Generalismo

Here’s the video I said I was putting together. Beyond the fact that I have to be careful when I chew (as to not get food in the large holes I have in my gums :P), that I have to rinse with salt water, and I’m just a tad bit sore when opening my mouth all of the way, I feel like I’m just about done with this wisdom tooth thing. My gum on the left side is a little “flappy” where they cut. It’s not totally loose, I can just see where they cut and there’s a flap at the end that wobbles around.

There is absolutely nothing graphic about the video, and there is no footage about the surgery. Just me rambling before and after. There is shot of me on percocet though, and it’s interesting to me to see the contrast between the shot before the percocet and about an hour after I had taken it. Basically it’s Bonnie all drugged up and very happy You can also see the cool map I have on my wall now instead of the quilt

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I’ve been made the unofficial book lady at the secondhand store I volunteer at. That’s GREAT, because in organizing and putting all the donated books on the shelf I get too look at all of the books that come in. Although the books were getting put on the shelf just fine before I started helping, there wasn’t a whole lot of organization outside of a few specified shelves. Novels and how-tos were right next to each other, classics were mixed in with silly novels, etc., etc. So I have it semi-organized now, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep that up or how much more I will be able to organize. It’s fun anyway.

Here are some of my latest finds:

• A few readers from a history class at a college around here. These are so nice! They’re old, but they’re works from Bede and Gregory of Tours, and that sort of thing. There is one on Rome, two on the Dark Ages, and one on The Peloponnesian War. They’re such easy reading, I guess they must have been meant for beginners at history. In any case, I’m enjoying them.
• A Russian Phrasebook. I don’t really want to learn Russian, but I told myself I’d just keep it around “in case.” That’s what I said about the German dictionary, too
• A book of Russian short stories. So far these have been very good. I hate going through a modern short story book and getting half way (or not even that far) through a story and discovering I really am not getting anything out of it, and quitting. Or making it all the way to the end just to say “What a waste of time!”
• Various books on language and linguistics. These mostly haven’t been gone through yet, because I know it’s going to take brain power to appreciate them. The phonetics as described in Invitation to Linguistics (Mario Pei) have been very interesting! It’s amazing to hear the way we make vowels described, and how consonants are classed and what characteristics they have. As I’m reading through this chapter I’m constantly testing out what it says and am surprisingly delighted when what is written proves to be just what my mouth is doing. Do you know where your tongue is when you say “father,” (your tongue is low) as opposed to “deed” (high). There are also different places that the tongue arches, and there are tiny variations in the placement of the tongue that make huge differences in how the sound comes out. But I’m going to stop here because I don’t really know much about it and explaining will only reveal my lack of expertise

Thank God for this wonderful opportunity to find good books. If you know of a Salvation Army or thrift store with a rough looking book section, maybe you would like to volunteer to straighten them out (the books, that is). In the meantime, you’ll end up making a thorough search through them all.

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I’ve downloaded sermons from sermonindex.com and sermonaudio.com in Spanish and in German. I even found Ray Comfort’s Hell’s Best Kept Secret in a variety of languages. (Be forewarned, some of them are not complete). I put them on my mp3 player and I have been trying to listen to them whenever I get a chance. I don’t know exactly what they’re saying, but I think it’ll help to have my ear accustomed to hearing them. Now an interesting question would be is if you don’t understand a language but you are exposed to it enough to ingrain some in your subconscious, will you remember any of it as meaningful after you are fluent in the language? If you memorized Scripture in Spanish, for instance, in the abstract without knowing what a single word meant, and then you studied Spanish for a while without reviewing the verses you had memorized, would they just pop into your head as meaningful? If I listen to sermons that are really not biblical could I be influenced by them by ingraining them into my subconscious without currently knowing what they mean? I’m finding the question hard to explain, but hopefully you will understand anyway.

Posted by Bonnie under books, english, languages, learning, recipe

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My apologies to the publicist who I told I would review this book - I know it’s been a lot longer than is reasonable! I read this book almost as soon as I got it, but I just haven’t sat down until now to actually review it.

Here is a photo of the cover:

Now all in all, this is a well put together book. The format is very modern but comfortable. This is more of a pick-up-and-browse book than one that you’d sit down to read altogether. The feel of the book is great and the border of each page is different, as well as the layout on each page. It’s very colorful and the cover has glossy images printed on a matte paper. It reminds me of a journal that has entries from a lot of different people with different personalities. There is also a page in the back for you to put your own entry in. The binding will crack if it’s opened all of the way and there is a small crack on the inside where the cover meets the binding. I guess that’s to be expected from a paperback.

Now on to the content: It’s written by many girls and each page contains a mini essay or poem about what these teenage authoresses think beauty is. Quoted from the introduction, by Woody Winfree, editor:

The truth is, however, that beauty is not measured by the clothes we wear, the style of our hair, or the size of our waists. Beauty is not one size, one look, one color, or one definition. Rather, beauty is an expression of our talents, interests, contributions, thoughts, accomplishments, dreams, and potential to do great things.”

God has created beautiful things, and I think the big link to true beauty is missing in this book. We’re all fallen humans and we can’t really embrace true beauty until we embrace The Truth. I think it’s amiss to write a book to celebrate beauty without explicitly crediting God and worshiping Him for the beauty He has created. After all, what makes a flower grow? Who gave you the talent that you have? We really have no self given beauty, and the focus and praise shouldn’t be on us and our abilities. As I’m flipping through the book I see a lot of “I’m beautiful because I’m me.” Or “I’m beautiful because I say so.”

It’s interesting to read what 12-19 year olds have to say about this. I remember life being very different at 12 than it is now, 8 years later. Interesting read, but I can’t rave about it because of my disagreeing with the underlying philosophy concerning beauty. Many thanks to the publicist for sending a copy to review and to the editor, Woody Winfree for letting me know about it and offering me an opportunity to review it

Posted by Bonnie under Uncategorized, book review, books

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Contents:
1. Coffee and Science
2. Studying The Book
3. Youtube Videos
4. Galatians 5:16

OK, my title is just silliness this time, since that’s what I happen to be consuming at the moment. If I had realized earlier how good iced coffee tastes, far less stale coffee would have been poured down the drain these past few months! I couldn’t figure out why coffee tasted so good when I first got it in my cup, and then if I waited for a while it tasted bitter. Now in Columbus, OH, we were parked near a fantastic library - one that I spent many hours in while we were parked there, and I could spend hours there again and I hope I get to. But they had a nice shelf of books for sale that included The New Kitchen Science and What Einstein Told His Cook. In Kitchen Science, it states:

As the coffee sits on the warming device, its volatile aromatic compounds flee the liquid. Moreover, the heat that keeps the coffee warm simultaneously develops a bitter flavor in the coffee’s essential oils.

So there you have it! And be sure to check your library for discarded books

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If you’re a Christian, you’re supposed to study the Bible, right? And how does that usually happen? I’m not sure how it *usually* happens but what I’ve found to be incredibly interesting in my own walk is to go looking for passages talking about whatever it is that I want answers about and write down the reference. Then I’m going to a word processor and typing them all in, and then adding my own notes and questions in red font. I’m going to list them in the order they appear in the Bible so I can find them more easily. I’ve been having discussions with a friend about a few topics that we see differently on and I’m realizing that I don’t know why I believe what I do, some of the time. Even if I end up in the same place as my family is, I want to get there because God brought me there. A friend asked me maybe a year ago, “If you were born a Muslim, would you still be one?” That made me think. Do I know enough about what the truth is to defend it with my life? Would I be willing to give up everything I grew up knowing (including family, and probably my head) for the Gospel? We’re in real danger of becoming lukewarm in the US. There’s little or no persecution here. It seems as if there’s not much testing of our faith - instead of being Head Chopped Off vs Denying Christ, it’s “Which church do I want to be affiliated with?” And then there’s also “Well, I read a book about it that cleared it up…” God can work through people, and books, but there’s nothing like the Bible! Don’t settle for reading a commentary when there’s doubt in your mind.

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Youtube! I uploaded a video last night of my brother’s bunnies. Some of them, anyway. I’m sorry I just keep gushing over them in the video, I actually had to cut parts out because I couldn’t seem to stop saying “Oh, they’re so cute!” Let’s just say it’s been 8 years since a baby has been in the house and we’re all jumping at the opportunity to “aw” at something

Other videos I’ve added to my favorites list lately include El Camino Del Ray (you probably don’t want to watch if you’re really afraid of heights!), How Not To Bake a Cake, and It Don’t Mean a Thing.

El Camino Del Ray is really neat footage of a bridge in Spain.

How Not To Bake a cake is pretty funny

It Don’t Mean a Thing is not the kind of music I listen to all of the time, but this accordion player is just cool. I’m not sure why, he’s just got an interesting personality (from what you can see on his videos, anyway), and look at him grin! He’s got other neat videos up also, one being the Roland Accordion Demo.

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I’ll leave you with a quote from Galatians (5:16-18)

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

Posted by Bonnie under books, food, reading

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Is a blog without pictures really a blog at all?

Well to satisfy the picture cravings that might drive you to someone else’s blog in search of more interesting content (because mine almost never has pictures these days), here are some pictures.

First off the lovely chocolate bar with whole coffee beans. Delightful!

Here’s me looking rather green-y in my glasses and oops-I-have-dirty-hair-today emergency hat.

Yes folks, it’s all smoke and mirrors here. Bonnie actually doesn’t live at this blog.

My picks.

That is a book I’m supposed to review. Should be soon.

Can you tell I’m excited about my new, cool, lightweight, comfortable, CAMPING/HIKING backpack!

Now not picture related is a video I put up of almost 9 chinups.

Strongspo - Chinups on youtube

I am really hoping to get back into the swing of things and start doing these again. This is vintage (ha) footage that I had saved, but now I’m not able to do more than 4!

Well that’s it for today. That’s worth, like, um, how many pictures do I have? 6,000! Words, not pictures, that is. I mean, that’s how much this is worth today. Plus the video. That’s probably 60,000 words since it’s audio and visual.

Posted by Bonnie under books, exercise, pictures

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(The title of today’s post means “I’m hungry,” in Spanish. Literally “I have hunger.”

Today someone took us to a pancake breakfast at the place we’re staying at. Quite nice, and since I skipped the desserts after our concert last night I was HUNGRY! It helped me to pray better for people who are hungry. It’s such a shame that we so easily forget people who are suffering. Our selfish minds have very short memories. How often have we been touched by an image or a story of someone suffering, yet at this moment reading this blog you (and I) probably had nothing more on our minds that surfing the internet, and maybe a petty problem that doesn’t cause true suffering but just an annoyance of self. Now maybe I’m just not as feeling as y’all, but I surely feel ashamed that I can go hours and hours and hours without thinking about and earnestly praying for the many Christians who are being persecuted around the world, and the millions of people who are suffering from hunger or other life threatening ailments. Yet I can find time to dwell on the fact that I ate too MUCH for breakfast, or that I was annoyed by someone.

One of the best ways that I have found to learn about historical figures is through childrens’ books. Yes, that’s right. The ones that kids take out to read for school projects in elementary school. If you’re writing a big report on people you may have to go through more indepth research, but often times when I visit people who’s kids are working on reports, I find it enjoyable to read through the books they have there. They’re short (usually), in bigger print, and sum up most of the important details in a book. Don’t feel as if to learn about something you have to do all the research the author did. I’d rather know a little about each of the major historical figures than know a lot about only one and never have heard about the rest. Of course, you can pick and choose who you want to study more about.

On the school front, I’ve also discovered how math can become very disagreeable. If you don’t spend enough time on the basics, you will absolutely hate advanced math. I won’t give all of the details, but I had forgotten how to do a very simple mathematical procedure and it made finishing a lesson from my brother’s math book miserable. Then I went back, reviewed the process, and now I find it very enjoyable to write certain types of math problems down on a sheet of paper and work them out when I have spare time. If you really hate math, try going back to the beginning and drill yourself on multiplication facts and addition facts until you have them down and can figure them out instantaneously. Don’t worry about how slow you go through the memorization process, take as long as you need for each problem. If you find one that takes a long time to remember, say it over and over again in your head. I’m amazed at how studying Spanish has changed my views on studying and learning in general. If you put something into your brain hundreds of time and do it over and over again, you will memorize it. Sometimes it doesn’t come to mind immediately, but soon after it pops in and can almost be surprising how automatic it becomes!

One more thing, I’m trying a new comment filter system. I get dozens and dozens of spam comments, so I have had to moderate everything before it goes “live.” However, I’m trying something new. You need to have a previously approved comment for your comment to appear without moderating, new commenters and comments with links will go to moderation. I hope that helps the comment process move along, because I’m not always around and I want everyone to be able to SEE their comments right away, instead of leaving and wondering if it’ll ever appear.

Posted by Bonnie under books, learning, math, reading, spanish

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The resources available to aid in our learning of foreign languages has changed since the good ol’ days. I remember starting out with the Berlitz Language Course records - not that I’m old enough to have purchased it new, I got it used for nothing because someone else didn’t want it anymore. Now, instead of records we have CDs containing not only text and audio, but also pictures and videos.

Rosetta Stone is one computer program that is popular, and Pimsleur is a popular audio course. There are also programs from Berlitz, their company being over 125 years old.

There are also many free resources available. For example, Youtube has a variety of different vloggers that make videos primarily in Spanish, and some made with the express intent to serve the student of Spanish language. Ben and Marina Diez, who are a couple in Spain, make videos and pod casts in Spanish directed at the student. But forget the typical lesson material, Ben y Marina have pod casts on things like MySpace, the ethics of tazing, and summers in Madrid. .

There are also a wide variety of internet radio stations available. No longer do you need a shortwave radio to be able to hear what is broadcasting in Mexico, or even Spain. They include talk shows and music of all types. All you need is a high speed connection, some speakers, and a search engine. Check out this list of Spanish radio stations to help you learn every day, spoken Spanish.

Still, with all the courses available, languages can be very difficult to learn without someone to interact with. Find someone to call on the phone, or the meet with in person on a regular basis to practice what you’ve learned. For Spanish, you can visit the forum at Notes In Spanish and practice what you’ve learned and get feedback from others.

Posted by Bonnie under books, english, languages, learning, spanish

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