In need of a life

Any thoughts on where I can find one? I already tried EBay (I knew I should've bought that one in Australia!) and Craigslist.com... All suggestions are welcome.

Culture Warrior: a review

For the last month, I have been reading Bill O'Reilly's Culture Warrior. Overall, I think it is a great book and brings out some really interesting points. However, I do not agree with him in everything. This morning, I was reading while working out (my normal routine), and came across a topic that definitely caught my attention.

In chapter 12, O'Reilly brings up the topic of religion in the culture war. I think he gets it right when he says that "the conservative Christian groups... are most engaged on the traditional side." What I disagree with is his statement that this war will not be won "in the religious arena" because Christians base their stand on morality, not necessarily economic prosperity. Personally, I think that if the Culture War is won at all, it will be because of the strong Christians in this country and the omnipotent God they stand for. According to a poll cited in the book, 15% of Americans are hard-core liberals, while 35% style themselves conservative, leaving the remaining 50% moderate (otherwise known as apathetic - in my opinion). If these numbers are correct, what it shows is that a passion for something is needed to get people motivated to even enter the war. Yeah, Americans care about the economy, but in reality, most only care about what their own bank accounts look like. O'Reilly suggests that traditionalists persuade the non-religious of this country that traditionalism is in their best interest. I do not believe this is a good strategy. The social-progressives are all about individulism. If the traditionalist tries to win an argument appealing to individual interest, he is already at a disadvantage against the S-P warrior. I would offer that Christianity, which appeals to a greater good outside of the individual, is one of the few ideologies that will successfully motivate people to rally for the traditional cause. That being said, it has to be a deep-rooted conviction and not merely a formality like the denigrated version of Christianity that is preached in too many churches across America. Like I said earlier, passion for a cause is necessary in order to rally the troops and take them to victory.

I suppose only time will tell how this war will turn out, but that is my two cents on the topic.

Oh, and as an aside (purely for amusement purposes), my favorite quote from the book is a statement O'Reilly directs at Nancy Pelosi after she has accused him of "calling for a terrorist attack." And here it is: "She... lives in a virtual Land of Oz. And to her I have only one thing say: You better knock it off lady, or I'll throw water on you and take your shoes."

Still in Puerto Rico (at heart)

We arrived in San Juan rather late on Saturday night, so this is where we stayed the first night until we were able to catch the ferry over to Vieques.

On day two we made it over to the island by ferry, then took a publico to our rental house, "Casa Colibri." The directions to get there were the most unusual I had ever seen in my life... they were as follows: go past the house with the cow statue in the front yard, then up the hill and drive along the ridge, pass the house with new wide gate and many barking dogs, pass the green wooden house with shutters, pass the white house on corner and arrive at Casa Colibri.

The little Geo Tracker, though rickety, got us around the ridiculously bumpy roads to the fabulously gorgous beaches!

Like this one. =)

Narnia: Prince Caspian

In my family it only takes doing something once for it to become "tradition" (I don't make up the rules... that would be my youngest two siblings). So, as tradition would have it, on Saturday I went with my family to the movie theater to watch the second Narnia movie to come out on the silver screen. Unlike with the hyped-up Indiana Jones, I was not disappointed with Prince Caspian. The soundtrack was very similar to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I LOVED! The scenerey was absolutely breath-taking! I have long wanted to visit New Zealand, but this movie has REALLY given me a desire to go. (As a random side-note, parts of the movie were also filmed in Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic, which I never would have guessed if I hadn't looked it up). And Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) was super-cute, with an alluring Spanish accent, making him a perfect prince. =) My younger siblings loved the fighting scenes, while one of my favorite scenes was the reappearance of the White Witch... in a block of ice. The movie strayed a little from the book, but remained close enough that the general moral of the story was unchanged. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

Books I need

I first came across this book while shopping in Savannah with J and K. Of course J found it absolutely apalling that I would even find such a book amusing, while K thought it was pretty funny (the difference between the sexes). I don't know... maybe it is just me (but I kinda doubt it)... from the time we are very little, there is just something in girls that finds great enjoyment in tormenting (physically or psychologically) little boys simply because (as the more intellectually advanced sex) we can.

I recently found out that the author of the Boys are Stupid book has since come out with Girls are Weirdos (but they smell pretty). While the title does not sound particularly flattering representation of the prettier half of humanity, it is actually just a confession that guys do not understand us at all, but they are attracted nonetheless and in the end the fact that we smell (and look) pretty overrides the fact that they think we are rather strange.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am often irritated by the entire male population. I think these books are PERFECT because sometimes laughing at boys is actually more fun than tying them to trees and making them eat worms (not that I would ever consider doing such a thing). =P