Superwoman

Lately, I have been very interested in fairy tales and legends, especially from the Middle East. I love fairy tales, because the guy always ends up with the girl, and you know that they really will live happily ever after.

My favorite tales have always been the ones that promote women. It probably stems from the fact that I am a woman and I like to see my gender win. In my reading, I have been surprised at how many of the stories from the Middle East deal with strong women. I mean, I thought that in a society that appears to oppress women, they wouldn't have very many 'women power' stories.

Not so. There is the story of Shahrazad, the woman who told tales to a heartless king for one thousand and one nights, not only prolonging the date of her execution, but also causing the king to fall in love with her and become extraordinarily happy. There is Queen Buran (or Burandokht but who can really say that?) who ruled Persia after her father's death. And there are others.

I guess what makes these really amazing to me is that they come from such a strict society. It still is a struggle for women over there to learn to read and write, but yet they have told stories of amazing women for generations.


They go through so much. They inspire me to become better.

Allons-y!

Twestion

So I have decided that I am going to start writing some more. I'm thinking of posting the pieces that I write here, so that you lovely people can read them. What sayest thou? Yay or nay?

Allons-y!

Played hymns for hours today and found...

that I probably should have taken piano lessons at some point, if I wanted to be a serious piano player. I mean, I'm a fine player and all, but being self taught means that I have a total of zero technique. Like ZERO! I do my scales wrong, I cross my fingers and do a variety of other atrocities that would make piano teachers scream in horror.

Guess it is just another way that I am different :D

Allons-y!

You may have noticed...

To those of you out there who are extremely observant, you may have noticed that I have recently changed the settings on my blog. In the background, there is a picture of London. Being my newest obsession, London is now the most beautiful city in the world, and the object of many of my dreams. I would tell you why, but it is altogether too late for me to be posting anyway.

Allons-y!

P.S. Oh, and I bought a 30 dollar London poster today for 3 bucks. Score!

Wow.... Slackerface

I have recently realized that perhaps I have not been exactly diligent in posting on this blog. BUT this will change! I have now redesigned my blog (If you hadn't noticed, look around you. Things look different. In the most awesome sense.) and because of this I am now feeling more motivated to post weekly! "How long will this last?" you may ask. My reply to you: "I dunno."

Anyway, today I watched the Emma Smith movie for the first time. For those of you who haven't seen it, I encourage you to. It really was a life changing experience. To see a woman who has been through so much and stayed so strong in the gospel is amazing to me. I'll admit that I cried at least a little bit. Tell me if you haven't seen it, and we will watch it together.

My favorite part of the movie was at the very end. While laying on her deathbed, Emma spoke these final words: "Joseph... Joseph... I'm coming."

Beautiful.

Allons-y!

hello?

Full of Sound and Fury

Okay, because I was reminded of this by reading a dear friends blog (Thanks Kaitlin!), I would like to post today about one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes. Actually, it really relates to my feelings today.

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28

If you want, you can follow the link to get a short summary of the play up to this point, and what the literal meaning of the words are. But I'd like to go a little deeper and relate this to high school life. (Shocker, I know, but not impossible.)

The first time I heard this was in my 10th grade English class. I only liked Shakespeare back then, and didn't appreciate the full meaning of the words. It was just something we had to memorize for an assignment.

Then I watched the play Macbeth, starring Sir Patrick Stewart. (Professor Xavier and Captain Jean-Luc Pickard for those who don't know him by name). This was a very good version of the play, if not the best. Patrick Stewart completely blew me away in his epic performance of the tortured king, bringing both depth and ruthlessness to a complex character. This version was not for the faint of heart, showing plenty of blood and murder.

When it finished, there was a short section afterwords, where Patrick Stewart was being interviewed by a young lady. She asked him what he had done to prepare for the 'Tomorrow' speech, because it is such a widely preformed speech. He said that he had gone to talk to his friend Ian McKellen (Gandalf, Magneto), who had also played the part of Macbeth in the past. Patrick Stewart said that Ian McKellen told him something that he had never heard before, but that instantly made sense.

He said that the important part of the speech, was the word 'and'.

Think about it for a second. Say it out loud, to yourself. "Tomorrow AND Tomorrow AND Tomorrow." Something about emphasizing such a small word, marks the relentless passage of time. Tomorrow will always come, and there will be a tomorrow after that, and a tomorrow after that one...

If we look at life as a set of tomorrow's, there truly is nothing good in the world. Life signifies nothing when we focus on the tomorrow's. I know that as high school students, it's so easy to fall into the pattern of tomorrow's. Tomorrow a paper is due in English, Psychology reading is due on Tuesday. Many of the people I know tell me their weeks based on what they have due that day. I do it all the time.

"Out, Out brief candle!" Is that all we want from our lives? To turn in what is due, and then leave the stage? To me, this quote suggests that there is so much more to life. That if we focus on tomorrow, life will strut and fret, and then pass us by when we do not notice it. Signifying nothing.

Life is so much more than that.