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.  

See you in 82 Days

Hi everyone, just giving you a little update.

This year I am in the Masters Commission program and as part of the course, we are embarking on a media fast for 82 days. I am really excited to see all that the Lord is going to do and how my relationship with Him will grow during this time of eliminating distractions and bringing my focus onto the Lord.  All your support in this would be greatly appreciated!

So, here's to an entirely new adventure!

Seattle Seahawks

I don't think that I have made this known to the internet world yet, but I am a HUGE Seahawks fan.  And this isn't just a this season kind of thing. I have been a fan for most of my life. 

My dad raised his two girly-daughters right--he taught us to love football.  

And not just enjoy supporting my dad and watching the game with him.  We get into it.  We cheer, cry, pray, and scream just as loud as any other Seahawks fan.  

I think I scared my new classmates a little bit today when I was driving home and listening to the game go into overtime.  I just get a little excited. 

My sister and I are big Sherman fans.

Basically just big legion of boom fas. 

This just makes me happy:

An Update

Yes, I haven't blogged in forever, I seem to say that every time that I write a post.

But, I have been a little busy.

I was accepted to the Kirkland Master's Commission! I even had my interview this morning and it is all official now.  I am going to be living with an awesome family, sharing a room with a great sister.

In the meantime, I have been working like crazy to make money; trying to come up with creative ways to supplement my part time job. My first successful project was a bake sale at family camp.  

Why not, I thought.  Everyone needs cookies for family camp and no one wants to have to bake in 80 degree weather.  Why shouldn't I do all the baking in 80 degree weather!

So I made a Facebook event and got quite a few responses, many more than I was expecting! So thank you to everyone who ordered! Your donations are much appreciated. 

Thanks to my "perfect cupcakes, cookies, and muffins" cookbook, Food Network, and Pintrest I was able to create a nice little menu of my favorite desserts that I have made before and love.  

My signature items included a pear gruyere pie inspired by the amazing but short lived TV show Pushing Daisies. Thanks Chuck for the recipe!

This pie is amazing.  Cheese baked into the crust, pears simmered in spices and port wine.  You can't get much better than that when it comes to a pie. 

[My little menu; if you are reading this and want to order something, leave a comment and I will fit that in my schedule :) ]

That's my little update of what I have been doing during Summer Holiday, and here is to baking!

Whovian

This post has been a long time in coming,  but here it is at last.

Doctor Who?

Yes, I am officially a Whovian.  But not the screamy-fangirl kind.  I watch Doctor Who because I appreciate the talent of the actors and the brilliance of the writers.  It is enduring and the kind of show that can span every part of one's emotions in a single 45 minute episode.  

When I got into the world of Doctor Who, I entered with extreme caution.  I had seen it for a while on the suggestions for Netflix and thought it must be really strange and cheesy when the description said "The ninth incarnation of everybody's favorite time-traveling doctor sets about fighting nefarious aliens and other foes in this epic sci fi series." 

But despite my caution I decided to watch the first episode of season 1.  

It was awful.  I'm sorry those of you Whovians out there who really like Christopher Eccleston.  I am sure that he is great, I just stopped watching him after the first episode, so none of this is a comment on his acting ability or how he was able to portray the doctor.  I am sure that he is excellent. But that first episode was...let me just say, interesting.  The acting was mediocre, the writing was flawed, and the effects were horrible.     

Needless to say, I wasn't impressed.  

So I didn't go back for a while.  But thank's to the geek section of pintrest, I decided to give it another shot. But this time I did my research-- the top best episodes of Doctor Who.  

And it came up with a David Tennant episode.  

It was decent, kind of creepy because I didn't know what was supposed to be happening, but good.  I enjoyed Tennant's performance way better than Eccleston's.  But I still wasn't convinced. 

Then, I came home one day to find out that my sister (who was even more skeptical than I--see her blog at http://sincerely-janine.blogspot.com/ ) had watched the first episode of season 5.  

She said it was incredible.  So I watched it, still not convinced. But by the end, I was swepped up in it.   Matt Smith won me over.  His performances episode after episode were equally impressive.  

He somehow discovered the magic to playing this extremely complicated character of the Doctor.  Matt Smith is a young man, but he plays someone who is 900 years old in a young man's body.  He captures the deep sadness in his expression and one gets the sense of the many lives that he has seen come and go out of the world.  But he also captures the humor and wittiness that makes up much of the show.  

He is old, powerful, and goofy.  How does that even work? I don't know, but it does.  

Try it out for yourself. Maybe you will think I am just crazy or maybe you will be captured by the brilliance of the story just as I was.  

But whatever you do, just be sure to begin this incredible journey at the right place--Season 5 Episode 1, "The Eleventh Hour."

Now, a few of my favorite pictures. 

Forth of July

Happy Fourth of July, from Houston, TX!

This time of the year, I am reminded how grateful I am for this nation and the freedom that we have.  This is one of my favorite pictures of all time.  

I Graduated!!!

[To get the full effect of this post, listen to this song while you read]

Hi, it has been a REALLY long time.  I have been a little busy...graduating! Yes, I am now completely done with high school.  What a strange feeling.  It hasn't really hit me yet; it probably won't hit me until school starts next year.  

I have the best friends in the world, I am so proud of my class and grateful to have been in the most amazing class to graduate Christ Church Academy (in my opinion). 

I am also so proud of the junior class who has spent the last year taking most of their classes with us.  They are amazing, and I am so glad that they won the overcomer's award this year at the school.  

They deserved it.

They have become some of my best friends this last year, and my senior year would not have been as fun without them.  I will miss them so much next year, but I am glad that I will not be going far.  We will visit often :)

Here is the speech that I gave at graduation about our past years at CCA.

Good evening family, friends, and class of 2013! It is an absolute privilege to speak to you tonight about the many years that we have invested here at Christ Church Academy.  Class of 2013, you are the most incredible, adventurous, yet caring class.  You are my best friends.  Our years here have certainly been hard at times, but the journey was worth it, the investment into the school was worth it, and the pay-off is worth it. 

Looking back, we were quite the rambunctious group of kids.  There were so many different personalities squished together in one class that it would take us a while to figure out how to get along.  There were the loud ones, the quite ones, the crazy ones, the reserved ones, the troublemakers, the tattle-tailers, and everything between.  Through our elementary years, we grew together as a class as we learned, most often the hard way, how to get along.  Those were our training years that began to build the foundations for a unified class.   As we learned how to be unified, we were also being trained to make the most of every moment in school because it wasn’t going to last forever.  And now standing here at our graduation ceremony, wearing the cap and gown, about to receive our diplomas, we certainly know that. 

Looking a bit more recently, our secondary years were times of testing to ensure that we really owned the truths that we had gained in elementary as our foundation.  We lost several classmates through the transition of elementary to secondary, but these original seven that had been there since Basic Skills remained.  Over the secondary years, Aunt Marcy prophesied over us, we were leaders, we were called to unity, we were ambassadors, we were refined gold.  In secondary, we had to make conscious decisions each year. Would we be leaders or just try to make it through each year without leaving any investment into the younger kids? Would we be unified or would we just each do our own thing to make it through? Would we be Christ’s ambassadors or would we decide what was right for ourselves? Would we be that refined gold that has proven itself or would we accomplish little and just try to make it through each year?  Each year we had to decide, and each year it was difficult.  BUT each year we found victory.  We are leaders, we are unified, we are ambassadors, we are refined gold. 

This year was unlike any year I have had at CCA. Just before the year started, our friend, mentor, teacher, pastor, and couch Dennis Trout passed away.  This began the year with sadness and uncertainty, but as a senior class, we wanted to go through this year, honoring Coach’s legacy.  Just before this year, the junior class lost a number of classmates. As a result, we received three incredible, sweet friends into our class from the 11^th grade, and it has only grown us and made this year even better than it would have been with just us seven. Through these apparent setbacks, we have still found victory this year.

This class of 2013 are your friends, sons, daughters, and grandchildren.  With your help, we have found victory this year and all of the years before in CCA and for that we are truly grateful.  We love all of you dearly.  

So here is to the last thirteen years that I have invested at Christ Church Academy! 

Here is to my graduated class!

A Paramount Preview

I LOVE going to see plays.  It is one of my favorite things, and I wish I had the money to get season tickets to every theater in Seattle.  But that's not going to happen any time soon, so right now, I just have to content myself by picking the very best play for the year to go and see. 

Because I love theater so much, in my rhetoric class, we had the assignment to write editorials on anything! Such a fun assignment! So, I decided to write about the theater (plays and ballet included in that). 

So here is my editorial for today.  My column is entitled "All Things Theater."  

All Things

   Theater

This year’s theater is beginning to wind down.  There are two more plays going on at the 5^th Avenue Theater, Jersey Boys and Pirates of Penzanse.  Director’s Choice has yet to play at the Pacific Northwest Ballet, but there aren’t many other shows happening.  This is the time that everyone is gearing up for the next year, which promises to be exciting.  So let me give you a brief preview of what is to come in the world of Seattle Theater next year, specifically, all of the Broadway shows that are going on at Paramount Theater. These are the plays that will compose Paramount Theater’s 2013 to 2014 season: Lion King, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the Wizard of Oz, the Book of Mormon, Evita, and Once.  Today I am going to give you a snapshot at my two picks from this season as must-see-musicals.  They are child and adult friendly, creative, and imaginative in nature.  These are my favorites, The Wizard of Oz and the Lion King.

The Wizard of Oz

To begin the next season with a bang, the Wizard of Oz is coming to the Paramount from October 9-13.  The tale of Dorothy, the Wizard, and the Wicked Witch of the West has been known to children since the book was written in 1900.  This classic  story has only recently been remade into a musical in 2011.  With the advent of modern technology, the theater is able to use projections to recreate the tornado scene on stage masterfully. Dorothy’s house moves across the stage while the witch is seen flying across the stage on her broomstick attached to wires.  Pieces of debris are seen flying passed and images of the inside of a tornado are projected moving on the stage.  All of these aspects together give a very real feeling of movement on the stage.  With this classic beginning, the theater sets itself up for success, appealing to adults and children alike in one musical.  

The Lion King

Lion King was my favorite movie growing up.  So when I got my American Girl magazine in the mail and saw that there was an entire section devoted to NicKayla T., the girl who plays the young Nala on Broadway’s musical creation of The Lion King, I was awestruck.  The costumes, characters, and way of portraying the animals were incredible.  Ever since that day when I was six years old, I have wanted to see the play. To my delight, it is coming to the Paramount Theater this year, and I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity of seeing the play for my first time. 

But just because I have never seen the play, doesn’t mean that I don’t know anything about it.  I have my American Girl magazine to thank for that (I’ve still got that magazine, by the way). The Lion King is currently Broadway’s fifth longest running musical of all time (beat out by the Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Chicago, and Les Miserables).  The play has six Tony Awards (best musical among them), eight Drama Desk Awards, and the Grammy for the Best Musical Show Album of 1999.  Basically, it is really cool.

The costumes are exquisite.  They are among the most complicated costumes for a musical or play.  The creators found a unique way of creating the animals on stage that precursored the resent creation of the War Horse. Each of the animals is a puppet that the people are a part of.  Some people leap across the stage, carrying puppets of antelope leaping so that the people just blend in with the animals that they are carrying (as seen in the picture).

  

And then there is the score.  Music written by Hans Zimmer and lyrics by Elton John, what is there not to love? That moment the first note is hit by the lead singer as the sun rises in the background is magical.  Even the animated Disney movie gives me Goosebumps; I can only imagine what the actual musical will feel like. 

So there you go, my two picks of Paramount Theater next season.  Next week I will give you a preview of the best 5^th Avenue plays to come.  These are some plays that are definitely worth seeing.