Friday, December 11, 2009
Final Thoughts
I dropped this class a couple of semesters ago, because not only did reading the Bible seem like a grueling task, my teacher did not seem very enthusiastic about teaching it. Taking this class from Dr. Sexson seemed like a much better idea for me. This class has opened me up to understanding the Bible, and learning the different stories from a literary point of view, a point of view that makes me appreciate it as a piece of art, which was something my naive self did not understand before this class. I have learned to look out for ways in which the Bible is represented in Pop culture, for if I was not familiar with the different stories, I would not be part of the unwashed masses who was able to pick up then them. I must admit, I did not finish reading the Bible, as most people can probably admit though too. But I did read the Good Book, which gave me the general idea of everything that I ended up missing. All in all, I must say im glad I dropped this class a year ago, for this semester was a much more enjoyable learning experience. Also, thanks to Rio for all of the visual excitement you brought to class every day.
Crazy Event, had to share
So I just woke up to a very crazy event, a poor lady being help captive by her lover.
Her name is Betty Joe, from Los Angeles California. Earlier this year, she went to a church retreat where she met a man who was really attractive. This man took an immediate liking to Betty Joe, told her he loved her, and that she should move to Montana, the most beautiful state in the world. So last Sunday, Betty Joe packed up her house, even though her daughter told her not to, and took a Greyhound to the Big Sky State. According to the story she gave the cops, Betty Joe arrived to a loving man who took really good care of her at first. However, when she tried to call her children and friends a couple of days ago to let them know she was safe, she was supprised to see that every number she dialed was a wrong number. This was when her suspicions arose. She confronted the man and asked why her phone didnt work, and he told her that now she was with him, nothing else mattered, so he changed all the numbers in her phone, to lose complete communication, and start a new life completely rid of its past. Betty Joe began to get upset, so the man duct taped her to a chair, then proceeded to duct tape the doors and block off windows so she could not get out. He did not have a house line so she was unable to call the cops.
Apparently this behavior went on for a few days, making Betty Joe more and more nervous of this situation. She told the cops that yesterday was the tipping point and she knew that she had to escape. She overheard the man, who loved her so much he didnt want to share her with anyone, talking to his friend on the phone about purchasing a bunch of guns for his house. After she heard that, she knew she would have to escape. This morning, when the man left the house, she pryed open the back door that was blocked by an old fridge, and ran down the block knocking on every door she could.
This is where our house gets involved. I saw the lady standing on the street corner, looking like she was waiting for someone, so I didnt think anything of it. After I got into my house, I heard a knock on the door. Over and over. It was the lady. We answered it, and she was shaking, looked like she was running from something that had just hurt her. We didnt let her in the house, but my sister called the cops and I made her some tea to warm up. When the cops got here, she told them that whole disturbing story.
I seriously feel like this captive thing is an ongoing theme. From reading lolita, to watching criminal minds, to poor Betty Joe. Regardless, this was not a boring start to the day, and I felt it necessary to share.
Her name is Betty Joe, from Los Angeles California. Earlier this year, she went to a church retreat where she met a man who was really attractive. This man took an immediate liking to Betty Joe, told her he loved her, and that she should move to Montana, the most beautiful state in the world. So last Sunday, Betty Joe packed up her house, even though her daughter told her not to, and took a Greyhound to the Big Sky State. According to the story she gave the cops, Betty Joe arrived to a loving man who took really good care of her at first. However, when she tried to call her children and friends a couple of days ago to let them know she was safe, she was supprised to see that every number she dialed was a wrong number. This was when her suspicions arose. She confronted the man and asked why her phone didnt work, and he told her that now she was with him, nothing else mattered, so he changed all the numbers in her phone, to lose complete communication, and start a new life completely rid of its past. Betty Joe began to get upset, so the man duct taped her to a chair, then proceeded to duct tape the doors and block off windows so she could not get out. He did not have a house line so she was unable to call the cops.
Apparently this behavior went on for a few days, making Betty Joe more and more nervous of this situation. She told the cops that yesterday was the tipping point and she knew that she had to escape. She overheard the man, who loved her so much he didnt want to share her with anyone, talking to his friend on the phone about purchasing a bunch of guns for his house. After she heard that, she knew she would have to escape. This morning, when the man left the house, she pryed open the back door that was blocked by an old fridge, and ran down the block knocking on every door she could.
This is where our house gets involved. I saw the lady standing on the street corner, looking like she was waiting for someone, so I didnt think anything of it. After I got into my house, I heard a knock on the door. Over and over. It was the lady. We answered it, and she was shaking, looked like she was running from something that had just hurt her. We didnt let her in the house, but my sister called the cops and I made her some tea to warm up. When the cops got here, she told them that whole disturbing story.
I seriously feel like this captive thing is an ongoing theme. From reading lolita, to watching criminal minds, to poor Betty Joe. Regardless, this was not a boring start to the day, and I felt it necessary to share.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
discovery!
Ever since I was a little girl, I have gone to Wyoming to spend summers on my families ranch in Lander, Wyoming.
The ranch was bought when I was 5 years old. My family had planned a vacation to Toberua Island, in Fiji, and since my father was sick with multiple sclerosis, he could not make the family trip with us. My brother, sister and I were so upset by this, because my father had always been with us on our trips to Fiji, and the thought of going there without him was really hard on us. My dad told my mom that she should still take the three kids to Fiji, and for her to bring a friend to help out with everything and watching us. My father wanted us out of the house while tests for his MS were taking place, so we would not get too worried. We were gone for two weeks.
My father must have known that his sickness was serious, for while we were away, he began his search for different ranches in the greater rocky mountain area. He looked all over Montana, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming, then finally stumbled on a listing for a ranch in Lander, Wyoming. The couple that owned it had it for their entire lives, but were too old to maintain it. He purchased the ranch after only seeing pictures that were sent to him in the mail. For my father, this ranch would be a way for his children to enjoy their last years with him. When the doctors told him his condition would most likely be fatal, Dad decided to work less and spend more time creating memories, for his biggest fear was that his children would not remember him.
When we got off the plane from Fiji, my dad couldnt make it to the airport to pick us up, so he sent a white limo. When we all jumped into the back of the car, the entire inside was covered with large, panoramic pictures of land. Lots of land. Hills, trees, rivers and open skies. My mom, as well as us kids, had no idea what was going on. All of a sudden, the front window where the driver seat was rolled down, and low and behold, my father was in the front seat looking back at us! He asked my mom if she liked the pictures, when she said yes, my father said, "good, cause its yours. Its all of ours!" At first my siblings and I had no idea what it was, until my dad told us it was a ranch where we could ride horses, explore, and walk for miles without stepping onto our neighbors land! For me, this was the most amazing news I had ever heard!
That summer, the entire family drove our suburban to the ranch instead of flying. It was our first roadtrip, and driving through Wyoming was not like Southern California... we would drive for hours without seeing another car, only the occasional antelope. (i called them cantelopes at the time) When we got to the ranch, there was only one cabin, but the rest of the summer was spent building our other cabins and making it a perfect little escape for everyone.
Because we did not have television, my brother, sister and I were forced to use our imaginations and rely on ourselves for entertainment. My sister would play dolls, and my brother and I would go out and search for treasures in the riverbed. Surrounding our "homestead" area were a few old dump piles (which were cleaned up later on that summer..) an old stagecoach wreck, and an indian camp. We would spend hours in the Indian camp looking for artifacts, which is where I found my first arrowhead, and my brother found a really old pipe. After finding these, we became obsessed with finding other treasures. We would even go out by ourselves, wearing irrigation boots so we could get really deep into the river, and see who could find the best treasure! I was determined.
One day, I decided to walk downstream a ways and look for bottles in along the riverbed in the mud. We had found all sorts of purple glass bottles, and old whiskey jars, so I thought that if I went further than we had ever gone before, I would find the best bottles of them all. I walked around a bend and saw what looked like an old sheepwagon. It was not standing, but there were shards of cloth, an old stove and chimney, and what was left of some wooden wheels. Jackpot! I started lifting peices of wood and metal to see what was underneath them. All of a sudden, I realized there was paper everywhere! I found sheet after sheet, only to realize they were books that had fallen apart and were ruined from the elements. I kept digging when I found one that seemed intact. It had a leather cover but I could not read the letters on the front from all the water damage. I was sooo excited! I could not read at the time so I ran home as fast as I could to show my dad what I had found.
He opened it up and started reading a line from it. He told me that I had found a really old Bible, which was amazing because most of the pages were intact! I was so excited! The best treasure found on the ranch, the old Bible! We wrapped it up in a plastic bag to protect it because my dad said that it was really special, and I would want to have it someday.
This summer, 2009 I was going through an old closet and stumbled across a plastic bag. I had not seen my Bible for years, so when I opened it up, I was so excited that I still had it! I took it out of the bag and openened the Bible up. There was a peice of yellow paper folded up in the center of it. The paper read, "I hid the Bible in this closet knowing that it would not be discovered for a while. This discovery really is an amazing treasure, one that will give you stories to tell for years. Life really is about memories and the people we share them with. Never stop searching for the greatest treasures in life. Love, Dad." Im not sure if my mom knew that note was in there. My father passed away when I was 10 years old, so to find that note 14 years after he passed away brought a lot of nostalgia. That Bible, other than my Harper Collins, is the only Bible I have ever had, even though I have never read it, it is one of the most important discoveries I have ever made.
Hill where we scattered his ashes, overlooking his favorite place in the world.
The ranch was bought when I was 5 years old. My family had planned a vacation to Toberua Island, in Fiji, and since my father was sick with multiple sclerosis, he could not make the family trip with us. My brother, sister and I were so upset by this, because my father had always been with us on our trips to Fiji, and the thought of going there without him was really hard on us. My dad told my mom that she should still take the three kids to Fiji, and for her to bring a friend to help out with everything and watching us. My father wanted us out of the house while tests for his MS were taking place, so we would not get too worried. We were gone for two weeks.
My father must have known that his sickness was serious, for while we were away, he began his search for different ranches in the greater rocky mountain area. He looked all over Montana, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming, then finally stumbled on a listing for a ranch in Lander, Wyoming. The couple that owned it had it for their entire lives, but were too old to maintain it. He purchased the ranch after only seeing pictures that were sent to him in the mail. For my father, this ranch would be a way for his children to enjoy their last years with him. When the doctors told him his condition would most likely be fatal, Dad decided to work less and spend more time creating memories, for his biggest fear was that his children would not remember him.
When we got off the plane from Fiji, my dad couldnt make it to the airport to pick us up, so he sent a white limo. When we all jumped into the back of the car, the entire inside was covered with large, panoramic pictures of land. Lots of land. Hills, trees, rivers and open skies. My mom, as well as us kids, had no idea what was going on. All of a sudden, the front window where the driver seat was rolled down, and low and behold, my father was in the front seat looking back at us! He asked my mom if she liked the pictures, when she said yes, my father said, "good, cause its yours. Its all of ours!" At first my siblings and I had no idea what it was, until my dad told us it was a ranch where we could ride horses, explore, and walk for miles without stepping onto our neighbors land! For me, this was the most amazing news I had ever heard!
That summer, the entire family drove our suburban to the ranch instead of flying. It was our first roadtrip, and driving through Wyoming was not like Southern California... we would drive for hours without seeing another car, only the occasional antelope. (i called them cantelopes at the time) When we got to the ranch, there was only one cabin, but the rest of the summer was spent building our other cabins and making it a perfect little escape for everyone.
Because we did not have television, my brother, sister and I were forced to use our imaginations and rely on ourselves for entertainment. My sister would play dolls, and my brother and I would go out and search for treasures in the riverbed. Surrounding our "homestead" area were a few old dump piles (which were cleaned up later on that summer..) an old stagecoach wreck, and an indian camp. We would spend hours in the Indian camp looking for artifacts, which is where I found my first arrowhead, and my brother found a really old pipe. After finding these, we became obsessed with finding other treasures. We would even go out by ourselves, wearing irrigation boots so we could get really deep into the river, and see who could find the best treasure! I was determined.
One day, I decided to walk downstream a ways and look for bottles in along the riverbed in the mud. We had found all sorts of purple glass bottles, and old whiskey jars, so I thought that if I went further than we had ever gone before, I would find the best bottles of them all. I walked around a bend and saw what looked like an old sheepwagon. It was not standing, but there were shards of cloth, an old stove and chimney, and what was left of some wooden wheels. Jackpot! I started lifting peices of wood and metal to see what was underneath them. All of a sudden, I realized there was paper everywhere! I found sheet after sheet, only to realize they were books that had fallen apart and were ruined from the elements. I kept digging when I found one that seemed intact. It had a leather cover but I could not read the letters on the front from all the water damage. I was sooo excited! I could not read at the time so I ran home as fast as I could to show my dad what I had found.
He opened it up and started reading a line from it. He told me that I had found a really old Bible, which was amazing because most of the pages were intact! I was so excited! The best treasure found on the ranch, the old Bible! We wrapped it up in a plastic bag to protect it because my dad said that it was really special, and I would want to have it someday.
This summer, 2009 I was going through an old closet and stumbled across a plastic bag. I had not seen my Bible for years, so when I opened it up, I was so excited that I still had it! I took it out of the bag and openened the Bible up. There was a peice of yellow paper folded up in the center of it. The paper read, "I hid the Bible in this closet knowing that it would not be discovered for a while. This discovery really is an amazing treasure, one that will give you stories to tell for years. Life really is about memories and the people we share them with. Never stop searching for the greatest treasures in life. Love, Dad." Im not sure if my mom knew that note was in there. My father passed away when I was 10 years old, so to find that note 14 years after he passed away brought a lot of nostalgia. That Bible, other than my Harper Collins, is the only Bible I have ever had, even though I have never read it, it is one of the most important discoveries I have ever made.
Hill where we scattered his ashes, overlooking his favorite place in the world.
Really?
-I just read a fact saying that the Bible can be read aloud in 70 hours...
(I should have gotten the book on tape)
-Also, the word Lord appears over 400 times more than God in the Bible.
(I should have gotten the book on tape)
-Also, the word Lord appears over 400 times more than God in the Bible.
-The numbers are 3 and 9
There are 39 books in the Old Testament.
multiply 3 X 9 and the answer is 27
There are 27 Books in the New Testament.
If you add 39 and 27 and the answer is 66
There are 66 books in the entire Bible.
Paradise Lost
In my Brit Lit 1 class, (which I've been putting off for the last 6 years) we covered many different plays, poems, stories etc. that were closely tied to religion and beliefs from earlier time periods. While all the stories had references to different religions, and some even to the Bible, the story read that had closest Biblical ties, for obvious reasons, was Paradise Lost by Milton. Because I developed a stronger knowledge of the Bible over this semester, I was glad that we read Milton's story last in Brit Lit for I was able to understand it better, and the different Bible references that were found. Some of these Biblical references I discovered in Milton's story include:
-Christs Exaltation in Heaven which is found in Hebrews and Psalms.
-Gods creation of the World, found in Genesis (however, in Genesis satan does not try to destroy the world immediately.
-Satan's Rebellion and War in Heaven, found in Isaiah and Revelation
-Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, found in Genesis, when Eve is tempted by the disguised Satan to eat the fruit from the tree.
-Noahs Arc, which last but not least, is also found in Genesis.
Not only does Milton's Paradise lost follow the Bible very closely in its events, it sometimes quotes the Bible word for word, which I would not have been able to pick up on before this semester. Like one of my blogs from earlier this semester, does everyone steal from everything else? Yes- Milton did steal some of his stories from the Bible... but he made an interesting twist making Satan a type of hero / anti-hero.
-Christs Exaltation in Heaven which is found in Hebrews and Psalms.
-Gods creation of the World, found in Genesis (however, in Genesis satan does not try to destroy the world immediately.
-Satan's Rebellion and War in Heaven, found in Isaiah and Revelation
-Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, found in Genesis, when Eve is tempted by the disguised Satan to eat the fruit from the tree.
-Noahs Arc, which last but not least, is also found in Genesis.
Not only does Milton's Paradise lost follow the Bible very closely in its events, it sometimes quotes the Bible word for word, which I would not have been able to pick up on before this semester. Like one of my blogs from earlier this semester, does everyone steal from everything else? Yes- Milton did steal some of his stories from the Bible... but he made an interesting twist making Satan a type of hero / anti-hero.
Plotz
I have not blogged on Plotz yet, and I'm not sure why, because I really enjoyed reading The Good Book. He made the Bible more approachable for people with short attention spans, or those that were interested in the Bible, just not very interested in actually reading it. For example: his appendix at the end of the book is what I started out reading, before diving into the book. At first glance, I just thought, oh, this is some guys own experience that he had with the Bible, and is going to give some facts, details, and information... however, after reading the appendix, I was pleasantly supprised. The appendix includes:
-The Bible's twelve best pickup lines
-The nine best parties
-My favorite prostitutes
-Eleven heroes you don't want to be named after
-Nine truly hellacious divine punishments
-The eight trippiest and most important dreams
-Nine weird laws
-The six most important business deals
-Six abuses of animal rights
-The ten most important meals
"Well, this looks promising," I thought to myself. This guy seems like he find the relatable information in the Bible, and puts it into real world situations that we can actually understand! Booze, Feminism, Sex, Trippy dreams, Animal Rights, Laws, Prostitutes, Wars, Hellacious punishements... what more could a girl ask for? These were issues that I knew existed in the Bible, I was just never able to look at them as entertainment like David Plotz enabled me to. By bringing pop culture into studying the Bible, Plotz has made it relateable.
Examples:
Chicken Soup for the Hebew Soul
God's Whole Grain Hippie Prophet
Hot and Holy
The First Miss Universe Pageant
The Source of all Jewish Comedy
Why so many Bible Hookers?
The meathead and the left-handed assassin
Kings of Pain
Anyways. Just wanted to say I appreciate that this was put onto our reading list for the semester because not only was it VERY informative, It made me start to enjoy and appreciate the Bible more than I have in the past.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
My Paper Topic
The Laws to Live By
After a person, like myself, dives deeper into the Bible than they have ever gone before, the question, “what did you learn about the Bible that you did not know before?” becomes a lot harder to answer than simply, “what are you familiar with in the Bible?”. My answer to the latter question would have simply been, “not much.” Aspects that have always been of strong interest to me are the different rules and laws one must live by that are found in the Bible. Because the Bible was written so long ago, many of these “laws” could not possibly apply today, (unless they were being followed by a strong fundamentalist) however, the different laws continue to cause a lot of questions and arguments regarding issues that take place in current time. Due to the fact that the only “law” I have ever known from the Bible is “respect thy neighbor,” I am writing my paper on some of the many laws found in the Bible, good or bad, funny or serious, literal or figurative, for they are a small piece of the Bible that until this fall, I knew absolutely nothing about.
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