An Abundance of Words

There's an interesting character (I think it's Thorpe - last name) in Northanger Abbey that we all know. Sadly, at times we know this character because we resemble it most.

It's the person who has an abundance of words, particularly the kind that are self-promoting, that increase our importance or at the least the attention paid to us, that assert at one moment what we contradict the next or even sometimes our words accomplish all of this at one time.

The Bible often calls our mouths, our words, into account. James 3 does this. Romans 3 does this. Even in Isaiah 6 the prophet points out that he is a man of unclean lips...his sinfulness is best evidenced by how unholy his mouth is, and this is the prophet Isaiah!!!

Words can't be taken back, only apologies made.

Exaggerations are entertaining in stories but make determining facts difficult.

Trustworthiness once last is practically impossible to earn back.

Our words matter.

What characters in books can you think of whose words cost them dearly?
What was the cost?

I Spoke Too Soon...Church (and Twilight?) in Austen

Found it, my apologies to Miss Austen, I spoke to soon.

They (briefly) mention church (in a non-occupational, non-wedding way) in Chapter 4 of Northanger Abbey.

Catherine and Isabella are referenced as attending chapel in the morning (the divine service in ch 5).

Don't know Catherine and Isabella...Catherine is the main character and is an awesome caricature of a teen girl (though I'd say 13-15 more than the 17 years old she's attributed).

Isabella is slightly older at 24 I think.

Only 54 pages in but I've seen excerpts of what's to come and it has to do with reading too many novels (although Austen has a great defense of the value of novels...I'll talk about that more soon).

In fact, it sounds like Twilight to me! It's "The Mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliffe but the way it plays in Northanger Abbey and since it's a gothic novel it sounds like an early version of Twilight...not that there are any 17 (or 47) year old ladies getting caught up in surreal romantic stories of love anymore.

But like I said, there is a church in use in Austen and it's in Bath, England. Probably this Abby in fact: http://www.world-guides.com/images/bath/bath_bath_abbey.jpg

Pretty cool looking (if over the top and not in a necessary way) which makes me wonder, what's the coolest church you've ever been to?

Time to Start Reading Again

Summer is over and Fall is here...at least for youth ministry purposes.

Time to start reading again, either Northanger Abby or Emma, I'll decide sometime this week I think, just have finish up the last part of Alice in Wonderland (Through the Looking Glass actually) first.

kindle app

I broke down and got the kindle app for my iphone...simply amazing

many classic books (you know, old stories, dusty books) are free

I'm finishing Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking glass right now (surprisingly uninteresting story...mostly just weird)

Will get back to Jane Austen after Labor Day

Do you have a kindle/the kindle app?

What's your favorite app?

What's your favorite new technology?

The Lost Art of Conversation

Last Friday was one of my favorite least-favorite-days-of-the-year, or maybe least favorite favorite-days-of-the-year. I love it because it celebrates my students. I dread it because it's graduation and I have never liked graduations (too long and dull for something that's meant to celebrate students).

One thing that has made graduations interesting throughout the years are the conversations I hear because people talk as if they weren't in a crowd of 5,000+.

For the 10 hours I spent at graduation last Friday...it was simply amazing the number of times I heard the F-word...by people over 50.

As I read Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice I was reminded of the lost art of conversation.

- people who sometimes swore, didn't used to swear in public because of the art of conversation (obviously some did but society as a whole didn't)

- people, at least people you wanted to be around, carried the conversation...if it got too sensitive toward some one's feelings or seemed to be wounding someone they would redirect the conversation toward a different topic

- gentlemen were expected to lead a conversation...no more difficult dates, ladies

- conversations were meant to incorporate those around and didn't isolate someone out of the conversation

- and there were many other objectives and guidelines involved in public and private conversation

It's an art that we have lost and while society has never perfected conversation, gossip has always prevailed after all, we seem to be reaching all time lows in topic, respect and civility, and even communication itself.

What have you noticed about both conversation around you and in your own conversations?

Intermission (& time to catch up)

Finished Pride & Prejudice today (I highly recommend the A&E version with Ehle & Firth as basically identical to the book...a few additions and a few subtractions but nothing major).

I have a ton of blog post ideas that I haven't gotten to but will eventually. The one I really wanted to do was cut off at the pass by Austen herself. I was thinking through P&P down the road when lo and behold, Austen wraps up the book that way.

So...a little intermission. First, because I need some time to catch up on ideas I already have. Second, because my schedule (read - free time) takes a big hit in the next few weeks and I don't want to stop in the middle of Emma or Northanger Abby (whichever one I was going with next). Third, because I just watched Tim Burton's/Jack Sparrow's...I mean Edward Scissorhands'...I mean Tommy Hanson's...you know...Johnny Depp's version of Alice in Wonderland.

Since I've never read Lewis Carroll's...I mean Charles Dodgson's...I mean the creepy 1800's photographer/clergyman who might not be creepy after all (look it up if you're interested)...I mean, well, whatever, I'll stop now...

Anyway, it's time for an intermission so I'm going to read Alice in Wonderland to see how the Burton/Depp/Disney team did on this one.

Not sure if I'll post anything about it but I'll hopefully post some Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice stuff in the mean time.

Questions for you...

what Alice in Wonderland version do you like best and which character do you most identify with?

what books have you never read that you hope to/will/should read in the future?
(and while you're thinking about it...what's stopping you from doing that now...)

Austen in real Life

When I was in high school, Wilson Phillips was played on the radio...a lot. And it felt like the ladies around us were living life (and whatever relationship we had or hoped to have with them) according to their songs. Love blossomed with You're In Love. It made it through rocky times with Hold On (for one more day). It crashed and burned with Release Me. I said it then and I say it now, the guys I knew were living out the Wilson Phillips sound track whether we liked it or not (and no, we didn't like it nor did we like their music).

Now I'm reading Austen. I've read one book and I can already see the characters walking around me in real life.

There are Elizabeth's younger sisters (P&P). There's Emma. There's Willoughby (S&S).

Kinda cool...kinda creepy.