On a Collection of information on how Sherlock survived before the answer is revealed tomorrow...oh yeah, happy last day of 2013. Don't read this if you haven't watched Sherlock, you'll just be be bored.

This collection of information is taken mostly from brilliant others and very few of these theories are my own. Those of them that are I won’t say because they are probably wrong.

Section #1: The film evidence

Sherlock jumped off of a building. He had no pulse, there was blood all around his head, he was dead and buried. Except that he wasn’t. The moment viewers ceased watching the final episode of Sherlock Season 2, the questions and the speculation began. Throughout a slew of theories, facts and evidence I have picked my way through and pulled out what I believe to be of importance. I will present evidence from fans, hints and the actual film and give my own conclusive theory. However, no one will really know what happened until Sherlock himself reveals it. That’s the beauty of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock knows that he is going to die. However, he only knows it for about the last 20 minutes of the film, which means that anything before that it most likely irrelevant to the case. Collected in this section is the FACTUAL evidence from the episode and the theories to that support it. We will be starting with 3 characters - John, Molly, and Sherlock himself  - and look at what they say and do that give us clues.

John Watson: John is Sherlock’s best (and only) friend. It seems natural that John would be in on the plan for whatever Sherlock does to survive. However, it is clear that John has no idea, is completely in the dark and that is how Sherlock wants it to be. It is John, though,  that Sherlock calls, and this phone call cannot be disregarded as having hints about what will happen. See The Phonecall. Here we will be looking at what happens to John:

#1 Sherlock tells him a couple of times to stay where he is and to keep his eyes on Sherlock and Sherlock alone. Obviously John is wanted in a specific position - but why? It is enough to gather from the film that the place where John is positioned means that Sherlock’s point of impact is blocked by a building. The fact that John is told to watch Sherlock can also lead to the conclusion that something is happening on John’s eye level that Sherlock does not want him to see. What this is remains to be seen.

#2 When Sherlock falls, John rushes forward only to be knocked over by a cyclist. As seen in the film the biker is far enough away when John starts to easily avoid him, but John is bowled over and does not get up for several moments. This implies that not only did the biker purposely knock John over, but something happened that John was not able to see. It would also fuzzy the already traumatized John and make a sound medical analysis difficult.

Molly Hooper: Molly is naive, socially awkward and cute. However, she is clearly a smart young woman and she has helped in times past with Sherlock. Molly is quite obviously key in Sherlock’s survival suicide.

#1 Molly doesn’t count. She says so herself, and this simple phrase is Moriarty’s biggest mistake and Sherlock’s biggest triumph. Moriarty tells Sherlock that he has guns pointed at every single one of Sherlock’s friends - but not Molly. And Sherlock does not mention Molly’s name, although she obviously counts to him. He does not draw attention to the fact that Moriarty missed her. Sherlock’s visit to Molly tells her that, and he tells her, and no one else, that he feels that he is going to die. He also asks for her help, something he does to no one else. Molly is never mentioned again after that scene except in the phone call between John and Sherlock (see The Phonecall). In overlooking Molly, Moriarty’s schemes failed.

#2 Molly works at the mortuary. She is in constant contact with dead bodies and often let’s Sherlock examine them. It would be simple enough for Molly to provide a dead body for Sherlock’s burial, fake paperwork that said he dies, funky DNA (after all, Irene Adler said that all that counts is the DNA and she too faked her death) and also blood for the sidewalk and paramedics to carry Sherlock’s ‘dead’ body to safety. She could also have provided the serum that Irene Adler uses to fake her death, though this would discontinue The Rubber Ball Theory. Molly could have done numerous things to help him survive, and almost certainly had a hand in it. Molly sees more than other people, as she reveals to Sherlock in the lab scene, and it could be this reason and the fact that Sherlock knew Moriarty would overlook her that he chose Molly and no one else to help him.

Sherlock Holmes: He should have died, but he didn’t. Obviously Sherlock had a plan from the moment he figured out that he was going to die. It was in that moment that he knew Moriarty was going to have to play HIS game. Sherlock is obviously surprised by the things Moriarty knew that he didn’t. Moriarty is Sherlock’s obvious equal, since they both outsmarted the other. When Moriarty kills himself it complicates things, but only insofar as Sherlock believed he would be able to get out of this easy. Sherlock didn’t know how Moriarty was planning to destroy him, since he was surprised by the gunmen threatening his friends. The only reason Sherlock was upset was because he was going to have to lie to John and because there’s always the chance that your fake suicide might have a hitch and not turn out so fake after all.

#1 Sherlock chose the crime scene. He texted Moriarty where he wanted to meet. The meeting was therefore dictated on Sherlock’s terms and alludes to the fact that Sherlock wanted that specific place; perhaps because he already had something set up. Also, the building that he chose is very near to the mortuary; the place where Molly works. Obviously Sherlock knows what he’s doing and already has something set up there.

The Phone Call: This has significance, and there’s no point in denying it. Sherlock doesn’t want John to know that he is innocent - whether because he wants to protect John in case on the phone call being intercepted or afraid that John would blab. It does seem, however, that Sherlock gave him clues. Below is the phone call recorded in it’s entirety from the episode:

Watson: Sherlock, are you okay?

Holmes: Turn around and walk back the way you came.

Watson: No, I'm coming in.

Sherlock: Just. Do as I ask. Please.

Watson: Where?

Sherlock: Stop there.

Watson: Sherlock.

Sherlock: Okay, look up. I'm on the rooftop.

Watson: Oh god.

Sherlock: I— I— I can't come down so we'll just have to do it like this.

Watson: What's going on?

Sherlock: An apology. It's all true.

Watson: What?

Sherlock: Everything they said about me. I invented Moriarty.

Watson: Why are you saying this?

Sherlock: I'm a fake.

Watson: Sherlock—

Sherlock: The newspapers were right all along. I want you to tell Lestrade, I want you to tell Mrs. Hudson and Molly. In fact, tell anyone who will listen to you. That I created Moriarty for my own purposes.

Watson: Okay, shut up, Sherlock. Shut up. The first time we met—the first time we met—you knew all about my sister, right?

Sherlock: Nobody could be that clever.

Watson: You could.

Sherlock: I researched you. Before we met I discovered everything that I could to impress you. It's a trick. Its just a magic trick.

Watson: No. Alright, stop it now.

Sherlock: No, stay exactly where you are. Don't move.

Watson: Alright.

Sherlock: Keep your eyes fixed on me. Please, will you do this for me?

Watson: Do what?

Holmes: This phone call, it's... it's my note. That's what people do, don't they? Leave a note.

Watson: Leave a note when?

Sherlock: Goodbye, John.

Starting from the beginning, John is told to stay where he is. We have been over this section before. When Sherlock begins to apologize is where it gets strange. Sherlock doesn’t apologize. Clearly this is a strenuating circumstance. While I have already said that he could be doing this to protect John and keep him in the dark, this could also be a clue that he is faking his death. He tells John flat out “I’m a fake” before going on to explain that he is a fake for the newspapers (he also mentions Molly here - perhaps to make John unsuspicious that Molly actually is in cahoots with him). When John mentions that he knew about his sister in their first meeting, Sherlock hesitates before answering “I researched you”. It is a lame answer and John should know it - Sherlock had never even heard his name mentioned before, as the man who introduced the two had also just met John that morning and immediately took John to Sherlock. Sherlock would have had exactly no time to research John. Obviously Sherlock was lying and John probably should have caught that.

The key in this phone conversation is a phrase Sherlock repeats twice in a row: “It’s a trick. It’s just a magic trick.” Notice that he is not speaking in the past tense here, as he was in his previous statement, so it is likely that he is not referring to looking John up at all. There are a couple of theories for this, both The Rubber Ball Theory and simply the fact that he is telling John, clearly and plainly, that all is not what it seems.

The Rubber Ball Theory: Perhaps one of the most ingenious speculations is that of the rubber ball. In the two scenes directly before Sherlock goes to the hospital roof, he is playing with a small, black rubber ball. This is seemingly unimportant but the fact remains that Sherlock has never before played with a ball while he is thinking. Is this small sphere of rubber important?

There is an old magic trick where, if you put something small, round and hard in your elbow and squeeze, it will slow down your pulse on that arm until it is nearly undetectable. Sherlock could be referring to this when he tells John “It’s a magic trick”.

When Sherlock’s body is on the pavement, one of the people in the surrounding crowd is kneeling on his left side and holding his left arm. What random passerby would want to hold onto the arm of a man who recently committed suicide? Unless it wasn’t a random passerby after all - the fact that they were holding that arm made John unable to check the pulse of it, and he had to check the other one - assumedly the one that had the ball in the elbow.

The Crime Scene: It is the scene of the Reichenbach Fall that has sprung the most theories. How Sherlock landed, if he jumped at all, if there was a twin of him, etc. In this section, however, I will discuss only the setup as seen in the film exactly, not how I think he actually did it. I will set it up the way that it is seen in the episode, no more.

The hospital is several stories high. Sherlock is standing at the top of it. In a shot where he looks down, we see a sidewalk with people on it, a laundry truck parked in front of it, and behind the laundry truck a large chalk square. John’s view is blocked by another building, which means there is something between the the jump and the impact that he doesn’t see. Even the cinematography cuts out a part between the fall and the actual impact. Sherlock jumps vertically but is sideways when shown. He is lying outside of the chalk square, and people crowd around him. There is a lot of blood on both sides of his head. People hold John back for a while before he can actually get to the body though everyone else seems to be let through fine.

This concludes the evidence in the film.

Section #2: The Hints

Moffat and his co-workers have dropped hints here and there as to how it happened - nothing big and definitely nothing substantial, but hints nonetheless.

Moffat said in an interview that there was clue “everyone had missed”. There has been unending speculation about this, but no one will ever know until Moffat decides to reveal it. The most popular theory, however, has been that of the rubber ball, explained above.

Moffat did give some more substantial hints in another interview, though, saying things such as “He’s got to interrupt the fall before he hits the pavement, really.” He also says that there is a clue hidden in something “rather uncharacteristic of Sherlock”.

At the San Diego Comic-Con, another clue was learned: That Sherlock’s survival could be figured out from footage in Season 2.

And finally, a photo from season two reveals Sherlock falling by a window...that has Molly looking out of it. Implications, implications...

Section #3: The Speculations, theories, and all that beautiful Mess

Well unlike Moffat I don’t have time to look through every theory posted online, but I have taken the liberty of pulling out the ones I found interesting, valid or simply odd. It is mostly a collection of facts and thoughts pulled from research. I have categories and specific theories in each category:

THE LANDING THEORIES

The Laundry Truck: This is a big one - that Sherlock jumped into the laundry truck, climbed out and had some blood splashed around. The truck drives away, notice, soon after impact. You’d think the driver would stay around  if a man died right next to his bus window!

The Pink Suitcase: This one intrigued me very much. As in the first episode, where Sherlock knew there was a suitcase by the fact that it was missing, speculation has been that because there was a laundry truck it must have been picking up laundry, and it was into this that Sherlock jumped. However, due to the fact that we see the impact and that there was no laundry when Sherlock looked down, I tend to find this theory a bit weak.

The Chalk Outline: Sherlock could have had someone remove the cement blocks and replace them with something softer. (Let’s remember, though, that Sherlock landed outside the outline).

The Legs: Sherlock flaps his legs as he falls. Apparently scientists say that since bending the legs reduces an impact then he could have survived. Doesn’t explain the blood and no pulse, though.

THE BODY THEORIES

The Moriarty Fall: Moriarty in Sherlock’s clothes fell. Yeah...no.

The Body Switcheroo: Slightly more plausible than the above. Sherlock fell (somewhere soft) and Molly found a new body that looked like him somewhere in the mortuary and doused it with blood.

The Kidnapper: Probably having the most evidence to back it, this theory takes on the fact that the screaming governor's daughter is never fully explained. Perhaps a kidnapper who looks a heck of a lot like Sherlock is walking around town, and it was he who fell from the roof, not Sherlock. Except no one else was up there.

The Hanged Dummy: In the beginning we see a dummy hung by it’s neck in Sherlock’s room. Perhaps this was used?

Cloning: In “Hounds of Baskerville” Sherlock mentions human cloning. Well, Moffat did say it would all be in Season 2, not just the last episode...

OTHER THEORIES

The Hallucinative Fear Gas: The cyclist might have sprayed this gas on John when they bumped, making John think Sherlock was dead.

Mycroft Helped Him: His well connected brother could probably easily stage a death, but it is unlikely that Sherlock went to him for help.

Super Sherlock: Sherlock went for a ride with Dr. Who and came back as an alien with regenerative powers. Surprisingly, there is absolutely nothing to support this theory...

Bad Memory: Drugged by the fear gas (which thrives on fear and stimulus, and seeing WHAT YOU EXPECT TO SEE), John is recounting what happened to his therapist. Bad memory, perhaps? Sherlock himself has a slight memory lapse in the same episode (perhaps this is what is ‘uncharacteristic’ of him?), and John could be suffering from both. Sherlock never jumped at all.

Reichenbach Fall: Since it isn’t called SHERLOCK’S Fall, Moriarty was the one who fell, and he apparently conveniently looks like Sherlock. I guess people forget that it is named that because the original story is called “The Reichenbach Falls”. (Like “Hounds of Baskerville” is named after “The Hound of the Baskervilles”).

Rapall: Since Sherlock “uncharacteristically” told Kitty Riley “You repel me” (he doesn’t usually form such staunch opinions of people so fast, if ever), it could be a clue that he used rapall, lowering himself down slowly enough and breaking his fall before leaping lightly to the ground and dousing himself with blood.

MY OWN THEORY

Sherlock asked Molly for

a. A fake death certificate

b. Fake blood

c. Another body to bury

Sherlock is on the building. I personally think that it was Sherlock who jumped and Sherlock who landed. HOWEVER I think that due to the wrong angle of the body and a the picture released from season 3, he (waving his legs to break the fall) landed on a platform directly behind the building and about halfway down so that John (who he had told to stay and was then knocked over by the bike) could not see. He then jumped from there and landed on the cement. However this is still probably enough to stun him, which explains why he could lie so still with his eyes so open. It is clearly Sherlock on the ground. I do not think that he jumped into the laundry truck, but I think that there was fake blood somewhere in the truck that was quickly doused onto Sherlock - as it is on both sides of his face and not just his right (where he supposedly landed) it is clear that it is fake. John, hurrying to his friend, is held back for a while. The passerbyes seem upset but not terrified. They were probably expecting this, because Sherlock told them to be there.

Now for the pulse. I do not know for sure whether Molly gave him the drug Irene used or not, but I am inclined to think that it is the rubber ball that was used to stop the pulse. This would also explain Sherlock doing his “uncharacteristic” thing - crying and apologizing to John - while telling him about the ‘magic trick’. Moffat will not have wanted to just reuse the drug, it would be too easy.

John, already terrified, stressed, and fuzzy from being knocked down by the cyclist, would be unable to function well, and Molly sent paramedics (who got there conveniently fast for the suicide having just happened, and no one called them; you can see that none of the passerbyes (AKA the homeless network) are talking on phones like they are calling an ambulance) to get him out of there before John could give him a deeper analysis. Molly provided a body for the funeral (who knows, maybe the kidnapper who supposedly looks like Sherlock?) and fake death papers. Who knows where Sherlock is hiding now?

On my favorite actor

Three cheers for the man of the hour! Hip hip hooray for the birthday boy! Well, more like birthday man. Today is the birthday of my absolute favorite actor ever, Hugh Jackman. He's turning 45, and I thought I'd give him a shout out even though he'll never receive it. Most people like Hugh Jackman well enough, because he's the Wolverine and he's so handsome and so buff.  To be perfectly honest, the first time I ever saw him act none of these things struck me. And they still don't. My first thought, and what continues to be my thoughts when I watch him act is This guy is a good actor. As time progressed I began to realize that he was more than a good actor - he was a good man. I'm going to give you now the Top Five reasons why Hugh Jackman is my favorite actor (in no particular order).
#1. Married to one woman his whole life, and it's still going strong. None of this "I've-been -married-to-like-five-people-and-I-just-got-a-billion-dollar-divorce-now-I'll-go-spend-the-night-with-someone-I'm-not-married-to" we hear all too often on the news
#2 When they couldn't have kids, he and his wife decided to adopt, and took the first two kids that came their way who needed a home instead of waiting for blue-eyed blondes that everyone else waits months for.
#3 Never stays away from his family for more than three weeks, even if he has to book a flight home just for 35 hours. 
#4 Does for the most part good movies, and doesn't let his kids watch him slice people's heads off as Wolverine until they're old enough.
#5. A really good actor who's convincing and deserved Best Actor Oscar instead of Daniel Day Lewis.
I could go on. He can sing, he can dance, he ignores when the media slams him and he's a practicing Christian, which is difficult to find nowadays. He said once that, when he asked his father why he didn't wear a Christian fish symbol like their neighbors, his Dad answered "Religion should be in your acts, not what you wear." And he tries to live by that principle. 
"The things that I really cherish are the everyday moments, like sitting around cooking pancakes together on Sunday morning, or getting home after a tough day and my kids come up and give me a hug and remind me what's really important." -Hugh Jackman
Happy Birthday Mr. Jackman! 
-Rhian

On music

Aaaaaaaand Rhian is back! Long absence, long writers block.Riddle me this: What can't be seen, smelled, touched or tasted? If you bothered to read the title of this post, you'd have your answer. While filling out an application for college (don't freak out - it wasn't even a real application but it was the only term I could think of) it asked me to list three outer-curricular activities that I enjoyed. Well it took me no time at all to write down my top three hobbies: Acting, dancing and singing. While I love to read and write as well, I decided that didn't count as "outer curricular".
Well you all know that I love to act, though somehow I don't think anyone's seen me do anything other than Shakespeare, and you all know that I love to *try to* dance. However, I really don't think many of you, my loyal readers, have ever really heard me sing to the best of my abilities. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not very shy. At all. And yet, I find myself completely incapable of singing in my normal tones in front of most people. I get nervous and freaked out like you all will judge me on how good my voice is. Really, only my family could tell you how I really sing. And I don't encourage you to ask them.
But all that's beside the point - I recently made a list of 130 of my favorite songs that aren't hymns or from musicals. Do you know what I found out? I had a lot of country, a lot of pop, and a lot of light rock. I also had a lot of stuff that I don't think fits into any of those categories. I even had some opera. So what's the big deal, Rhian? Why bore us all with this stupid discovery?
Well the most honest answer is that when I feel like writing about something, that's what I do. Not to mention I don't write to please anyone. In any case, I felt like writing about music, because these past few days have been great ones for me in that sense - I've spent every moment I'm not doing homework, and even some that I am, singing with some of the most famous artists out there, and getting coached on The Voice by Adam Levine. (If you didn't understand what I just said, like my older sister, its another way of saying that I have a wild imagination). To tell you all the truth, I even spent a few hours pairing up my best friends with One Direction, then touring across the country with them.
Why does music effect people? Why are people moved through music? Why do harmonies make it sound better? Such questions that everyone always asks. To be honest, I don't think anyone really knows, least of all me. Music is a way to pour out emotions. For some reason I have been singing more than ever this past week, and every time I do I feel better and better. I'm happy when I sing. I also seem to have rediscovered my taste for Italian opera, which I've always enjoyed but ever since Forte took the stage of America's Got Talent I have loved it. Josh Groban always took the cake, but then I found footage of him and Josh Page, another of my favorites, singing together and every time I listen to them now, which has been frequently, I get goosebumps. As if that wasn't good enough I then heard Jackie Evancho and Josh Page, and then listened to Forte again and have enjoyed everything immensely.
Looking at comments on Youtube videos, I have discovered that I'm not the only one. People like opera. People are touched by it. They get goosebumps just like me. I've read about people whose lives are changed by music, who are inspired by it, everything. Music is absolutely one of the most amazing gifts of God. you experience life in a different way when you hear it. Unfortunately people seem to forget that.
Ah-ha, but do they? (Speaking of Ah-ha, listen to their "Take on me" It kicks Christina Aguilera's "Feel this Moment" to the trash bin. She stole their music, anyway...no offense if anyone loves Christina Aguilera.) Since I have lately been enjoying recaps of The Voice and America's got Talent and watching old clips of The X Factor, my faith in humanity has begun to get restored. Time and again people talk about their healing through music, how God gave them the gift of their voice and how they want to be able to use it for the good of the world. Most were raised in religious families and learned their musical abilities at church. I have been amazed at the faith of these people. Living in a culture with musical people like Miley Cyrus and others who not only put trash in their songs but act like trash themselves, one hardly expects to find any realization among people for what music really is.
And I could go on and on and on and on and on and if anyone has bothered to read this far I am impressed by you. Bravo!  My advice to you today: Sing! Listen! I love some of today's artists (OneRepublic, One Direction, Maroon Five, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, and occasionally P!nk), but listen to the classics, especially, and if anyone needed a song when their in a sad mood to help them feel better, listen to Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn. It's not peppy, so it won't irritate you, and it always makes me feel better somehow. Feeling random? Africa, by Toto. In a really excited mood? Pinball Wizard by The Who. Romantic? We Belong (either Lowen and Navarro's version or Pat Benatar's is fine, the latter is more fast-paced). Missing summer? The Beach Boys can make you almost smell the waves. In the dramatic mood that I usually find myself in? Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. If you really want goosebumps, then look up Forte on America's got talent. Any of their songs will do. You can also try Celtic Woman's Jesu Joy of Man's desiring. Never fails to make me shiver. Are you feeling Irish by chance? Parting Glass by the High Kings. And if, like me, you sometimes feel a crave for Christmas Carols, particularly the Little Drummer Boy, listen to Josh Groban's version.
Congratulations, you have successfully completed a long-winded rant on the good of music. Stay tuned for Part Two: "How the Music Industry is Going Downhill." Maybe.
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
-Rhian
P.S. I really didn't mention country... it seems to me that country music alone never seems to change. Maybe that's why I love it so much.

Sweet Summer

Well well well, here we are. Another summer come and gone. While not as fanatic and social as last summer, I think I infinitely prefer this one. I'm going to focus on two major highlights that I hope don't bore everyone too much:
#1 The Friend Factor
Ah, those lovely friends that stick with you through thick and thin. I know everyone is saying the friends as their highlight, but in reading two recent books (21 secrets to finding your soul mate and Rediscover Catholicism), I began thinking of a phrase I read in the former that really made me think a bit:

"Find your bridesmaids before your groom"

Seeing as it's every girl's dream to find her guy, this made me jump a bit, and I thought it was actually really fascinating. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, spending time with God and my simply cosmic friends this past summer made me realize that it is OK to wait! It really is! Using a deduction process from Regina Doman's Waking Rose I figured it out the same as Rose did: "There are billions of men in this world, and millions near my age. Maybe hundreds who are compatible with me, maybe at least a dozen who would want to date me. There's got to be at least five in on the continent who I would be happy marrying." Well, I'm content to wait until God hands me one of those five. Until then, I have the most amazing people in the world who are sticking by me.

In the latter of the two afore mentioned books, I read about a man's father said to him "If you find five true friends in this world, you are very blessed." A peculiar statement - don't most people have dozens of friends?  He continued to say, however, that a true friend is not someone who always thinks the way you do and does what you want. It is someone who challenges you to make you be the VERY BEST person you possibly can. All I can say is that, I must have some true friends, because being around my very favorite people this year has really made me aware of my shortcomings in light of their virtues, and made me seriously humbled sometimes and rethinking myself. But not only do they encourage me to be better, they are always there for me and love me for who I am, even when I'm not being a the best I can be - more like a stinker. 

And speaking of true friends, in a marvelous turn of events that have a fascinating tale that I won't get into because I'm already writing too much, the only friends that I have known my ENTIRE life recently moved from their three-day drive time home in Colorado to the mere four-hour drive time house in Steaubanville, Ohio (where I was born). I hadn't seen them in three years, and was blessed to see them twice just two weeks apart this summer! They are an amazing blessing and are truly inspiring in their goodness and grace. Christ shines through them like they were lit up by a star.

#2 The Not-Social Summer

Now I didn't get to see everyone as much as I would have liked, but it gave me the chance to pursue what I honestly think is my entire family's favorite (and expected to be favorite) pastime - that is, reading. I've always loved to read, but this summer I leapt deep into the world of not only classics but also family favorites that kept me not only occupied, but led me on a wild hunt through a thousand different lands that made me think and dream in a different fashion than my previous years. It was amazing to read the classical literature that has survived centuries of readers - some scary, some sad, some epic. I hope to do even more this school year and next summer.

But of course, knowing me, I require other stimulation. That is, the ever present screen. Watching movies has actually not been a pastime in my family for anyone except me and possible my brother. But I have gone to see movies with my friends also this year, and seen them at home. Possibly I have watched some of the best films I have ever seen this year, and have discovered that dramas are my favorite kind of film. If anyone needs a recommendations for movies that make you cry, laugh and really think, I can give a few suggestions. God has truly blessed my summer, and I hope he has blessed yours!

Don't summers just get better and better?

-Rhian

On twenty years

I will take this moment to give a shout-out to the two most amazing, incredible, fantastically fabulous, cosmic people that are and probably ever will be in my life. About twenty four years ago, a girl named Samantha Browner came to visit her sister Jennifer in college. She met Jennifer's friend Jason there, on the day she left. After she got on the plane, Jason turned to Jen and asked, wide-eyed, "That's your sister?"
My aunt replied in the affirmative, adding a testy "and you can stay away from her."
The next year Samantha came to college. And after three years of dating, two breakups and three consecutive proposals, on August 20th, 1993, Jason Negri and Samantha Browner were married (my dad with a 102 fever).
My parents are everything to me. My Dad supports my insane antics (sometimes)., and understands my humorous side. He knows the importance of quality time, he is funny and loves movies and books just like I do. And he gave me two gifts that I don't think I can ever repay: the gift of musical talent (which I only exhibit around the house), and the gift of discipline and expectancy. Yes, I know that's technically three things, but the material point is that he drives me to do my best in everything, and is always proud of what I accomplished if I tried my hardest, even when it's terrible.
My mom is far and above the most understanding person that I have ever had the blessing to talk to. She has a gift with words that makes me understand what she is trying to get across to me (usually), and never in my life has she failed to make me feel better when I have a problem. She is a great deal like me, and she has a "been there, done that, and I know how it feels, and its not as bad as you think" attitude towards seemingly every problem that makes everyone who has come to her with a problem feel much, much better about it. She passed this gift on to my my brother, and I hope and pray that someday it will come to me. In the meantime, I got the love of...everything. Just a simple outlook on the beauty of life that makes me happy. 
But the most incredible gift that my parents and God ever gave me was...the gift of me. I am alive and kickin', and hope that I will be for a while yet. I hope that someday I will be able to make the world as wonderful for someone else as they do for me. 
Today I watched the DVD of their wedding and reception. The best movie I've ever seen in my life. Someday I hope to meet someone like my Dad, and that I'll be worthy of love like that my parents share. Until then, this post is a measly amount of gratitude I can give them. Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! 
"Rise up, my love, and follow." - Song of Solomon 2:10. My parent's wedding verse. 
-Rhian

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