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

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