Madame Bovary

A woman enslaved to her lusts. The story follows Emma, married to a country doctor, and her entrapment to her desires, her immaturity and her flighty notions of romance. It touches on religion and the habit of false piety that many entertain. And it ends in calamity. The finale is unsatisfactory. It is tragic, but it doesn't feel thus, because it seems to follow the natural order of things. Emma and Monsieur Bovary are so caught up in their infatuations and seeking the fulfillment of their desires by others, and to me it was clear from the get go that these desires would not be fulfilled as they hoped, because they were centred on other faulty and selfish human beings.
I can't help but to read a book like this in the light of God's Word.  God's wisdom helps us to navigate the issues of marriage and have a more realistic outlook on it. I suppose its interesting to watch this self-indulgent character walk herself into trouble and difficulty. And a reminder to follow the wisdom of God rather than immediate desires. What Madame thought would make her happy led her to heartache, destitution and hopelessness.
Definitely something to think about.

Two Songs and John Cage

Just a quick note to record my audial consumption of Shania Twain's 'I Feel like a Woman' and 'We are Family' by Sister Sledge. My music collection is going to be quite eclectic by the end of this project.
John Cage's work could not be classed as music. It is more like performance art- The Firenze: 12.22 minutes of well timed jabs at the piano...interesting.

Two movies

I am now caught up on the classic 'Flashdance'.  Reasonably entertaining, not too long, but also no great drama, just a classic dance/beating the odds/romance sort of story.  I am learning to love the art of dance though. I just find it amazing the way we have the capacity to train movements into our muscle memory.  I find it with the piano and am sure its the same with dance. We take for granted our ability to learn songs and dances, plus other skills, driving, painting, cutting, writing.  Without this God-given talent our world would be a very different place.  One more reminder of the impossibility of our exitence without Almighty God.
I also watched the Hunchback on Notredame, the Disney version. A rather enjoyable representation of the book, but I'm looking forward to reading the original. I am sure it will be far more powerful.

A Tale of Two Cities

I plodded on through this book for so long, but the resolution was well worth the wait.  All the bits and pieces that I didn't understand came together in a way that I never expected. Satisfying, unpredictable, powerful, perfect.  The book also introduced me somewhat to the French revolution. I may be inspired to learn more about this because there were so many things that I just couldn't comprehend in the playing out of the story.  A history lesson would reveal a lot I'm sure.  I love that these classic books introduce me to the worlds of past others.
I am quite learning to enjoy this Charles Dickens fellow. Clever stuff. I am sure a second read would be more powerful and much clearer to me, but I must move on, to some other expectantly wonderful novels.

Herbal Tea

A Couple of Classics

I have now been introduced to Officer Krupke through 'West Side Story' (Lorelai calls Luke Officer Krupke in episode 1), and been reminded of the actions of Schindler during the holocaust. West Side Story is the origin of a whole bunch of songs I've heard throughout my life without realising where they came from. 'I Feel Pretty', 'I Once met a Girl Named Maria' - from west side story! I never knew.  The whole length of West Side Story I found myself thinking of Nicky Cruz's 'The Cross and the Switchblade' - An amazing story about God's renewing and redeeming power within the gangs of New York.  It's hard to understand the freedom God gives us to create such messes as the holocaust and gang warfare, but it's wonderful to watch God's principles and power, put to work by men of God, breathing new life and love into these situations. While I am enjoying experiencing all these wonderful classics (and some not so classic experiences) through this Gilmore Girl Project, I will always prefer the classic work of God laid out in prose.

Still Here

I can't believe it's been more than three months since my last post.  I've still been working on this, but struggling to keep up with uni. So I've eaten a few more foods and listened to some music, but no more books just yet. I checked out XTC's Apple Venus volume II.  Pretty funky stuff. I really enjoyed it, totally not mainstream, but enjoyable to listen to.  You should check it out.
Here are a few foods I've enjoyed: Coffee, fries with horseradish sauce, salad, salty chicken.

 Blueberry shortcake!

 Snickers (obviously)

 Chicken risotto 1

 Coffee

 True Pecan Pie with icecream

Cookies care of Coles