brodie: perfectly imbalanced: 10/01/2005

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

winter is coming...

The phrase "winter is coming" is from one of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy books. Not only was it used to herald the beginning of winter, but it also signaled that harsh times are upon us. Well, harsh times are not upon me, at least for the moment. However, the weather is starting to make that shift into my favorite season of the year. You would probably be hard pressed to find someone who loves the cold as much as I do (maybe Sarah M.) and even though I sometimes complain abut the cold, I am never tired of it.

As a new season dawns, I welcome the cold into my life.

-brodie

posted by brodie @ 12:53 AM 4 comments

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

hrmmmmm

I felt hesistant to post this picture because it wasn't like the photos that I posted before. In fact, it isn't a photo at all. It is a little strange, but as soon as I finished, I loved it.

You may actually have to click on the picture to see it up close, so you can see all the little pencil lines. Also, feel free to guess what it is, because none of my friends and family have guessed correctly on their first try.

-brodie

posted by brodie @ 11:32 PM 7 comments

Sunday, October 16, 2005

.:q-->~p

be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
thy fate is the common fate of all,
into each life some rain must fall,
some days must be dark and dreary.

- henry wadsworth longfellow

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.

- sir walter scott

therefore, we know that q does not equal p

-luke

posted by brodie @ 11:20 PM 4 comments

Saturday, October 15, 2005

"i'm fine."

I have been sitting here, looking at the computer screen for a couple of minutes, trying to think of what to say about Elizabethtown. I saw the movie last night with a couple of friends, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting that it would be a good movie. I am not a huge fan of either Kirsten Dunst or Orlando Bloom, but I do like most of Cameron Crowe's films. I almost didn't see the movie, because I read a couple of reviews that gave the movie one star, but I am glad that take that one star to heart. The movie itself is not perfect, mostly due to certain points where the pacing becomes slow, but it is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. Many may criticize me for liking the movie as much as I did, but I don't care about people's criticism for me or the movie.

In the beginning of the movie we were introduced to a young man named Drew, who was a hot-shot shoe designer, and subsequently cost his company millions by a shoe of his own design. One of the things I noticed was how, in the flashback scenes at the company party, his boyish happiness reminded me of Tom Cruise's character in Jerry Maguire. After the shoe fiasco, Drew learns of his father's death and leaves to Elizabethtown, Kentucky to say goodbye one last time. Along the way, he meets some interesting characters, one of whom is Claire. Since I have given you a small synopsis of the movie, will now entreat you to what I think about certain things in the movie.

To begin, the music in the movie, made the movie flow. This is the South's answer to the Garden State soundtrack. Artists like Tom Petty, Patty Griffin, Wheat, the Hollies, and the Hombres make up a part of the soundtack and ultimately make the movie seem more like an enjoyable roadtrip (with windows rolled down, of course). The side story about Drew and his dead father, and making a connection with those people who knew him well, was a little distracting from what I thought was the main attraction of the film (the girl), but the movie wasn't just a love story. It was also about this young man, trying to recall memories of a father that he didn't know too well.

But the love story itself gets its own paragraph. This, in my mind, was the plat du jour of the entire course. In most flicks where the guy gets the girl in the end, you can't really see similarities with most of the characters. I am talking about movies like, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Sleepless in Seattle, Ever After or any other movie that confuses reality with fiction. In one scene, Drew and Claire talked on the phone for hours, making conversation about anything and everything, and then deciding to meet up and watch the sunrise. The relationship between the two of them was verging on something more than a friendship, but they were both hesitant. They both had things holding them back, and you find yourself hoping that even though they proclaimed themselves friends, there would be that chance that they would get together in the end. I'm not going to say what happens in the end, but I ask that you go see the movie (yes, even you coffeehouse misanthropes) and see for yourself.

-luke

posted by brodie @ 11:36 AM 1 comments

Friday, October 14, 2005

ah...the refreshing bite of the palisade wasp!

There is not much to blog about today. I actually completely ignored my teacher in Art History class, because I didn't want a repeat of Tuesday. So I took a handout of The School of Athens that was completely blank (the characters and the background of the school were just outlines) and I drew in my interpretation of different things. Overall, I think Raphael would be pleased. Actually now that I think of it, there was one weird thing that happened to me today, and it involved a girl (oh joy).

Story time! As I was sitting down, before my Art History class, I was approached by a girl from my Spanish class. She put a piece of Spanish homework in front of me and asked for help. So I helped her out, and then she asked if I was free to tutor her, but she didn't use the word "tutor". So I gave her my number and times to reach me. The thing was, the way she came acrossed was kind of weird, because she could have asked someone else to help her, especially since they have Spanish tutors down the hall from our classroom. She even promised to pay me...then she changed her mind to cooking for me. Does it look like I need food? Anyways, I was quite scared when I actually thought about it. I enjoy helping others out, but I really don't want her to ply her womanly trades on me. Of course, she could only need help on her Spanish and nothing else. We'll see.

-brodie

posted by brodie @ 1:43 AM 2 comments

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

insanity infiltrates my brain (get out!)

I knew I shouldn't have gone to school today. My uncanny sixth sense from this morning could have saved me from an hour and a half of pure, 190 proof insanity. So, I have decided to blog about that insanity that I have gone through today, as well as some added insanity I experienced last week. This seems like a good time to mesh the two together and get it over with.

On with the story! So, I have 3 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I only have to go to 2 most of the time (the third is photography, and I only have to attend on days when we present photos, which is what my second story pertains to). My first class, Spanish, is relatively easy. My second class, Art History II, you think I would like, because of all the cool art that was created in the time periods that we are studying at this point in time. Today we were studying Leonardo Da Vinci, and I just knew that one of these art students would bring in something about Dan Brown. Don't get me wrong, Dan Brown is a pretty good writer. I even read Angels and Demons, but his other book, The Da Vinci Code seems to have a negative effect on people who are not Christians. In fact, the book makes them zombies and they in turn, believe every single word or prophecy that he writes. Too bad they don't turn into real zombies, because then they could be more easily dealt with (you got red on you).

The whole class was looking at the painting, The Last Supper, by Da Vinci and our teacher was telling us about how the character to the left of Jesus (supposedly John or James) looks more like Mary Magdalene than a guy. The figure does look a little feminine, but it is way too blurry to actually tell who it is. Our teacher points out that it could be Mary, because she was considered an apostle as well. WHAT?!? From that point on, the conversation went haywire. One guy to my left raised his hand and spoke about how they (who's they? other women?) found scriptures written by women and that the church hadn't put it in the Bible before because it was women who wrote it and that isn't right. Several women in the class made comments supporting this statement, also saying that Bibles are now being re-printed to include the works of these women. All the while I was shaking my head and thinking that Guttenburg was turning in his grave. Next, my teacher gets this goofy looking smile on her face (which she does a lot) and says, "How many of you think that Jesus and Mary could actually have descendants in the world today?" Once again, I made myself known with a "No" and a shake of the head. However, I was drowned out by a chorus of "Yes". The reasoning that she used to prove to the class that it was, in fact Mary Magdalene to Jesus' right, was a system of pyramids. She said that the group of apostles to Jesus' right and left made up pyramids in form. The two pyramids come together to form a large "M", which (of course) represents Mary. Here, let me demonstrate:

Here's what I drew up to counter her pyramid theory:

Thankfully I am not a zombie. Zombies are definitely not cool.

My second story is a little bit shorter, but just as insane. Actually, it is more aggravating than anything. Last week, in photography class, we had our second photo presentation. My first one went well, except for the unbridled talking that was going on. Our second presentation was no different, except for one thing. In our first presentation, I presented second, because my name ends in a "B". On our second round of presentations, my teacher got the bright idea to switch it up and start from the end of the alphabet first. We can't leave early, and going to the bathroom, even to get away from the crazy people, was not tolerated, so I had to sit in the classroom for two hours, all the while listening to these people speak. Luckily, I stayed alive by moving my pencil back and forth in motions called "writing" and "drawing". Simply put, to pass the time, I drew cartoons of different people in the class that were annoying me, and I wrote down quotes from various people. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

"I find serenity and great peace in these photos."
~woman talking about a photo of a seagull

"This one of your dog is really cute! It's almost like he's saying 'watch me!'".
~girl commenting on picture of a chiuaua in a tutu

"It reminds me of taking time to relax."
~someone talking about a picture with a pair of ugly feet

"Your feet tell a story"
~same as above

"My grandparents have a peacock farm....so looking at your picture of the peacock feather reminds me of my grandparents."
~girl talking about a picture of a peacock feather, but clearly misunderstands that she is supposed to make a comment about the girl who took it, not of her own life

Hopefully, by tomorrow, my world will return to it's normal course, but one can never be too sure.

-brodie

posted by brodie @ 9:38 PM 5 comments

Quelqu'un M'a Dit

This is one of those days where I wish I didn't have to go to school. The weather is nice outside and I can imagine that Carla Bruni is telling me to skip my classes and drink coffee and watch old movies all day. Alas, I am drinking the last of the coffee right now, and I've seen all the old movies in this house. I guess I will have to meander to class soon, but at least I will do it fully awake.

-brodie

posted by brodie @ 9:26 AM 2 comments

Friday, October 07, 2005

random chatter

Today was a not unlike the weather that we had here. It didn't rain hard but it did sprinkle...the whole day. So, in my mind, the weather epitomized how my day was....it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.

The day started out okay, but then I had my first class: Photography. Today was our second presentation, and the teacher decided to start from the end of the class to the beginning. Since my last name starts with "B" that virtually puts me at dead last. I had to sit through commentative hell for 2 hours. This girl, who conveniently sat in front of me, made it a point to comment on every single picture that was put on display. I wouldn't have much of a problem with her comments.......if they were ORIGINAL! Let me just give you an example of what was emitted from her mouth:

Presenter: This picture....I love, because of how the shadows make the object seem ethereal.

Crazy Girl: I really love that picture too! The shadows I love! They make the object seem more....ethereal...or whatever you said.

2 hours of the same comments over and over again made me want to just go back home and sleep the rest of the day.

It wasn't too bad after classes, but as Lonnie knows well, the most trying times can come from parents. I love my parents a lot, but when I hear comments like:

"So what happened with you and so-and-so" or "It's okay, you will find someone soon" or even "Luke doesn't have a girlfriend either. But someday!" The last comment was made to Tae-ho (our live-in Korean exchange student after asking if he had a girlfriend) at dinner time.

Now I don't consider that as "depressing" and that's why I posted it, but chatter like that either makes me want to leave the dinner table or crawl up in a hole somewhere...or both.

Can't wait for tomorrow.

-luke

posted by brodie @ 1:00 AM 4 comments

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

books

I picked up some books on my weekly visit to the library, and am hoping that I can finish them in the allotted time I was given. Here are the books I checked out:

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - This is a book that I have read before, but the author is coming out with a new one in this series, and I have to go back and re-read the first three before getting the new one. The book is a work of fiction and it centers around different families who are either vying for power or trying to stay alive. The author is an excellent writer and I read somewhere that this series was a fictional off-shoot of The War of the Roses. Overall, a great book.

It's Not Easy Being Green and Other Things to Consider by Jim Henson and friends - I am a big muppets fan, and when I saw this book, which is more of a collection of witty sayings and quotes, I had to sit down and read it. It looks interesting, but I haven't read all the quotes yet, so we'll see.

Jarhead by Anthony Swofford - I saw the preview for the movie with the same name the other day, and when I was at the library I noticed it on the shelves by chance. I want to try to read this before the movie comes out, to get a better understanding of what the movie may be like.

That's it for this week. For all you readers, keep reading and eat plenty of carrots!

-brodie

posted by brodie @ 3:45 PM 3 comments

Monday, October 03, 2005

the autumn of our lives

The subject title took me a couple of seconds to think of, and I know it sounds super-cheesy, but it is almost autumn.

I have been looking around at some of my friend's blogs and most of the latest posts seem either to be introspective or agonizing in some way. My blog is a harbinger of mixed tidings, and it seems to get me into a lot more trouble than I started out with. However, things are changing. Not just for me, but for all of us. Whether the change be good or bad, there are things that we are facing which are hard for us to figure out sometimes. Some of us are trying to cope with girl problems (and guy problems for all my friends-who-are-girls), others with sickness in their family, still others with school and also with loneliness.

We often make bad decisions in trying to rectify our situations, and our decisions can hurt us. I was reading a verse to a friend, that had stuck in my head since I had first read it many months ago. It says in Psalms 119: 71: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes." I am sure that most all of you are no stranger to this verse, or even the realization that we learn better when we are faced with some sort of roadblock in our lives. However, times are changing.

Something that makes me laugh is to hear high schoolers saying that high school was the best time of their lives. They had their first girlfriend or boyfriend, who they would be with forever, they had a tight community of friends to support them, they had easy classes, and the list goes on. Why it's so funny to me, is that we move on after high school. Most of our friends are gone to colleges around the country, our girlfriends or boyfriends have long since broken up with us, and classes got a lot harder (which means you should have been studying harder in high school). Not only are our lives different, but our problems are different as well. Life never gets easier for a Christian man or woman. But because life never stops becoming difficult for us, it makes it much easier for us to come to the Lord on a daily basis and ask Him for help and guidance. We are reminded so many times in the Scriptures that the Lord is our help and stay, and He will not leave one of His children to remain lost.

Times are certainly changing...we are in the autumn of our lives, which is not to say that we are really old (how old is autumn anyways?), but that our lives are changing. This is the point in our lives where we really need to fear God and realize that He is in control of everything. Friends, take heart! Our Lord is with us always.

-luke

posted by brodie @ 1:33 AM 0 comments

Sunday, October 02, 2005

this post...

..begins a new week. Things haven't changed much for me, but then again, it's only been one week. So many questions enter my head while thinking about a new week, filled with new possibilities.

-other man

posted by brodie @ 9:16 AM 0 comments

brodie: perfectly imbalanced