that movie. So there's Selena Gomez movie #1.
#2 is the Disney flick The Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. While I know nothing about the TV show, on a hunt for a family movie last night I suggested it and we ended up watching it. For a Disney Channel film, it was surprisingly moving - surprise, surprise, it was Selena Gomez and her siblings again (I should have expected as much). Only this time it was with her older brother. And while her character Alex certainly doesn't remind me of myself(...I think...I hope...), Justin really did remind me of my own older brother, and a few of the more touching scenes did reduce me to tears. And there was one scene, one line, that the crying Selena says to her brother that has rung true with me my entire life: "You're everything that I've ever wanted to be". So while Genevieve laughed her head off, I curled up under my blanket and sniffled (I can't expect her to know why I cry at such things, I don't even know why I cry at such things). 
So out of this comes 2 lessons - #1, Disney movies aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be. Really. And #2, I've found a new respect for the Disney flick actress Selena Gomez - she's got a good modern girl act that can make me cry, and she herself, as a person, is pretty good as far as they go - I said, 'Dad, I want a promise ring.' He went to the church and got it blessed. He actually used me as an example for other kids. I'm going to keep my promise to myself, to my family and to God." This is her own personal quote on remaining a virgin until marriage - not bad for the people out there today, right? She's not as terrible as everyone makes her out to be, either.
Thus ends my post, and only you, my readers, can tell me if I can pull off not having anything to write about.
-Rhian

On Independence Day

Not to post yet another "we're thankful to be free even if our country sucks sometimes" post, but this specific Independence Day hit me a bit harder than usual - not only because our country is in greater disrepair, but also because I recently finished George Orwell's 1984. For those of you who don't know, 1984 is a futuristic novel written in 1949 about what our world was coming to. From the first sentence "It was a bright, cold April Day, and the clocks were striking thirteen" to the last sentence, which I won't give away, it painted a picture in my mind that was frighteningly accurate about what America might possibly be heading towards. The fact that it was written so long ago makes it even worse. The novel made me think far more than I felt like thinking on a summer day, and the complete dictatorships that rules the world made me want to grasp at the freedoms we seem to be slowly losing even more. I'm not sure if I can recommend the book, but certainly don't read it unless you're about twelve at least, probably thirteen, as there are mature elements. 

While reading, a speech from the movie Independence Day came to mind. I know everyone's probably heard it, but it doesn't hurt to hear it again, and even though in all technicality it is applied to aliens, if you use your imagination it could be us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gFN1t7Goyk Freedom is a gift far more than we realize in day to day life, as 1984 taught me, and I hope that we can always remember that it was God who gave us that freedom and every other blessing we enjoy in this country, while it is man that's starting to take it away. But there's always something to be thankful for, and as the above speech states, "We will not go quietly into the night!" Pray for mercy for our country that has so much and gives nothing back. But that's not to say don't celebrate! DO celebrate - we're Americans, we're free, we're Catholic. Be thankful for our military, who, as the highly recommended movie "A Few Good Men" states: "They stand on a wall, and they say 'nothing's going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.'" And of course, remember the Revolution, which fought for our freedom, and as my favorite line in the Declaration of Independence says: (National Treasure taught me this) "When a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security." If you got lost in there, it basically means that those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action. At this, let's take a moment to remember the 19 firefighters who died from their response to the massive wildfire in Arizona. For me particularly, this line says that as a Catholic American, I have the responsibility to be a light in the darkness that we're falling into. You all do as well. Let's try to keep America from turning into 1984. 

"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four." - 1984. That shouldn't have to be a freedom, right? That book is so terrifying...

-Rhian

P.S. On a lighter note, but not very patriotic, I thought I'd renew an old youtube video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0

An insight onto why I have been absent.

But you all knew that, right?
Well, I've been absent for a while now. I've enjoyed it, too, and have had a marvelous time catching up on my life before it could catch up to me. And now I'm back, but who knows for how long? In any case, nothing truly amazing that would also be amazing to you all has happened to me, but here's an exciting insight into my past two weeks:


Seriously, we have been doing this. Its been fun, too, book awards. Technically they were the books we were writing ('we' being me and a few people who joined me to write stories together...to be fair, I came a little late in the game, it was my fellow bloggy Mokka who started it...) and not real books, but someday we should do this too. Movies are all very good, but books deserve hype too.


Speaking of book, I've been thoroughly enjoying Ender's Game and its counterparts. While the series certainly isn't for everyone, there are precious few books that make you think about things the way that these ones do. In most books, you have the good and the evil. You never stop to question that the good is good and the bad should lose the war. Ender's Game and the others make you question the morality of war in a new light, and the fact that the human weaknesses of deception, misunderstanding, jealousy and anger can't always make the good 'good', and just because you're fighting for the humans doesn't mean that you're right.

And I was in shock, having not expected anything much from the BBC series Sherlock. Yes', I'd heard how amazing it was, but being a die hard fan of the books and the Robert Downey Jr. movies, I decided no uppity British dude and his weensy little sidekick could top it, much less make the classic stories modern, even if they did do a fantastic job in Star Trek: Into Darkness and The Hobbit. (Cumberbatch and Freeman, respectively). And I was right - they didn't top it. They tied in just about every way, though. My first mistake was thinking that Cumberbatch had a high voice. Wrong, so wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64eonMsecAA

And I nearly fell asleep listening to this, too. Yes, I listened to the whole thing. No, I didn't really understand it. No, you don't have to listen to it. But that's beside the point - the entire series, with the amazing acting, captivating story lines, subtle humor and character development completely exceeded my expectations and made me an instant fan of Sherlock Holmes...again. 

Why there's Hogwarts in the background, I don't know. But really, the ever-quotable Moriarty did a fantastic job. Not like the books in any way, but somehow I still thought he was one of the best villains ever.

...and Smaug suddenly became a very sexy dragon...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4hK0y_u6yI
Speaking of TV, I started to watch it for the sake of The Voice and America's Got Talent for the first time in forever. Danielle Bradbury, sixteen years old, youngest competitor, and she blew me out of the water, winning against one of Michael Jackson's background singers, the remaining two finalists and hundreds of other incredible voices - 40,000, to be exact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-q7cfA8pfs
America's got some real talent this year - the above is my favorite act. Of course, they had some plain insanity, too - a man eating three raw eggs (oo! such talent! >:P), a voodoo doctor (or at least pretending to be), etc., etc. But if there's any TV show to watch, I'd encourage that one.


Well isn't that just the most miserable thing? Ernest Hemingway was challenged to to write a tragedy in six words. This doesn't really have anything to do with my week, except to prove the power of words, because I've already read more sad and classic books this summer than I've read the rest of my life, and probably cried more too.

Just...just because, ok?

Thus, besides working and writing, that is my insight into my life right now. And grad parties, of course, but I didn't get any pictures. So, besides finding a marvelous balance between books and movies that I've never seemed to understand before, what is the lesson learned?

-Rhian

For the Seniors

Well, here you are, about to graduate. I'm really bad at writing moving messages and all that stuff, so I'm going to be blunt here - I'd just like to take a moment to say thank you to you guys. I've known most of you for as long as I've been in St. A's, and you've really changed my life. Using the very cliched but nonetheless appropriate words of Wicked, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." For good meaning for eternity, and also for the better. Also from Wicked, "Now whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend." No, not by me being your friend, not by us being friends. By you being mine. The fact that any of you ever bothered to talk or hang out with me still amazes me. What amazes me more is that most of you went beyond that to actually try to become friends with me. I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with - I get random waves of enthusiasm and I'm a very spontaneous person, and I think that scares people, not to mention the fact that I can get shy but blunt at the same time around people I don't know very well - and so I thank you with all my heart for putting up with that to make me feel generally accepted. I'd like to say a special thank you to Sarah, who loved and played with and laughed with and tolerated me for my whole life. I actually don't know how many of you read these posts, if any of you; besides that selfsame loyal sister who reads them even when I don't want her to, but really guys - thank you. Excited as I am to see how we do as oldest in the school, I'll still be one of the youngest, and I'll miss being able to look up to you, to have someone to try to impress, though I'm sure I failed miserably. It really does help to be able to have most of you there to help me build my self control by trying not to be stupid, and the rest of you to be there to allow me to let it out and listen to me. 
Whatever colleges you guys go to, wherever you go in the world, I can expect great things from all of you, and I have a feeling you'll all live up to those expectations. It excites me to look ahead and try to see where you'll all be in a few years. Congratulations, seniors - I am eternally blessed to have known and loved you all, eternally favored as to have known people like you, to have grown up with people like you. I'm the last person to be giving advice, but I'd recommend taking a good look at this ending quote here - one of my personal favorites:
"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -Pooh Bear
-Rhian

On Courtesy

This one is for the guys. Look gents, I feel compelled to say something about your guys' conduct at the dance last night. If you go to a dance, you should be prepared to (wait for it) - dance. Is that really too much to ask? It's your duty as a man to ask a woman to go to the dance floor with him. It doesn't matter who the woman is, or how well she dances. I found myself thinking of a line from Pride and Prejudice: "He danced only 4 dances, though gentlemen were scarce, and more than one lady was in want of a partner." Its scandalizing for Mr. Darcy to dance only 4 daces - right now, it looks like were lucky to see a guy dance at all. Its really hard for a woman to have to go to a dance, to spend time making herself look nice, to discover that it is only just another social gathering. What's even harder is the realization that not only I, but several other girls I have talked to have come to simply expect that, going to a dance, they will not get danced with. This is truly disappointing. It's simple, common courtesy to dance when you go to a dance - if you're not going to, then don't come. Girls shouldn't have to sit there hours after hour and not get danced with at all. Freestyle is all very well and fun, but girls can't to swing with another girl like they can with a boy. Dances are meant to be fun - and you're enjoying yourself at the expense of our enjoyment. It's. Not. Enjoyable. 
Girls, if you are continually getting asked and know that there are girls who haven't been, encourage whoever keeps asking you to ask someone else. 
Boys, if you don't dance with a girl because she's not pretty - that's the way God made her, so suck it up. If you don't dance with her because she's not as good, how is she ever going to get better is she is never even given the chance to do so? Please, boys, this is far more important than you think. You all are such wonderful people - live up to it! I can expect such great things from you - can I expect the small as well?
"A real woman can do it herself, but a real man won't let her." - Anonymous
-Rhian
P.S. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I'm hardly speaking for myself - I don't care whether you dance with me or not, I care that you dance. Period.