Truthfully, many Christian families are slowly allowing blasphemy, violence, sexual immorality, and perverseness into their homes. They have their children exposed to such evil ideas and images constantly. Television is just one of the things that man developed which Satan has used for spreading temptation amongst the people, Christians and the unsaved.

When I was around 9, and still in public school, my parents decided to rid our house of television. We rented movies, and videos.  The other children had television and would talk about their favourite shows and such, and yet I didn’t feel jealous, for one can really go without television in their lives. I even used most of my persuasive essays that they assigned us to advocate for the “removal of television from the student body“. I had better things to do at home; read, be with my family, go outside, etc.

And then, the 2008 Olympics came, and we put a little antennae in the attic to be able to watch them so we wouldn’t bombard our family members about taping them. I enjoyed being able to watch the sporting events at the touch of a button. However, the next day I found a whole new world in game shows. I watched my first Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. But at around 5 o clock….the world that we had blocked out came flooding back in again. Caution was taken. Since we could only get around six or seven channels, we were able to limit our intake of television. We watched a few shows in the evenings for about a week, (muting the commercials) and we thought “This isn’t so bad“. Then we noticed that the world hooks people into the routine of watching and then will not let them go. The shows and commercials rushed downhill into flames.

I feel sorry for families and people who are in the hooks of television and can’t seem to set themselves free. However, having television doesn’t mean that you are unable to free yourself from it, for we still have those six channels. But we are cautious and conscious about what we are watching. What we watch, we watch together to keep ourselves accountable.

I must admit that I am one of those unfortunate people who suffer from dandruff. The feeling is awkward and the speckles of white become more tedious every single day. So, finally after a scratch or two I picked up a few books from the library and searched the web for a natural homemade remedy that would not cost a trip to the store or learning a new aisle in the supermarket. I chose this one:

2 Tablespoons of vinegar to every 6 tablespoons of water, mix, and dab with a cotton ball onto your newly shampooed scalp, sleep with the mix on your head over night

Mom massaged this “potion” onto my scalp last night after a very thorough wash over the kitchen sink, and even though your hair smells like vinegar until you wash it out, this works very well. This morning I woke up with shiny hair, which is very rare for my head, and my head was dandruff free. This is very helpful for my scalp, so I am sharing it with anyone who suffers as I do. Hope it works!

I have finally read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, one of the two posthumous novels finished in her hand, Persuasion being the other. Sandition, The Watsons, and Lady Susan were all started but unfinished before her death.

A more intimate reason for reading Northanger Abbey is the fact that I wondered if I would be able to visualize the storyline without having ever seen a movie version. I watched Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Emma without reading first and I wondered if I could truly read her very descriptive and regency style of writing without the help of movies. I have heard people say that they stopped because they didn’t understand her theme, her words, or her motivation. Compared to romantic novelists, Jane Austen wasn’t the best. She didn’t have the extremely romantic and tragic tales as the Bronte sisters or others of her century; she was more of a commentator on the Regency life. Jane Austen’s writing was more of a description rather than a fantasy.

The plot is Jane Austen. The heroine is Catherine Morland, the daughter of two unimportant people with a batch of siblings - nine to count. She has no dramatic events in her life until she is invited by the Allen’s to visit Bath with them. Catherine goes happily until after a few hours during a party where they are acquainted with no creature, she decides Bath is horrible, until the fine features and charming conversation of Herny Tilney comes to cheer Catherine’s spirits. She soon finds herself at every party and social gathering unknowingly searching for her dear Tilney. Another character to whom Catherine is introduced is Isabella Thorpe who is the daughter of an old schoolmate of Mrs. Allen. *to me, right from the beginning it felt as if Isabella had a almost forceful hold over Catherine’s mind, as if she manipulated Catherine’s thoughts with Isabella’s own*

After a few more weeks in Bath, and a few more acquaintances desired, Catherine leaves Bath to go with the Tilneys, at request of Henry Tilney’s sister Eleanor. The party goes to Northanger Abbey, a residence of the family. Henry Tilney knows that Catherine is an avid reader of Gothic novels, like those of Mrs. Radcliffe. On the carriage ride to the Abbey he tries to fill her head with the mysteries surrounding ordinary abbeys, yet she is determined that she will not be frightened of Northanger.

However, after a few vague details during her stay (about Mrs. Tilney’s death and General Tilney’s character) spark Catherine’s gothic imagination and decides in her own impressioned mind that there is indeed a mystery surrounding Northanger Abbey. But when she comes back to the reality of the family she is most horribly embarrassed by her unaccountable wild fantasies. It becomes worse for Catherine to find out that her brother’s intended has been declared in love with another, bringing Catherine’s sisterly affections to sorrow. Also, after Catherine’s stay at Northanger Abbey begins to close, she is sent away in a rude manner by General Tilney for a reason that sends Catherine into horribly unpleasant wonder. Yet, after a few mistakes and trouble Catherine, Jane’s heroine, receives “all that her heart desires“.

*I do not recommend the racy 2007 movie version of Northanger Abbey however the book is  agreeable*

March 3rd, 2009

The once doleful and taciturn trees are now starting to grow confident in their appearance. The little buds that hold so much promise and joy are peeking out, just waiting for the right time to flirt their beauty. I call myself a winter person, and I enjoy cooler weather immensely, however I always forget how welcome the first touch of green or the warm wind is after months of cold and barren land with swollen rivers and muddy paths. I wake up eagerly every morning to greet the thermometer, however the weather is playing tricks at our expense. Alas I shall have to be content in knowing that it will come…it is slowly coming…

I can already imagine…

:walking through the cool grass on a warm day

:letting your hair down to flap somewhat unwhimsically in the breeze

:reading a thrilling book in the shade while the glimpses of sun kiss the ground through the branches

:cool summer nights when the scent of rain fills the evening sky, then the patter of rain upon the roof as you slowly slumber away

:going to the reservoir with my aunt, dear cousins, and Mom

:going to the seed store and smelling all of the fresh dirt and flowers in the moist atmosphere

:planting our garden with tomatoes, green beans, pumpkins, cucumber, & rhubarb

Homeschooling: the type of education where one can wash the dog in between cultural geography and physical science and still be able to have a successful day