Bellwether and Others

As promised, here are a few brief and fragmented thoughts on Bellwether by Connie Willis, taken from my reading journal:

Shorter and a bit more simplistic than usual for Connie Willis. Her strength is always in her fabulously-written characters, but they seemed less developed and rather flatter than usual.

Nonetheless, it was fantastically enjoyable, engaging, creative, and laugh-outloud funny. One of my favorite things about Willis is her chapter openers--always unique. Bellwether's openers are exceptionally hilarious.

All in all, loved it. Not Willis at her best, certainly, but hugely entertaining. 5 stars!

I am now reading On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser. This is indeed a classic, and one that I anticipate coming back to many times! Not only is it packed full of fabulous advice, it's also zany and hilarious. I will likely be reviewing this one as well, once I have the chance to get through it.

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I am reminded again of what a blessing it is to attend a Christian college. As I was writing an extra-credit assignment for my International Business class tonight, reflecting on the sovereignty of God and evangelism, I thought to myself, "How many students get the chance to write on theology in an International Business class?!?!" I love it. It's evenings like tonight when I remember why I chose to do what I'm doing in pursuing my education from a Christian worldview perspective. It's all worth it!

Tuesday Ten

Today I am thankful for:

1. God's sovereignty.
2. Sunshine.
3. Chai tea.
4. My piano.
5. New classes (being one step closer to finishing!).
6. Mom's creative concoctions.
7. Music.
8. Hugs.
9. Journals.
10. Laughter.

Thoughts on Bellwether by Connie Willis (which I finished this past weekend) coming soon!

The latest monkey business in Washington...

I don't know whether to be hugely inspired to action or just hugely disheartened every time something like this happens. It is my hope that I (and all the rest of us who are concerned by developments like this!) can channel my frustration into action, and do what I can, in whatever small or great ways, to make a difference.

From American Solutions:

This Washington Post headline yesterday is all you need to know about how corrupt the process has become to pass ObamaCare by any means necessary this week: "House may try to pass Senate health-care bill without voting on it."

Huh? You read that correctly. Because Speaker Pelosi cannot find enough votes to pass the deeply unpopular ObamaCare bill in a constitutional way, she is hoping you and other Americans won't notice, or won't care, whether she passes ObamaCare in an unconstitutional and blatantly corrupt way.

Her latest plan is called the "Slaughter Rule", which would allow the House to vote on a different bill and "deem" the Senate's ObamaCare bill as being "passed" at the same time as the other bill is passed, without having an actual up and down vote on the ObamaCare bill.

Said Pelosi in an interview: "It's more insider and process-oriented than most people want to know....but I like it, because people don't have to vote on the Senate bill."

Pelosi may like "deeming" laws passed, but passing laws without voting on them is blatantly unconstitutional. As former federal judge Michael McConnell wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

"It may be clever, but it is not constitutional. To become law...the Senate health-care bill must actually be signed into law. The Constitution speaks directly to how that is done. According to Article I, Section 7, in order for a "Bill" to "become a Law," it "shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate" and be "presented to the President of the United States" for signature or veto. Unless a bill actually has "passed" both Houses, it cannot be presented to the president and cannot become a law."

Speaker Pelosi and President Obama are counting on you, your friends, and your family not to notice or care that they are doing this. That's why together, we must get the truth out and tell everyone that we know about what they are trying to do.

This is just one more example of the bribery and corruption that has been used to try and pass ObamaCare, like the Cornhusker Kickback and the Louisiana Purchase.

If they are willing to corrupt our constitutional system right before our eyes to pass Obamacare, why should we have any confidence that they won't corrupt your healthcare when nobody is paying attention?

Rediscovering Bond

For some reason, I suddenly remembered today that I had not listened to Bond in a rather long time, and as Meg and I tackled some projects at the office, we cranked the speakers and let these talented girls' highly unorthodox take on classical music fill the room! It was loads of fun. I'm generally a purist when it comes to classical music (in other words, if it ain't broken, don't mess with it!), but I have to admit that Bond is just plain enjoyable. They somehow manage to (generally) keep the original feel of the classical piece, but still add the pop sound that almost turns it into dance music in some cases. It's not something that I would necessarily want to listen to all the time, but on occasion, it sure can be a blast.

Watch out -- you just might start dancing. =]

This piece is one of my favorites:

On democracy

An absolutely fantastic Alexis de Tocqueville quote I found today while making my way through a project at work:

"After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power [of democracy] then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided… men are seldom forced to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting… Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people… Thus, their spirit is gradually broken… gradually losing the faculties of thinking, feeling, and acting for themselves. [People then console themselves at the loss of their liberties] by the reflection that they have chosen their own guardians."

I wonder what our many democracy-extolling leaders would say to that!