The Hunger Games.

First off, this post is long overdue. Very long.

If it wasn't for the fact that school, speech, debate, and piano kept me from writing more frequent posts of this nature, you probably would have been as sick of me ranting about this as you were with Narnia. (what, you liked hearing about Narnia every other post? that's sweet of you to mention it.) (I hope you caught the sarcasm there...)

Secondly, I'm really not quite sure I have words to adequately describe the hunger games. I'm about halfway through the second book, and yes, I just started it 2 hours ago. (hurray for spring break!)

I love letting myself become completely absorbed in books. It's like...for a moment in time, you can escape your own reality and allow yourself to be completely sucked into another's. And right now, my mind is off somewhere in District 12...

Suffice it to say...I don't often find myself on the edge of my seat or audibly gasping while reading a book.

And the movie...definitely does it justice. I'll geek out later, if I feel up to putting it into words. Granted, it's a book that's way more conducive to screenplay adaptation than say...Narnia or Jane Eyre. But it's so good.

That's all I really have to say right now. Don't you love it when a book/movie is so good you don't know what to say? I think that's why people create art - to draw others into an alternate reality and leave them speechless...yet somehow hopeful in the prospect of their own.

Ahem.

I have a bit of an announcement to make.

Something very amazing will be happening on August 21st.

Yes, that's right.

Tenth Avenue North is releasing their next album.

The kind of restraint it is taking for me to not use ten billion exclamation points is a little bit overpowering.

I give in.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trust, so that you can dare.

You must laugh because laughter heals pain.
You must love because love alone creates joy.
You must rest so that when you open your eyes, you can live awake.
You must pray so that you can run with strength.
You must write because escape lies in stories.
You must explore because exploration keeps your heart alive to the magic of life.
You must learn so that you return different than you left.
You must smile because smiling brightens the world and your view of it.
You must endure so that you can conquer.
You must trust so that you can dare.
And you must breathe, because both pain and time pass.

-From the wonderful pen of Liz Patterson

The story's not over yet.

I've always been one to hate new changes. I dislike giving up the way things used to be -- I like my ways, and I like the way we do things.

But if I never find new things to like, or new ways of doing things, I'll never grow. I'll never change. If I always only listen to the same music and read the same books and do the same thing -- hold onto life as it is, I will become a nobody who does nothing.

It's complacency in its worst, it's a refusal to grow. I can embrace changes without having to ignore what I am leaving behind. I can rejoice in sweet memories while being able to freely let them be just what they are: memories. If things always only stayed the same, I would never learn anything.

And learning -- understanding -- is a fountain of life. (Prov. 16:21) and "the only way to stay young is to keep learning" (Michael Apted)

To discover the truth, one must first give up one's idea of what the truth should be.

So broaden your scope, young heart! Let the changes happen, let the old chapters end. Turn the page to bright, beautiful, new ones. Delight in what you have now, don't dwell on what you wish you had. Life is thrilling, beautiful, wild, and precious. Embrace it.

Adventures in babysitting.

Here are some of the [somewhat paraphrased, due to memory shortages...which are a result of aforementioned babysitting adventures] cute things that happened last night wilst babysitting.

Ruby [age 3]: My daddy turns 17 tomorrow.
Me: Oh really now?
Ruby: Yeah.
Me: I don't think so...
Ruby: Oh maybe it's 13.

Ruby: I'm a mouse!
Me: What's your name, mouse?
Ruby: Cheese puff.

[Note: due to the fact that bacon is not a frequently consumed item in our house, I have never cooked it. The following is my attempt to do so.]
Me: Aaron, does this bacon look like the bacon you normally have?
Aaron: Um...no.
>tastes bacon<
Aaron: But it tastes good!
Me: Okay...
Aaron: I like it. Hannah-style bacon.
(I now smell like bacon...from the funny cross between microwaving and pan-frying the bacon...several times in succession to make sure it was done.)

Me: Okay who wants maple syrup on their french toast?
Jonah: No no no!! We have to put butter on and cut it first!
Me: oh. Alright. >obliges<
Ruby: Can you pour me a puddle to dip in?

>minutes later, I've forgotten and have poured syrup on my own toast without cutting it<
Ruby: You didn't cut it!
Me: uhh...oops! haha. Um...well I'll just cut it now.
>later, after seconds have been passed around<
Me: Okay Ruby, let me cut yours for you.
Ruby: No! maple syrup first.

Jonah: I'm a TROLL!
Me: Well I'm a t-rex and I'm going to eat you!
Jonah: No! a t-rex doesn't eat trolls.
Me: Well how about a dragon?
Jonah: No, they don't eat trolls either.
Me: What eats trolls?
Jonah: Nothing.

Ruby: Canaan doesn't like me.
Me: Who's Canaan?
Ruby: this friend he doesn't like to play with me.
Me: Ooh. Well, even if he doesn't like you, Jesus likes you. And he likes Canaan, too.
Ruby: Did Jesus die for Canaan too?
Me: He sure did. Because he loves Canaan, he loves Jonah, and Aaron, and mommy and daddy, and he loves Ruby!
Ruby: And he loves you, too, Hannah Dokupil.

The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.

— Kurt Vonnegut