Weekend quotes

There is nothing like waking up on a Saturday and spending as much time as you want to make absoutely divine oatmeal. I followed Martha Stewarts tip and steeped aromatic spices in the milk before making the oatmeal. Lovely.

And Dad intorduced me to a veritable Ghandi of basketball: John Wooden.
Love the quotes:
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."

"Never mistake activity for achievement."

"Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then."

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

[+] Enlarge
Jeff Lewis/US Presswire
Wooden's wisdom has withstood the test of time.
"Be prepared and be honest."

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."

"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character."

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."

"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."

"It isn't what you do, but how you do it."

"Ability is a poor man's wealth."

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

"Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights."

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it."

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

Home!

Do you ever find yourself pleasantly surprised at how lovely 6 hours in the car can be? My mom and sis came Wed night. WE had a lovely girls night with Britney and Alexandra watching The Young Victoria. Absolutely wonderful. :) The following day, I left as soon as class got out. It was nice listening to music and of course a Harry Potter tape...with several hours of shopping towards the end. In-car hours become much more pleasant when one has several reprieves. Arrived home last night around 9 and felt entitled to scream "I'm home!" at the top of my lungs. It felt good. And since then I have been in a happily harried state of excitement. Unpacking, redecorating and rearranging my room to my new taste (which tends to change often:) Dusting, vacuuming, scheduling, calling about jobs, writing letters, making bags of hand-me downs...etc. I'm taking the online Adolescent Literature course, which will go towards me graduating early. Oh! Did I tell you my latest major? Teaching English! I feel like I've come full circle, rediscovering my great passion for reading and writing.
One of my goals for the summer is to cook suppers for my family two weeks in a row...ON MY OWN....so starting Monday...I'm warning my family to have much grace when things start smoking, and the alarm goes off and when we end up with half-cooked, or overcooked or not enough....I'm actually pretty excited...
Briefly helped Mom weed the garden today...fresh dirt is beautiful, the process of revealing it not quite so much. It was funny pulling up weed and finding the many discarded shells form ocean visits, and various, gems and beads that had fallen off the porch...a veritable treasure hunt.:)

Yours truly,
Butterfly girl

Deciphering

Deciphering the meaning of a particularly complex book
Is like trying to unwrap a chocolate that has melted and hardened several times over
Little chips of chocolate crumble off here and there
And when the bulk of it finally comes loose
You are surprised at the strange wrinkled shape.

An essay on The Communist Manifesto

Marx. The name goes off like a firecracker around the table. Devoured like a personal offense to each and every hearer. And why? Whatever could one do to become so delightfully infamous? To be known from across nations down to the very individual. “You’re reading the Communist Manifesto?!” Bullets start flying. Words like “individualism,” lack of motivation,” “unfair.”
But I see his side. History is constantly being shaped by the conflict between social classes. Marx seeks to end this conflict. Is a vision of equality and prevention of conflict not beautiful? This man writes passionately about the freedom of the oppressed and the hope of a new society. “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life and his relations with his kind.” He points at the prejudice of the ruling class or bourgeoisie as well as their dominance over production. “The modern laborer…instead of rising with the progress of industry, sinks deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his own class.” “…the proleteriat alone is a really revolutionary class…the bourgeoisi therefore produces its own gravediggers.” He sees a society where land and factories are owned and allotted by the state, and there is peace.
However, there are innate problems, with Marx’s ideas. He fails to look behind class conflict and see the human nature. As a Christian I believe we live in a fallen world and have a sin nature. It is because of this nature that Marx’s solution fails. People cannot work just to work. We are, at times, motivated by selfish ambition: reward. The American dream implies that if you work hard, you move up; however true or false this may be we do need motivation outside of ourselves. There is also the idea of a community of women. In their defense, the communists state that the family already is corrupted. They examine how men cheat on their wives and go on to say that it “…is in reality a system of wives in common.” Although the family is corrupted, it is a hasty and bold generalization to think that all men cheat on their wives. A community of women would in fact create the dehumanization that Marx writes against.
In this way Marx vision fell short. It is impossible to make a beautiful society with imperfect people. In dashing rhetoric and passionate expression, Marx proclaims his vision of a peaceful society. And the yearning within the human heart for peace is a beautiful thing…a vision which in no way should be banned, but rather supplement with material that points out flaws in the solution. As a piece of literature pertaining to society it is beautiful, albeit misguided. Our hearts yearn for peace on earth, our natures make hell on earth, and because of that conflict we cannot create heaven on earth.

Good Tuesday morning!

It's supposed to be sunny all week! I love lounging around luxuriously, drenched in sun and poetry. The madness of class seems to be winding down rapidly and is picking up a more relaxed pace. Simply lovely. I was laying in the grass yesterday. I woke up eye-level to all these little white flowers. To think that each of them is a way God loves us, and every leaf on every tree and every blade of grass was made for us. How great is His love.

Yours truly
butterfly girl

Friday girls night!

There is absolutely nothing like driving an hour for icecream instead of supper. ("Life is short, eat dessert first.") ColdWater Creek. We sat on the curb eating the richest most amazing icecream while hearing of Pooh and Winnie's search for a "hefalump." On the way home, windows rolled down, enjoying the warm night air, blasting Christmas music. Absolutely lovely.

Today is just as lovely...warm heady spring air, smelling of future rain. I am working on living in the moment. Not for it, but in it. To be present where I am, when I am to see God's glory in the here and now.

Yours truly,
Butterflygirl

Hello there!
Caterpillars are still waging an aerial attack on Houghton.
But other than the caterpillars, life is wonderful. I got a room to myself in Lambein for may term, without having to pay for a single. Decorating and setting up was a total blast. The banned books course is really great. It's forcing me to draw my own line when authors are abusing their power over readers, and when uncomfortable, ugly subjects are needed to make a good point.
Me and the other girlies have had deep discussions. Particularly pertaining to whether or not it would be possible to get married, and then secretly become a pre-nun for a year. During which you'd start a black market of lace and jewelry and then eventually quit. It would just be oh so romantic to be able to tell your grandchildren..."Yes I was a nun once..."
Last night we watched a modern movie about Romeo and Juliet. Hardly anyone else was in the theater. It was so nice to get indignant at the characters, dreamy eyed over Italy and breathless over true love. Beforehand we went to a little coffee shop. There was live music, antique decorations, couches and general aire of quaintness. Note to self: maybe I'll run a coffee shop.

Yours imaginatively

Butterfly girl