Firefly

In tribute to one of the greatest Western Space shows....one of the only Western Space....THE ONLY Western Space show in existence, I would like to make a blog entry entirely on why I love Firefly so much. Starting with the introduction of the crew. Ahem....

Firefly is one of the only shows that I know of that combines the life of the old, with the life of the "to be" or "could be." It integrates the futuristic, glossy space aspects of life with the rustic, dusty, and wild ways of the western posse.

Malcom "Mal" Reynolds, the captain of Serenity--a Firefly class ship--and captain of eight others. Mal, I feel, has a deep inbred sense of dignity and integrity, although he may not show it 100% of the time, it peeks in and out throughout the show.

Zoe, the ships wartime heroine and old time war buddy of Mal, is very knowledgeable in the ways things are done around the ship. The Firefly deals with a multitude of illegal activities and Zoe is Mal's wingman in making them happen. She is also married to Wash, the ships pilot.

Wash is very funny and makes a light hearted comment even when things are at their grimmest. The reason I like Wash so much is because, the things that he says are always so perfect for that moment. I like the injection of comedy in this series. This makes firefly what it is. It makes you laugh time and again and yet has the most real moments of any show I could ever ask for (ie: Out of Gas, The Message)

Inara is a companion, although Mal likes to call her other things. Basically, she gives the ship respect on their less than respectable missions. Being a companion entails that she finds clients to have a very sensual experience with. She attended an academy to be a companion and being one holds a sort of respectableness about the whole thing, or something or rather. She has a love interest in Mal, and it is very obvious to the audience, but Mal doesn't give it a chance. He is equally interested, but doesn't have what it takes to go any further. It's all very annoying to the viewers.

Ahh, to one of my favorites, Jane Cobb. Jane is a very, very dense man. Sometimes it takes a few punches before he realizes that he is feeling pain. Okay I exaggerate...kinda. Jane is a weapons and tactics specialist. It's what he does. You want him in a firefight, but what you don't want is him on the other side. Mal finds this out in a few close calls in a few episodes. Jane will do almost anything if the money is right. What I love so much about Jane is the way he is. I can't say it any more simple than that. He says some of the funniest things sometimes and he doesn't even mean to.

Kaylee, the ships mechanic. She is a quirky, joyful, girl who looks like she should be back at home rather than manning a Firefly class ship. Her attitude sparks up the entire crew. It is sometimes because of her that things are kept at an even level. She has a love interest in the ships medic, Simon. I think that Kaylee's presence on the ship goes against what her position should be filled with, which is usually a sweaty, manly man, with a beard of some kind. Joss Wedons breaking of the stereotypes in this series is just refreshing at its minimal.

Simon, the ships Doctor. He is a fugitive on the run with his sister, River. The government was messing with Rivers mind and Simon ran in to save her. He is a rich boy at heart, top 3% of his class, and very proper. He mutually likes Kaylee, only difference with Simon and Mal is that Simon and Kaylee both know they like each other. Jane and Simon have an ongoing feud that has been festering since day one. Jane has had it out for the Doc ever since he knew he was a fugitive.

River...well...River is Simon's little sister and she is completely insane--or at least thats how Jane would put it. Actually, Jane would say something more close to, "She's out of her ruttin' mind!" River is gifted in anything that she does and more so. Everything comes naturally to her. Unfortunately, she bursts out in emotion every time she "feels." Every emotion is exaggerated, and sometimes she acts very rashly and very unpredictably. River is left as a mystery, which drives viewers nuts, but I think its best kept that way.

The Shepherd or Preacher is the ships designated man of God. He sometimes feels useless, but slowly his skills show through in the series. Everything from cooking to knowing what type of gun shoots from 1000 meters. He is the biggest mystery, I think, and would like to have known more about him before the series came to a close. I especially would like to know how he was granted medical treatment by Alliance without a whim. Okay, you may now call me a geek.

Thus ends the ships crew. A multitude of characters, full of secrets, strengths, and...well...character. Joss Whedon (creator) does more than a fine job of creating a crew that everyone can love. You can't help but get sucked into the internal drama going on within each and everyone of the people on board. To top it off, Joss integrates great score and comedy into the mix. The comedy throws in a whole bliss about the entire show that offsets the seriousness that more than likely will poke its head somewhere in the episode. As a personal opinion, I would have to say that my most favortest of moments (I am even talking like the show, ha) would have to be in the episode The Message, when they are burying their long lost war friend. The music that is played at that particular moment is just so real, and genuinely heart wrenching that I can't help but tip my hat to the brilliance achieved by Joss Whedon. Well done. I never tire watching it over and over. Because something that is made as masterful as this show is more than a show, it's art.

Back and Change

So, the time has come for another edition of me writing and you reading. I haven't been on in a while because I have been at a camp counseling kids at Springhill Camps. The time there was great. I can't go into everything that happened because that would take over an hour, ha, but I can say that it was impossible to deny the movement of god in that place. He was in everything and working in everyone. It was more than a blessing to see God handcrafting these kids everyday. At times it was hard to keep it going when the kids were less than responsive to the different kinds of messages God was trying to get into them, but through prayer and the prayer given to me by some of you, I was able to do more than I thought I was capable of.

I will be heading back to school in about a week, but it will be a new school, filled with new people and new opportunities. It is exciting, and exciting is good right now. I will be moving and extra 10-20 minutes west to live. I will be commuting to school by bike and everything...pretty much...is going to be new. It is not going to be easy to start out with, but I have been fine in these situations before--I just can't forget that I need God.

Through it all, you guys have been my rock. Friends. Without them, I would be close to nothing. So thanks to you all. Those who read, those who pray, those who keep in touch. Until next time. Peace. EP

More like a journal than anything

I am noticing that most of my day includes wishing that I was doing something. I am learning to appreciate the people around me who are contributing to society. It is not that I don't like to work, because work is one of the things that I do well. I am doing odd jobs as of now to make money, but life is more than this and it's the quest that we all have to journey on. 

What drives you? Ask that. What makes you tick. I venture that if you don't want to get out of bed every morning to do it, you aren't doing what you love. There are people out there who are called to do what God tells them, and I as well feel that we should always ask the Father what he wants us to do. I am not saying that you all are going to be happy 100% of the time in what you do. What I am saying is that we should be happy in what God calls us to do. The Almighty God called us to go and do something. This is the same guy who died so that we could live. It would be my service to my friend if he died for me, to carry out his final wish. 

I ask that we do this for the Man who gave it all. God has gifted me in a specific area of my life and I have noticed that I have an ability to do this well. It pleases me to be using my gift in order to bring about a better world for us all to live in. If I can change someone's life and help them find happiness in Christ, may Christ be glorified. God is my life, he is my fuel and may people see that life without Christ is unpleasantly unfulfilled and much different than with Him. 

To realize this through my boring, dull day today has been quite the blessing. Thank God for..........God.

Idle

Life in the dull seems to scrap on by without a care to bring itself back into normalcy. It is almost a prison, self-inflicted and self-created. I sometimes wonder why I don't move. I sometimes wonder why I don't shift out. Then in the normal discourse of the mind, it travels around and around until I force myself to start the day and fall into production. To be idle is to be nothing. I think upon this. I think upon being idle and not using what God has given me. Wasting away would be a grave disservice to His name. I get up. I gain energy. I walk.

Catsup?

Well I think that it has been a while since I last left a thought or two on this blog thing. So lets Catsup.

I am doing well and my sumer is going great so far. I am working on some things for the junior high youth group that I am involved in and I am also working on a sweet game that me and some guys are putting together. We absolutely love to do this kind of stuff, so we don't really mind putting all of our time and effort into it. It is a good way to bring new kids into the scene and help them realize the bigger picture in their life and maybe even a life in Jesus Christ. 

I am also currently involved in a sumer camp in Evart, MI called SpringHill. I love the camp and it does one of the best jobs I have ever seen at getting kids excited about Jesus and who he is. Most of the kids that we work with are either really weak in their faith, or have grown up with it for their whole lives, so we don't hold anything back to give them an experience that they will never forget. I go back in July and I absolutely can't  wait.

I am going back to school in the fall, actually, August 25th, but I am excited to experience, yet again, something new. It will be hard at first, but I have no doubts that I will have a great time there meeting new people and experiencing new things.

As a discussion question, is a Christian's calling to "Go" as Jesus calls us to do in the end of Matthew?

Poem session:

The Station

The incoming wind of past journey and past experience

Rolls into the station of anticipation--where I wait.

"The sooner the better," I say to myself.  Sooner is better.

Half believing, half trusting--I cling to the known

Different is different and I am anything but indifferent to the “to be”

Who enjoys the breaking of normal days, routine schedules, similar acquaintances?

Why is the shifting of the seasons essential?

This barbed wire fence closes in—tighter and closer.

I don’t want to board—they can’t make me go.

Home is where the heart is—remember?

So Fast…We’re moving so fast!

Backpedaling is so tiring—so tired

It is imperative to forget forgetting

The cookie cutter shapers, the hands of the potters, the strokes of the painters.

All will never be forgotten—2 years will never be forgotten.

American Nasty

So today I had a very interesting and not at all embarrassing event happen to me while I was working on a paper that is due in a few days. I was going about the paper, and got bored, so I went to my gmail to see if I had mail, and then I went to facebook. What should I see, but more provocative adverts for American Apparel. Have you seen these? They are located on the left side of the facebook site in a column. They are the ones with the women in t-shirt dresses that you can totally see through. Other ad's (the one that I am talking about in this blog) include about ten to fifteen men and women in different designs of t-shirt, some v neck, some non v neck, some dressy, some quite normal. I click on the advert and they have woman in these pictures wearing the t shirt and nothing else. Now, you can't see anything revealing, but it is right to the point where you probably would should she raise the shirt an inch. I find these ad's very male focused, and wanted to see what they were all about. There were more ad's like it where the women are wearing the t shirt, but only underwear on. The funny part is, while I got carried away with looking at these ad's, my roommate chuckled behind me, "Nasty," he says--reminding me what I was even doing! I laughed with him-- "Yeah, nasty indeed," and got back to my paper.

It is so annoying how these advertising companies know exactly what to do to get the attention of a man. They just objectify women on the screen and get the males to buy into this horrible fantasy that they portray. It is sad, and this is a WARNING to stay away from the plight of the advert companies to gain your soul! Ha, still, it's kinda like that.

Last Days

I am in the last days of my stay at Calvin College and it is getting crazy (academically, ha). I haven't been on very much, but will post when I am NOT busy, I'm guessing within the month. Thanks and god bless ya.

EP

Rain and Ice

So today was a day that illustrated to me just how awesome our God really is. We have been getting some on and off showers throughout the week. Lightening, thunder, small stuff. Just today, at approximately 2:00pm, there was a downpour of rain and hail the size of skittles. The sun was shinning and the sight was breathtaking. I just watched out my window as things got muddy and wet. Muddy and wet, eh?

I run to my cell phone and call a friend. We get more people, and we run outside to play Multimate (Mud Ultimate Frisby). We played for hours, slipping and sliding all over the place. It was the most fun I've had in a while. I thank God for those precious moments.

After a long month of constant work without relent, it was a much needed break. Go out and enjoy yourselves this week. It takes off stress and makes you appreciate more the great thing that God has going on, ha. Peace everyone.