JOY:

Jesus first
Others next
You last!

Real life fails!

One of the websites I check daily is failblog.org. And it always makes my day to find a real "fail" in everyday life! Here are some that I captured in photos:

I've never been to Red Robin...or Reb Robin.

This was at a Chinese restaurant in Iowa.

Hobby Lobby, you should know better!

There were like 10 of these stuffed animals and they were ALL grammatically incorrect!

This last one I found on the back of a menu in the Vatican City...I guess English pronouns are a difficult concept to Italians?

I will definitely be on the lookout for more of these blunders. =]

Head in the clouds

I'm the kind of person who tends to dream.

Sometimes it happens during the day...while in class, while eating lunch, while making my bed, and every other time in between. Sometimes it happens at night and I wake up thinking about the strange events that took place in my mind whilst I was slumbering. Whether my dreaming is in my conscious or sub-conscious, it is always there.

Dreaming is a good thing. People always say "Dream big and you will achieve big things." I believe this is true, wholeheartedly. But sometimes having my head in the clouds can be not so good. I tend to become so absorbed in a book or in an event (such as the Olympics) that it's hard to get back to reality. Friends will talk to me but my mind will be elsewhere, and oftentimes I leave them with just an "mmhmm." Then when I can focus again I kick myself for not paying close attention to what they have said or done. This is something I need to work on!

I absolutely love getting lost in a book, where you can forget about your present life (even if everything is going dandy) and see the world from another's perspective. Suddenly you have access to two separate worlds! And I think a big part of why I love figure skating so much is the fact that I can dream about it so fully. I've dreamed about what it would be like to go to the Olympics and win a gold medal since I was eight years old. As each Olympic year came from then on, I wondered if skating would finally lose its magic- it hasn't. I know for sure it never will for me, even when I'm 88! Even though I'll never compete in the Olympics, I can dream and imagine and get lost in the wonder and beauty of skating, as cliche as it is. I've had a connection with skating my whole life and it will continue to be something beautiful and sacred to me always.

Imponderables

I absolutely love these! I hope they can give you a smile : )

If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what would happen?

When two airplanes almost collide, why do they call it a near miss rather than a near hit?

Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM?

Why does your nose run and your feet smell?

If pro is the opposite of con, is progress the opposite of congress?

Can sour cream go bad?

Is there another word for synonym?

Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Why isn't there a mouse-flavored cat food?

Do Roman paramedics refer to IV's as "4's"?

Do crematoriums give discounts for burn victims?

What would the speed of lightning be if it didn't zigzag?

If you go to a general store, will they let you buy anything specific?

If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they get Teflon to stick to the pan?

I don't know what it is about Johnny Weir.

Maybe it's the fact that I think he's just about the most beautiful man on earth...but maybe it's more than that. He is the one skater that has the ability to amaze me time after time and give me goosebumps even if I'm watching a program for the 100th time. Johnny Weir is outspoken, one-of-a-kind, a fighter, unpredictable, and just downright beautiful. I was fortunate enough to meet him and get his autograph (on his birthday, no less), but I regret that at the time I didn't realize how much I was someday going to love him.

Tonight he competed in his last Olympics and most likely the last competition of his career. His Olympic free skate is not up on YouTube yet, but there is a video of his performance at Nationals. Watch it. You will not be disappointed.

Beautiful Johnny

This post is to Johnny...for all he has done in the past 13 years as a skater and for bringing beauty to the sport that is so often just technical. You have so many fans who say they love you...but I love you the most!

Happiness or Joy?

I wrote this for my English class last spring, and I would like to share it with more people than just my professor. Let me know what you think.

Happiness or Joy?

If a person could choose to feel one emotion for the rest of his or her life, which would he or she choose? There is no doubt anyone would prefer happiness. But what exactly is happiness? Is it an emotion that can be sustained? And similarly, what is joy? Is it synonymous with happiness? Perhaps it has a different meaning. All of these ponderings could have different answers, but in order to conclude anything, a common ground must first be reached. As English philosopher, lawyer, and scientist Francis Bacon asserted, “...The  Idols of the Marketplace are the most troublesome of all: idols which have crept into the understanding through the alliances of words and names” (551). In this script the word “Idol” refers to an illusion or misconception. Bacon emphasized the importance of defining words, just as “Idol” was clarified. In order for people to reach a common ground, they must first have the same basic definition of the words they are discussing. In this case, that can be achieved by defining both happiness and joy. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, the definitions are as follows:

Happiness: 1. good fortune: prosperity 2 a: a state of well-being and contentment: joy b: a pleasurable or satisfying experience 3: felicity , aptness

Joy: 1 a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety 2: a state of happiness or felicity: bliss 3: a source or cause of delight

The second definitions are the typical ways to define these words. Happiness is a feeling, while joy is more of a state of mind. A person can be happy and joyful at the same time. While it is not as common for a person to be happy and sad at the same time, a person can often be joyful and sad simultaneously. An example of this would be: a young boy gets to his favorite team’s basketball game. He anticipates it, and finally the day comes. The game is thrilling, but the team loses horribly. Although he feels sad about the loss, he still has joy because he was able to go.

 “Happiness depends on circumstances, but joy is independent of anything that happens to me.” – Rich Wagner

“Everything exists in limited quantity - especially happiness.”- Pablo Picasso

 “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” — Henri Nouwen

Happiness is a reaction to situations and conditions. Joy is a mind-set. A synonym of joy could be “a positive outlook” or “purposeful happiness.” Joy is choosing not to be upset. Happiness is the effect of a cause. Joy often causes the effect. Many different things make many different people happy- there is no one way to determine the root of sheer happiness. But joy can sprout from any and every circumstance, no matter the severity of goodness or badness. Doing so is often very difficult, but many times a person will find happiness from seeking joy in a situation. Searching for joy can lead to happiness.

Since there is no such thing as a perfect world, happiness cannot be sustained. Happiness is based on occurrences in a person’s life, and since bad things happen, no person can be endlessly happy. However, a person can choose to be joyful. While it is not likely he or she will be continuously full of joy, by choosing joy the person will be significantly happier. Neither happiness nor joy is an emotion that can be sustained, but joy is something that can last much longer since it is not nearly as fleeting as happiness.

The word ‘happy’ was first recorded in 1340 A.D., and came from the Middle English  word ‘hap.’ The Middle English word first came from a Norse word ‘happ,’ which meant a “fortune” or “chance.” The word ‘happiness’ eventually came to mean a “good fortune.” ‘Joy’ was around much earlier, first in 1225 A.D., and also came from Middle English. That word was derived from the original Latin word, “gaudia,” meaning a “feeling of pleasure or delight.” Even back then, the two words were not synonymous. Joy was described as a feeling, and happiness was a good circumstance. In today’s society, the definitions are becoming more distinct and even less synonymous. One doesn’t say “I am joyful that the weather is nice”- instead ‘happy’ is the preferred adjective.

To begin to understand the similarities of and differences between these two words, common definitions must be determined, as Francis Bacon stressed in his philosophy of The Four Idols. Although the definitions are quite similar, the two words are not synonymous.  Examining them from various viewpoints helps to determine just what they mean. A very important idea is that happiness is an emotion, while joy is a mindset. Even if all emotions point in the opposite direction, a person can still attain a level of joy. Though there is a noticeable difference between the two words, oftentimes today they are still interchanged. By defining the two words and searching for examples, however, it is very easy to distinguish between the two, in hopes of using the correct word to express one’s self.

Hope for Haiti

Okay...so there's a new button on the side of my blog. ------>



Wild Olive Tees makes some of the sweetest shirts around, and I've been wanting one for a while now. Their newest one is the "Hope for Haiti" shirt, which says "Hope" on it and includes Matthew 12:21- "And His name will be the hope of all the world." Like many groups/organizations have been doing, 100% of the proceeds go to helping Haiti. I think it is a really cool shirt, just like all of their other ones.

Check it out!

Hope for Haiti