riginal web forum pictures for use on a discussion forum. I'll add to this post as I continue to make more!

***DRUM ROLL*** GUESS WHAT?!? I'm RESTARTING my RANT blog! Yessssss! This one, here!

Here's what happened - I said I was going to move my blog to Myspace. My friends all got myspace pages and they convinced me that if I ALSO started a myspace page, it would give more people an opportunity to leave comments on my blog, there! Well... it was cool for a while. It worked... for a while... but I honestly don't dig Myspace all that much. And don't get me started on her sister - Facebook. Blegk! (I have accounts on both, but check neither) - Facebook is a little better ONLY because it was started by people who went to my University. :)

Anyway - I'm moving my blog back here. I actually have been keeping a separate blog on blogspot under this account, but my posts there are limited to talking about my life in South Korea. That's where I am, now, teaching English. But - I've been CRAVING to rant - and I just can't bring myself to spoil my South Korea Blog like that! So I'm starting this one up again!

Hope you like it!

Prepare to be entertained...

or not.

~Chris

Why I Have Such Good Reflexes

I was watching the Sox game the other day with my mom and she brings up a memory from when I was little. I was in 5th grade (I think) on a little league baseball team, playing short stop. There were 2 outs and the batter drives a ball straight towards me. I was never good at catching, and I remember not quite knowing what was happening, but I reacted quickly and stuck my glove out in front of me, a little above my head, and caught the ball. After I caught it, I didn't quite believe that I really caught it, so I had to bring my glove down to have a look. Sure enough, it was still there. Since that retired the inning, my coach brought us all in, congratulated us, and with a big smile said, "and Chris, what was that??"

My mom brought that up and said if I hadn't caught it it would have it me in the face - but I remember it pretty clearly (you know, it was a miraculous moment) and it wasn't going for my face.

Anyway, so my mom brought up that memory and said I have good reflexes. I was going to tell her WHY I have good reflexes but I never was able to. It goes back to my early childhood years.

My mom always packed the pantry, fridge, and freezer SO full of food (she still does) that there were two layers of food on each shelf (there still is). One time, I opened the pantry and a full jar of peanut butter hadn't quite been jammed in as tight as it should have been. When I reached for something, it fell right onto the big toe of my right foot. The toenail turned blue and purple and fell off. I had to grow a new one. After that - I was always more careful opening the pantry, fridge, and freezer. Particularly, the freezer was trouble.

At least one out of every 3 times myself or one of my 3 siblings opened the freezer, something would slide out. Perhaps a steak, or maybe frozen chicken. Maybe a frozen bag of veggies... or a pizza. It was a surprise every time. It became a game of "always be ready for the unexpected frozen food to attack you if you open the freezer" - so this frozen food would jump out and I would reflexively grab it and catch it. Sometimes it would be that late night craving for some icecream - half asleep, walking to the freezer - boom! Catch a frozen bag of pork chops! It kept us on our toes.

This is a true story - no lie - and I'm not exaggerating when I say that this really is why I have such good reflexes. Sometimes if I missed stuff with my hands, I would stick my foot in the way and "catch" the item on my foot, lowering it to cushen the fall.

Yeah - some things never change.

Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code Review
Not a Spoiler

I finally read The Da Vinci Code. I'm not entirely sure where to begin my review. Obviously there has been a lot of outrage against this book - it's made a lot of Christians angry and probably challenged the faith of a lot of people.

The Christian Criticism

Well I think the whole outrage was completely overhyped. My opinion is that people will believe what they want to believe, according to the hardness of their hearts and openness of their minds. If you pick up this book because you have a grudge against Christianity or because you've always been skeptical about the Christian faith - sure, you'll eat this book up. If you have hear God call you and have responded to that call, and you pick up this book - it's nothing. You may walk away with some questions... but with 30 minutes of research, this book is nothing but fiction. It's no big deal.

My mom did bring up a good point, though. She said that one of the biggest complaints is that Dan Brown presented this book as historical fiction and not just plain fiction when, in fact, it is way more fiction than anything else. In order for it to be historical fiction, the known historical aspects of the book, the parts that can be accounted for using historical records - those things must be accurate. In this book, many of the historical aspects are not accurate. So when it's presented as historical fiction and the history is incorrect, it just becomes fiction, right? So why isn't it presented that way? I don't know. But the criticism makes a lot more sense when I think about it like that.

The Book Review

The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, was just another cheap thriller. It was a quick and easy read and, for the most part, it did keep my interest throughout. The writing style was mediocre. The characters were underdeveloped, and Dan Brown was extremely clever in the presentation of the "facts" and plot. Let me now explain each comment I've made so far.

The book was quick and easy to read. Perhaps the font was big, I don't know, but that was the quickest 450 page book I've ever read. By the end of the book, you can generally, with ease, recount all of the previous events that have happened.

It was a cheap thriller with mediocre writing. The chapters were very short, and there were a lot of chapters. MOST of them had what I call cheap hookers at the end. A cheap hooker is a sentence that doesn't tell the reader anything worthwhile and is stuck in there just to keep them reading. Here's an example I made up, "little did he know, this would be the last time he would ever set eyes on her again." And Dan Brown does junk like that almost consistently throughout the whole book. It comes to be expected - and it's a cheap writing technique that, in my opinion, reflects his writing.

The characters were way underdeveloped. Sophie starts out as a strong and promising character and quickly falls into the tool for Langdon and Leigh to explain their little conspiracy. Robert Langdon doesn't have much character, like everyone else. He has a lot of knowledge that he shares with Sophie and the reader - but that's not character, even though some readers may get the two confused. Dan Brown needs to give his characters more feelings... more habits... and more subtleties in the description of their reactions and movements. There's just not enough depth to them.

Dan Brown is very clever and creative in his conspiracy. He provides a lot of detailed information regarding the history and conspiracy to the point where the facts get meshed with the fiction and a lot of it is believeable and pretty cool. Like the Mona Lisa part, being a combination of Amon and Isis. He's feeding you a load, there, but it's very creative. Same with the Sangrael fiction. So - props to Dan on that one. I think that's what sold the book, mostly, along with the huge publicity offered by the book's critics.

My recommendation is: Don't bother reading it. There are a lot of better books out there if you're looking for good fiction. Instead, just have somebody tell you about it, and read the two or three chapters that have to do with the conspiracy. If you do read the whole book - follow that up with one of the many Da Vinci Code myth buster books that explain what Dan Brown got wrong. It's incredibly interesting.

What I don't understand is, when I go on facebook, why do I see so many people with The Da Vinci Code listed as one of their favorite books? Maybe they don't read much and they read this thriller? I don't know. Whatever the case is... I think those people ought to expand the library of books they read. If you want a good thriller... pick up a Dean Koontz book.

Particularly Annoying Parts of the Book

Absence

Sorry everyone, I know it's been a really long time since I've posted on my blog. I've been out of it... away. I disconnected myself with reality for a short time. During that time, God has been teaching me a lot. I'm getting more involved in my old church, Christ Community, where I was baptized when I first became a Christian. The senior pastor, Jim Nicodem, lives right up the block from me. God has really blessed this church a lot and I'm excited to grow with it now.

In my absence, I learned about the snare I have been falling into. I haven't been spending enough time with God, in prayer, in worship, and in His Word (reading the Bible). I've been putting myself first in my time and have been worrying too much about my poor financial situation and what I'll be doing in the future. How can I even begin to make such big decisions without seeking Him first? And once again, Jesus has shown himself to be faithful in my life by convicting me of these things.

Sorry I haven't been in touch. If you read this and you have a desire to pray for me, please pray that God would transform my attitude of idleness into the attitude of a servant and laborer for His Kingdom. Amidst all of this, I've been wanting to work and serve and do the work God blesses me with. In my search, I've neglected to see the work that God has put right in front of my eyes - around the house for my mom, my family, and my friends.

What is "Quiet" in our Apartment?

I suppose this post is long overdue. It's just a question. What is "quiet" when I'm living at 304 E. Clark Street in Champaign, Illinois? In that case, quiet can be defined as no noise other than the very loud music coming from the apartment above us. They listen to music probably 8 hours every day at a minimum. I was so happy to leave because of that reason. And when I came back to visit the apartment in June to clear out the rest of my stuff... they were still doing it.

All in all - it's just a trade-off. Each place I live has its downers and its benefits. Overall, the downers at school were more abundant - but life's not 100% peachy living in Batavia, either.

Graduation: It's Over

That's right. Graduation is over. It's over. I walked across stage wearing a cap and gown (John, Camille, Joshua, Mom, Dad, Bongi - they all witnessed it) and finished my classes. For a while, I was very worried about graduating. I waited way too long to do my final projects and studying... I worked harder the last 3 weeks of school than I have... at least all year if not longer. But my friends prayed for me and I worked my tail off to finish. Now... all I have is the feeling of great release - unburdoned.

What now? I have to go out into the world and get a job. How strange. What a foreign concept to me (pun intended, since I'll be going across seas to get a job). This summer, I'll be working at my usual summer job with the Batavia Park District's Kamp Kaleidoscope. It's the summer camp for elementry school kids in my home town and it's a blast. I get paid to watch the kids, play games with them, and go swimming with them.

Where to, now? I'll let you know when I know.

The Up and Coming

Well, I really don't have time to blog right now, but I have quite a few things I would like to blog about, so I decided to post this as a reminder to myself and as a preview to you of the posts to come:

Up and Coming Post Headlines:
1. Graduation (It's over)
2. What is "quiet" in our apartment?
3. The American Empire: Freedom and Capitalism
(possible) 4: Taiwan Paper + Feedback + Response + Counter Response

Blind

I think... one thing I want to experience just for a day -- is being blind. Don't bother me with trivialities. After I graduate, just for one 24 hour period, I want to wear a blindfold that I can't see through. I want to put it on before I go to bed, then wake up and not take it off, then go to bed with it still on. I'd probably have to stay around my apartment unless accompanied by somebody else.

I just wonder what it will be like... to rely on my other senses so intensly. I know, i will still be able to picture things and see all those burned images in my head, I'm still curious though.

I'll let you know how it goes. It won't be for a couple weeks still.