My Inspiration: the hero

I'm deciding to take a little different route than I normally take with these posts.  For this one, I'm sharing my inspiration for the day in video-blog format.  I share with my audience anything and everything that I am passionate about as I research to discover more about the topics that I am interested in.  This is my first post as a video.  I am excited to see how all of you respond to the change in my style of blogging and the different ways that I am now able to express my topics.  I decided to start in an area that you have all seen me write about several times before since it is very dear to my heart—the hero.  In this video I will take you through my process of defining who the hero is and how the lines between hero and celebrity have often been blurred in recent years.  I will bring you along with me through this discovery to encourage you, my readers and watchers, to think deeper about the people that you use the word hero to describe and decide whether they are truly worthy of that title. 

            In order to walk you through my process, I started at the very beginning—where the idea of the hero was born for me, in the books I read and movies that I watched as a child up until today.  There are many different characters and people that I have admired and it is because of those people that I have the view of the hero that I have today.  Then I looked outward at the different heroes that society has today, noting how different each hero is from another.  I interviewed a few of my peers to discover who they thought of as a hero and what the qualities were that they admired in that person.  All of these led me to discover that there are so many different definitions of a hero and examples that vary from person to person.  The term hero is applied to such a broad range of people from sports icons, to nuns, to presidents, and to soldiers. 

            After discovering the huge range in types of hero figures, I then turned to the expert on heroes, Joseph Campbell.  With his definition of the hero it was possible for me to zero in on a difference between a hero and a celebrity.  The hero sacrifices to gain his fame; the celebrity does not.  It all comes down to that one crucial difference.  A celebrity can go through journeys and changes like the hero, but unless he decides to sacrifice selflessly, he is not considered a hero. 

            With that important element of the hero as the focus, then it is important to be aware of who you are calling a hero and what you focus on as the difference between a hero and a celebrity.  Why? Because we need heroes. Society needs those figures to look up to, who are willing to put others above themselves.  If all society looks up to are celebrity figures who are inspirational but haven’t sacrificed for the good of society, then we won’t understand this crucial part of human existence.  It often takes sacrifice to overcome situations.  If we don’t have anyone to look up to who have sacrificed then we won’t know how to do it.  That is why the hero is crucial, and that is why it is important to apply that term only to the people who deserve it. 

            I hope you enjoy the video.  If it doesn’t accomplish anything else than cause you to pause and think about who you consider to be a hero and why, then I have accomplished my goal.  I simply want to provoke you and give you a little push into a direction that I think is worth checking out. 

   Cheers!

Cappuccinos

I am eternally grateful to Italy and France for developing this fantastic drink.  Since I was first introduced to them (in Italy if you would believe it), I have loved this drink.  I am have always been in search of the best, and in Kirkland, I have found a few of my favorites.

ROCOCO coffee in downtown Kirkland has been a family favorite for a good number of years now, they roast their own coffee and have a great atmosphere.

Mercury coffee has several locations and is for sure the best drive through coffee in the area.

Urban coffee lounge takes the cake for the best atmosphere.  They serve Stumptown coffee, a local favorite, and make a pretty impressive cappuccino.

So there you have it, a holiday in a cup!


[This was created as a reference for my english class at UW]

War Movies

I'm a hero addict.  Whether its the epitome of chivalry embodied in King Arthur, or the misunderstood black-ops agent embodied in Jason Bourne, I love a good hero.  What better place to find heroes than in war movies.  Hence, my strange affection for war films, books, and TV shows.


Fall/Winter 2014 seems to be the time to release war movies, and I am super excited (my college student budget will probably suffer these next few months due to the movie theater).  '71 is set to be released next friday, a film about a British soldier who is accidentally abandoned by his unit in Belfast during the riots of 1971.  Jack O'Connell stars, this being one of his first big roles, and I am very excited to see yet another talented British actor emerge in these great roles.

Fury comes out October 17th, and with Brad Pitt as the star, it is set up for success.  I'm a voracious reader of anything WW2, but I don't know very much about the tank divisions, so this movie seems to bring the focus to an area of the war that not many people know about.

And finally, the movie I have been looking forward to since February.  Unbroken.  The scope of the movie will be incredible, ranging from young Louis growing up in California, to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Hawaii in the 40's, the Pacific Ocean, and Japanese prison camps, Angelina Jolie is pulling out all the stops.  Just looking at the new trailer sends chills down my spine.  Another incredible performance by Jack O'Connell, I'm sure this movie will be a box office star on Christmas.

Grind it out

The Seattle Mariners.  For the last 14 years they haven't been much more than a little entertainment to get Seattle fans through the grueling months between the Superbowl and Pre-season of football. For the most part, they have been a disappointment.  But this season was something different entirely. Perhaps it was just renewed faith in Seattle sports with the Seahawks' Superbowl win, but this team set themselves up differently than we have seen in a Mariners team for a while.  The bullpen was unprecedentedly good, with a depth that could challenge any team we would face.  Our offense, went through difficulties, but with the signing of Robinson Cano, promised to be at least a force to consider.
They fought long and hard all season, and with the Ranger's loss yesterday, our post season hunt ended coming down to the very last game of the season.  But it has certainly been a long time since the last game actually mattered.
But I am filled with hope for what the next seasons will bring to the Mariners, who in the words of Logan Morrison (first baseman) just love to play baseball.
An impressive group of players have been put together in Seattle, and its exciting to seen what they can do with

Lloyd's leadership

King Felix's pitching

Jackson's glimmer of hope

 Seager's batting success  

Zunino's catching/ home runs

And this whole team of quirky, awesome baseball players having the time of their lives.

Unbroken Movie Trailer

I have already written a post about one of my top recommended books Unbroken. 

And now Angelina Jolie is making a movie out of it.

Is Hollywood reading my blog, because my top two recommended books lately, Unbroken and Lone Survivor both were made into movies! That's pretty cool.

So I am telling you about this now so that you have time to read the book before the movie comes out.

This preview aired during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

This was such a life changing story for me, I think everyone should read it.  And if you don't like to read, then at least watch the movie.  It looks like it will be quite accurate, seeing as Louis was involved in the making of it.  

I am quite excited, Christmas Day 2014 cannot come soon enough.

Remember that time we won the Superbowl?

Love Survivor Revisited

I wrote a post several months ago about the incredible book Love Survivor. Since the movie came out recently and i re-read the book, I decided that I needed to write a post about it again. 

This book changed my life.  I cannot say that about many books, but this one certainly did.  

If you haven't read it yet, DO IT.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, SEE IT.

It's worth the tears and heart-wrenching sadness that you will feel. I think that seeing the movie and reading the book is all part of understanding what really goes on in war.  And when we understand what really goes on, we can appreciate these men more and we can appreciate their lives and their sacrifice for our livelihood.  By reading the book I feel like I participate in their lives.  

And then I can honor them.  

So that's my two cents on this incredible story.  

I think you should be a part of it too.

[These are pictures from the movie, but they convey a lot of the emotion of the story.]

12th Man

In case you haven't heard us yell it yet, 

THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS ARE SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS!

(there is no way to write that without all caps).

The game was incredible, well, so I heard.  No, I did not watch the Superbowl in real time.  I call myself a member of the 12th Man, but on the day of the Superbowl, I certainly didn't feel like it.

I had to work that day.

No, I did not do so willingly.

But what do you do when something happens that you can't control? You make the best out of it.

And that is what me and my fellow 12th man/worker-on-the-Superbowl friend Annah did.  

We resolved to be the craziest undercover Seahawks fans we could be.

So I donned my Seahawks headband, bracelet from my sister, and cupcake ring.  

I painted my nails deep blue and sparkly green in the car on the way.

I wore my jersey to the last possible second before I had to put on the uniform and start working.  

It was actually quite a good day at work, and it was brightened when friends came by whispering the score and describing the last big play.  We were shaking with anticipation.  The Seahawks were on fire and we weren't watching!

But we ate our personalized skittles at breaks and rushed up to watch the first bit of the second half during dinner.

We celebrated with a Skittles Rice Krispy Treat made by my mom.

And then finally, we were off! We all gathered around the laptop to see the end of the game and silently cheered when we had done it.  We had won the Superbowl. 

WE HAD WON THE SUPERBOWL!

Then it was time to celebrate.  We ran through downtown Bellevue, yelling, "Go Hawks!" with complete strangers who were wearing jerseys and cheered at cars passing by who were honking non-stop.

We stopped in at Red Robin to end the day on a high note, with wonderful milkshakes.

So there you go, my Superbowl day experience.  Nothing like what I would have expected the day to go and nothing like I necessarily wanted the day to go, but in the end, it was a blast, and quite a memory made with Annah. 

We are the best undercover 12th man fans that there are.

NFC Champions

THE SEAHAWKS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!

Just have to get that out there.  Yesterday was the most excited I have ever been for a football game, or any game in general, or probably anything to watch on TV.  I was literally shaking yesterday morning as I was putting on my Thomas III jersey.  Perhaps it was because I only had 4.5 hours of sleep the night before and had just drank a cup of coffee, but I think that the upcoming game had a lot to do with it.  

The day has come.  This is when it matters.  

And we pulled it off. 

The screams, the glory, we had won.

Wilson, you're incredible, Sherman...what can I say, you are a student of the game, the best reader of plays, and the best corner in the game.  It was a defensive struggle from that fumble on the first play.  And the defense stepped up to the plate.  But the 49ers weren't going to just give us the ball.  We fought hard.  But I still have that inherent faith in the Seahawks that no matter what it looks like, no matter what happens, we will find a way to win.  

I will continue to the superbowl with that faith.