I'm Minerva!

Yeah she was always one of my favorites!

The Mythological Goddess Test

Minerva Indeed, you are 75% erudite, 62% sensual, 25% martial, and 41% saturnine.

Another virgin Goddess (Diana or Artemis being the other), Minerva was, just like her Greek counterpart Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Freedom as well as an all powerful Goddess of War, which made her a most formidable opponent indeed. Among the many disciplines that fell under her control were: writing, the sciences, architecture, embroidery, and just about anything else dealing with artistic skills, wise counsel, and of course battle and warfare. Like Athena, owls were considered sacred to Minerva, representing wisdom. She was a very wise warrior, respected by the Roman legions. She was also, no kidding, the Goddess of Women's Rights and patroness of career women.

Do you believe in Santa?

Recently we were having a discussion at KBS about whether parents should tell their children that Santa Claus is real. Several people voiced opinions along the lines of "How could you blantantly lie to and deceive your kids, especially because once they find out that he is not real they will be emotionally crushed." I agree with this sentimenet, but I think that for Christians there is an even more important reason. We also tell our children that Jesus is real and was born on Christmas, but his story is even more unbelieveable than Santa's. Once they realize that we were lying about Santa, why should they believe us about Jesus?

A Christmas (or holiday?) post

There has been a lot of flap lately about whether people should say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy holidays!" I think this whole issue is silly. Some argue that "Happy holidays" is more PC than "Merry Christmas" because Christmas is a holiday specific to one religion. However, I would argue that the Christmas that most Americans celebrate is not religious at all.

What do Santa, reindeer, the colors red and green, snow, etc. have to do with Christ anyway? Yes, as Christians we officially celebrate Christ's birth on Christmas. However, most of what America does to celebrate Christmas is not exclusively Christian. A Jew or Muslim or Hindu or atheist or whatever can put lights on her house, spend time with her family, give gifts to her loved ones, and be of good cheer just as well as a Christian can with no religious implications.

Christmas is no more a Christian holiday than Thanksgiving is. On Thanksgiving, everyone gives thanks (whether to God, Allah, themselves, etc.) for their blessings, spends time with family, eats yummy food, etc. Just because the original pilgrims were thanking God for the harvest doesn’t make Thanksgiving a religious holiday. Christmas is the same way. The original intent may have been to celebrate Christ’s birth, but now it seems to have warped into being happy and getting/giving presents.

To take it a bit further, the original intent of the celebration we now call Christmas wasn’t even to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Christmas is a co-opted pagan holiday. Jesus was not born in December; scholars think he was actually born in the spring. (Because the shepherds were living out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night, which happened in the spring but not the winter.) Christianity just decided to stick celebrating Jesus’ birth into this pagan holiday so that new converts could still have their December holiday.

What is my point in all this rambling? First, I think anyone of any religion should be able to say or be told “Merry Christmas” without religious awkwardness or controversy. The phrase really just means “I hope you enjoy celebrating the holiday on Dec 25”. If someone told me “Happy Kwanza” or “Happy Hanukkah”, I would not be offended in the least. What is the big deal with “Merry Christmas”? To me, it means exactly the same thing as "Happy Holidays". However, because some people are sensitive about this, I do still try to be careful of what I say. When in doubt, I say "Happy Holidiays".

Second, is this the way things should be? As Christians, should we let commercialism and materialism water down the holiday that celebrates the birth of our savior? No one worries about someone saying “Happy Easter”, which is really the most important holiday for Christians anyway. Is this because that holiday hasn’t been corrupted (yet) as much as Christmas has?

I'm in trouble

Scientists find that better dancers get better mates...

Narnia Review

When buying my ticket I asked the girl if she needed to see my student ID and she said "No, I remember you." What does it say about you when the ticket sellers at the movie theater remember who you are? It's not as bad as it sounds, becuase we got to a little 5 screen, family owned theater that usually only has two people working behind the counter. The main reason I love it is that 1st run movies are only $3.50 all day with a student ID! Snacks are cheaper than most other theaters too, so I can get a movie ticket, pop, and popcorn for less than the price of a ticket as most other theaters. Yeah Gull Road Cinema!

Anyway, the movie...I loved it! It was very cute and well done. The kids are adorable, and the special effects for the most part were great. I loved the griffins especially. And there was only one scene where I felt like I was watching Lord of the Rings. There were some additions to the book, but I didn't mind them at all. One of the main reasons I loved the movie so much was the nostalgia factor, so if you didn't grow up reading the books you might not be as enchanted as I was, but it is still an entertaining movie.

Fun fact: the actor who plays Edmond is a direct descendant of Charles Darwin! How cool is that???

20 Days!

Weather in Michigan: 32° F, Light Snow Showers
Weather in Jamaica: 84 °F, Partly Cloudy

No more school, no more books...

...no more teachers' dirty looks!!!! Well sort of. I handed in my final project for my last "real" class yesterday. I am now done with all of my grad classes. The only problem is that I still need to make up a semester of physics, which I will be doing next semester by taking an online class. So, at least I can say I am done with lectures and all that. After 20 years of taking classes, I am glad to be done!

Snow Day!

Okay I know it is not really a snow day, but it feels like one. Due to the heavy snow last night, our seminar speaker could not make it down and seminar, my only reason for waking up early and going into the office, was cancelled. Woohoo! At least they sent out an email about it so I found out before I tried to go into the office. Now, in the tradition of snowdays past, I think I will have to make pancakes and watch The Price is Right. :-)

Amazing!

I have accomplished two incredible feats this year. First, I have done all of my Christmas shopping online. I managed to completely avoid anything that even resembles a mall. Second, I have it all finished, and it is only December 6! Yes that's right! Lindsey, who is not usually done until Dec 24, is done super early! I rule. :-)