Here’s a little glimpse of the magic and wonder (and slight anatomical faux pas) that you could be seeing if you visited my DA account!

http://hrwilliams.deviantart.com

As a writer, it’s important for me to be able to get into other people’s heads. A Sci-Fi book just isn’t as interesting if all the characters are the same (I’m lookin’ at YOUse, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins!).

That’s why I’m so grateful that I know so many Catholics now. I swear, my Protestant school is a breeding ground for Catholic converts. Probably because they’re anti-Catholic. They should look into that. ;P

Anyway, I still haven’t been able to go back to mass with my townies, because of work, which is LAME. But at least I still get a Sabbath on Saturday. The most edifying conversations I have now are with a guy who works in the kitchen next to mine, another Catholic convert, who enjoys poking holes in my Lutheranism. I enjoy poking him back– but I do need to learn some new vocabulary for expressing my problems with Catholicism (aka, the reasons I’ll never be Catholic, besides the fact that being Lutheran is da BOMB).

Usually the phrases “you worship Mary/the Saints” get uttered, which is NOT actually how true Catholics look at it; however, I’m still very much uncomfortable with asking any dead guys to intercede for me when I could just come straight to Jesus. He freaking died for me, I don’t think He needs me to go through His mommy. I feel Mary and the saints, while YES they ARE great role models, tend to be emphasized to a point that they distract from total dependence on and communion with Christ.

And if you’re not one of those Catholics willing to really study their faith, then you could easily be led astray into believing that the church DOES want you to, in a sense, “worship” Mary or the Saints, even if those words aren’t used. There are a lot of nutcase “Catholics” out there who actually want Mary to be elevated to the official position of goddess (and the Church is all “Pssh, whatever, no!”), and personally I believe that’s because their congregation didn’t foster the right environment for spiritual growth.

But ANYWAY, Theo’s a sharp tack and loves to fight, so I need to watch how I phrase things. Besides, there are many things about Catholicism which I love and wish more Protestants emulated, so it’s not like I just want to diss his denomination.

“Fat” is a subjective term. In other words, different people will give you different definitions for it.

“Overweight” is not a subjective term, but an objective one. You are overweight if the amount of fat in your body is unhealthy.

You can be what some call “fat” without being overweight.

“Attractive” is a completely different topic. “Attractive” is in some ways objective and in other ways subjective. There’s Phi, a mathematical formula for what all human beings regardless of race and culture call beautiful. However, being plump and pale was once associated with being rich upperclass, and it was only in the early 20th century that being skinny suddenly became essential. (Women took diet pills with tapeworms inside them to lose weight quickly.) Hollywood is thought to have popularized the “tan” look, which was formerly only for serfs and farmers.

So you can be fat/overweight and be attractive to some people, while you will still be unattractive to others.

Who you’re attracted to CAN be influenced by the media, but I’m hesitant to say that the media is always to blame.

I don’t get the Jennifer Love Hewitt (or “Chewitt”) thing. Like, oh em gee, her body finally matured and she has CURVES! She has child-bearing hips! Like, oh em gee, she’s no longer 21 so her body is sagging a little! Whatever, guys.

Jessica Simpson is definitely looking more… imposing. Is she overweight, or just “fat?” And does it matter? Wayne Gladstone had some good insight on that: http://www.cracked.com/article_17053_why-i-dont-feel-sorry-jessica-simpson.html

I suppose Oprah is fat, and has pushed countless diets, but I have no idea whether she’s actually overweight. I think she’s just embraced her fat(e) now, because her magazine has a lot of plus size fashion galleries. I’m ashamed of myself for knowing that.

For a much cooler blog entry, see my Dream Journal #6.

If you’re not familiar with the Alien franchise, then this dream won’t make sense to you.

I dreamed I was a little girl on vacation with her parents. Maybe we were the type of family to just live out of a camper. In any case, I think we were in Alaska or something. I was walking along the rocky shore when I noticed a huge, lopped-off tentacle. And a few others, and a few others. I immediately knew that the body of an octopus or giant squid had been washed ashore.

It was creepy jumping over those tentacles with their big suckers, which still worked a bit, but I followed the bits of squid until I reached a small one dead on the ground, and on the cliff in front of me, two rather large ones slathered to the rock wall.

(As I looked back on this dream, I rationalized two things: One, that the Alien-squid offspring had been unable to find any other hosts to use, so they had used each other; and two, that maybe this is what ended up destroying the world between Alien 3 and 4.)

I told my parents about it. They immediately knew that whatever this was, it was screwed up, that it shouldn’t be left to do whatever it was doing, and that they had to keep an eye on it. Nearer to our camp there was a hidden, slimy tentacle pit where they would feed it frozen food, maybe to get on its good side.

Since we knew a lot of wacked-out conspiracy theorists with illegal guns and explosives, I asked my mom why we didn’t call one of them. She said nothing. My dad got edgy and basically dismissed my idea as stupid. Since I was a little girl, they wouldn’t tell me much about what was going on.

Then my much older brother, who sort of pampered me, filled me in. I think they really were intending on calling our wacko friends with the guns to stake out the hosts before they hatched. My dad was furious at him– I think because they’d figured out that the Alien hosts had some sort of psychic link with me, and now they knew what I knew.

DUN DUN DUNNNN

from: http://quizfarm.com/quizzes/new/MalakronikMausi/what-subcategory-of-goth-best-fits-you/

You Scored as Industrial/Rivet-Head

You’re a rivet-head. You like industrial music, warehouses, and you are a minion of the machines. Click on my name to take my other tests if you liked this one.

I’d heard the word a few times but never really knew what it meant. And I figured, as a know-it-all, I probably should. After reading the following excerpt, I looked it up on dictionary.com and discovered it is “a movement promoting unity among Christian churches or denominations.”

Here’s the excerpt I read which prodded me into learning more about ecu… ecu… ecumenism.

A friend asked, “What does ‘being ecumenical’ mean?” I began to reflect on the lessons of my years in ecumenical work. “Being ecumenical means:

• To pray regularly for church unity
• To be rooted in a particular Christian tradition
• To participate actively in the careful, honest appraisal of whatever needs to be done to renew one’s own church
• To be fascinated and curious about that which is different
• To be willing to learn
• To cultivate an historical consciousness
• To celebrate vitality in the Body of Christ wherever it is found
• To be willing to work together
• To feel the scandal of our divisions
• To be open to God’s will for the church
• To have an appreciation for the hierarchy of truths in Christian doctrine
• To try to understand others as they understand themselves
• To be alert to the presence of God and the Holy Spirit in the lives of other living faiths
• To have a biblical patience

–Adapted from an article by Thomas Ryan

Now obviously, since I didn’t even know the term until about five seconds ago, I hadn’t thought about a lot of the above. So I’m going to turn it into a checklist and see how “ecumenical” I am.

[  ] I pray regularly for church unity.
Ugh. praying regularly at all is a struggle for me. Actually talking to God in little bits throughout the day, that’s no problem. But sitting down and lifting people up in prayer? I suck at it. Prayer by O. Hallesby really revolutionized the way I look at prayer and encouraged me a lot. But the flesh is weak. I understand how important church unity is, but it never occurred to me to pray regularly.

[x] I am rooted in a particular Christian tradition.
Check! I LOVE being Lutheran.

[x] I participate actively in the careful, honest appraisal of whatever needs to be done to renew my own church.
This one’s a little iffy, I’ll admit. I don’t exactly have a church yet. But prodding Christians to change a lot of bad habits that have become almost traditional? That’s practically what my Sci-Fi series is about. (Well, that and a lot of gun fights, but when it comes to character drama I usually try to reveal the bad habits of the average Christian American.)

[x] I am fascinated and curious about that which is different.
Check check check! This applies to other religions and cultures, not just Christianity.

[x] I am willing to learn.
Unless I have to learn MATH. Blech!

[x] I cultivate an historical consciousness.
I’m assuming this means “talk about and be aware of past mistakes/victories.” Lately I’ve been trying to educate myself on early Christian history. And I LOVE telling people about the Reformation!

[  ] I celebrate vitality in the Body of Christ wherever it is found.
I hate to admit it, but when a very liberal church seems to be healthy and strong, I tend to be skeptical of the people’s actual salvation. And while I loved my time in an Emergent church, it also caused a lot of concern for me. I’m not sure if I can honestly check this one off.

[x] I am willing to “work together.”
Hex yeah! All the great revivals start with every denomination in the town setting aside differences and working together. It gets people’s attention, it gets the Spirit moving… I am ALL ABOUT making the community churches into a gang of do-gooders.

[?] I feel the scandal of our divisions.
Sometimes. Other times I’m complacent. Still other times, I’m even glad. I guess that makes the above a little hypocritical. :(

[  ] I am open to God’s will for the church.
This is another one that had never even occurred to me. God’s will for my life? Sure! God’s will for the church? Oddly enough, I haven’t come to terms with that yet. I mean, what if it’s the salad-bar theology of the Emergent movement? I think God and I would need to have a nice long talk if that was the case. This is something I’ll need to work on laying down.

Lord, don’t let me oppose this if it is Your will. Show me how I can help. But please, please keep us from mindlessness.

[x] I have an appreciation for the hierarchy of truths in Christian doctrine.
If I understand this right, it’s talking about truth and Truth. There are definitely many “issues” I’m willing to give way on or let go of. Those listed in the Creed, however… no, never.

[x] I try to understand others as they understand themselves.
This is a writer thing. I almost want to say it’s second-nature to me. It’s definitely another thing I want to highlight in my Sci-Fi series: the fact that atheists, Pagans, Hindus, etc are all human and have their own unique way of viewing the world and themselves — the fact that they aren’t comic book villains.

[x] I am alert to the presence of God and the Holy Spirit in the lives of other living faiths.
Definitely. “And it shall come to pass that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Period.

[  ] I have a biblical patience.
Oh Lord! Patience!!!

So this was good for me. I recommend you go through it and give it some thought. I learned some things about myself.

Click here if you didn’t read my last post on Frankenstein.

“If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind. If this rule were always observed; if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with the tranquility of his domestic affections, Greece had not been enslaved; Caesar would have spared his country; America would have been discovered more gradually; and the empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed.”

They say men have sex dreams and women have nightmares. I don’t have either.

There are a good number of Mexican migrants/immigrants in North Dakota, where I finished high school. Before moving there we lived in an almost completely white town in Iowa, so my time in ND was really the first time I was ever exposed to any minorities. Anyway, we were particularly close to the young kids in two families, the Delgados and the Garzas.

In this dream, I was with the Garza kids, but calling them by the Delgados’ names. (I’m in Indiana right now, and there aren’t many Mexicans in my immediate vicinity, so I’ve been missing their presence, haha.) We were in the street, which might have been blocked off for a Christmas street-party. It was snowing big white flakes. But it wasn’t cold. I lifted the littlest boy down from something, calling him some affectionate name, and he kissed me on the mouth a bunch of times. But it wasn’t weird. (It would have been, for me, if it had been real.)

A very nice dream.

My townies and I attended a Catholic mass today. It was my first time. I figured if I was going to write about diverse characters, I should probably have some Catholics, and if I’m going to write about Catholics, I should at least have attended a few masses. (This might be my main church for the next two semesters — although where I’m going to get communion I don’t know.)

First impressions:

Familiar. Lutherans still do a lot of that old-timey liturgy, although there isn’t as much responsive singing or memorization. Their translation of the Nicene Creed is slightly different. “Now I have an excuse to memorize it,” I said when I left.

Already I feel there’s a lot of pressure to conform. You don’t speak before church begins. When the priest urged us to greet each other, we all turned around and whispered, “Bless you.” As softly as we could. And everyone prays on their knees. I participated during the actual service, but I didn’t kneel and cross myself before I got into the pew, and if I prayed beforehand (I don’t think I did) I just sat there like I usually do. Oh, and when everyone went up to receive the Eucharist, I was just kind of standing there. Slightly obvious. It didn’t bother me much, but now I can see how a lifetime of “THIS HOW WE DO” could drive Carrie away from church.

As far as I can tell, nothing was said that didn’t line up with Protestant theology. We didn’t pray to Mary or really  mention her (or any other saints). Almost all of the songs were direct quotes from Scripture, which would have made any Lutheran or Baptist proud. I liked the singing, and I liked the message, and it’s just as well that I couldn’t take communion because it probably would have made my parents very uncomfortable. (Really though, what Catholics teach about the bread and wine is much closer to what I believe than what the Methodists teach is. If you understood that sentence at all.)

Anti-traditional people who equate tradition with eville… they probably would have hated it.

I like tradition. I like praise bands too, but so few can get that stuff right.

“Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”
-Jarislav Pelican

DON’T BE HATIN’

Was written by a very young woman.

Her name was Mary Shelley, and the book was called Frankenstein.

The original preface, written by her husband in her voice, opened like this, and captures the spirit of Sci-Fi: “The event on which this fiction is founded has been supposed… as not of impossible occurrence. I shall not be supposed as according the remotest degree of serious faith to such an imagination; yet, in assuming it as the basis of a work of fancy, I have not considered myself as merely weaving a series of supernatural terrors. The event on which the interest of the story depends is  exempt from the disadvantages of a mere tale of spectres or enchantment [in other words, Sci-Fi isn't as impossible as horror or fantasy]. It was recommended by the novelty of the situations which it developes; and, however impossible as a physical fact, affords a point of view to the imagination for the delineating of human passions more comprehensive and commanding than any which the ordinary relations of existing events can yield. I have thus endeavored to preserve the truth of the elementary principles of human nature, while I have not scrupled to innovate upon their combinations.”