Les Miserables

I am so sad that I have only 100 more pages left of Les Miserables. It has been one of the best books I have ever read. I think Hugo summarizes his books overarching theme best when he states, 

"The book the reader has now before his eyes-from one end to the other, in its whole and in its details, whatever the omissions, the exceptions, or the faults- is the march from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from false to true, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from rottenness to life, from brutality to duty, from Hell to Heaven, from nothingness to God. Starting point: matter, goal, the soul. Hydra at the beginning, angel at the end." (pg. 1242)

I think this sums of the lives of most all of the main characters through the novel. Jean Valjean goes from being an ex-convict and labeled, "dangerous man"  to one of the most saintly men in all of France. I don't want this to be a spoiler so I will refrain from saying too much about the characters development, because to talk of their development will likewise include talking about their experiences. 

One of the most striking characters of the novel, besides Valjean,  was Javert. I have read over the past few months different commentaries that talk of him as being the "law and justice of God" which is suppose to stand juxtaposed with Valjean as being the, "love and mercy of God". While I do think this is an interesting way to analyze the character traits of the work I think it misses what I believe to be Hugo's intention in creating Javert.  One of Hugo's reasons for writing Les Miserables was to criticize the French government and judicial system. Children and orphans had little to no rights, women were treated as little more then animals, and according to Hugo "starvation is the immediate cause of four out of five thefts" (pg. 82).  Javert, I believe, is the French judicial system manifested in human form. So he does not care why an action is being committed, only on passing the corresponding judgement on that action. I could be wrong.  . those of you who have read the book let me know :) 

My favorite character in the book was Fantine. I think she symbolized the plight of women in French society. She was from a poor family and not educated. She was taken advantage of and driven to a life of prostitution. Which in turn supported the lifestyles of the man who took advantage of her. She is practically speaking enslaved by the Thenardiers who hold high debts over her head. Who in turn are enslaved by the poverty that is overshadowing all of them. I loved how Valjean redeemed her from that life and gave her hope. 

Since the novel was 1462 pages I am having a mini party for myself to celebrate finishing it. I think we are going to rent the musical (the DeNiro/Claire Danes one).  I am very excited to see it, because I have heard they do a very nice job recreating the book. 

Laughing in the Dark

Are You Afraid of the Dark? was at one time one of my favorite TV shows and I am pretty sure this particular one gave me nightmares for weeks as a kid. It is so funny to watch now. All the bad acting, corny lines, and the great 90's fashions. Tyler and I watched this the other night and had fun reliving part of our childhood. Enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDrJs7Js5FU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6uTpjtogfc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzzbcNUo0R4&feature=related

Tofu

Today was grocery store day (hooray... not really). I actually have been trying to meal plan and stick to my list of items in order to be more cost efficient at the grocery store. So as I was going through my cook book I saw a recipe for Tofu stir-fry, and it looked yummy. My friend at work told me that she didn't tell her husband tofu was in something and he assumed throughout the meal that it was chicken. Based on the yummy recipe and the testimony to good taste I thought, I'll give it a try. The first major plus was at the grocery store seeing the price of tofu compared to chicken. Tofu is roughly half the price of chicken that is the same weight. I also found some soy beef to use in spaghetti sauce for later in the week. Anyhow, I made the stir-fry tonight (and yes I did inform Tyler about the tofu and even asked him before I bought it if it would be something he would want to try). The stir-fry was good. The tofu definitely did not taste much at all like chicken. It really didn't have much of a taste apart from the stir-fry sauce. The texture was somewhat similar to a cube of quiche. That being said I did miss chicken, but I didn't dislike the tofu. I think it would be similar to me going to a Japanese restaurant and ordering chicken when my favorite is yaki beef. So it is definitely something we may eat again, just not an "oh my I want to eat this every night" sort of meal. 

funny quote by a funny man

"As they explained Jesus, I wondered if maybe his mom, Mary, had actually given Jesus a lobotomy. The Jesus I was told about could easily have passed for one of the kids in the ghetto daycares near my house who were pumped so full of NyQuil they would sit quietly and drool on themselves while watching cartoons until their moms came to pick them up after work. The Jesus I was introduced to was always mild mannered, endlessly patient, open, affirming, tolerant, only spoke kind words, never got angry, and ran from conflict. Or, to butcher the prophet Isaiah, "a bruised reed of self-esteem he would not break". Worse still this weird Jesus seemed to really like sheep. I never saw a picture of him with a baseball glove or with other kids, but I did see him with a lot of sheep. Sometimes they made us glue cotton balls to construction paper in an effort to make our own sheep so that we could apparently be as weird as Jesus. In short, Jesus seemed downright freakish, definitely not the kind of guy you'd want on your baseball team because he would never have the guts to slide hard into second base to break up a double play or throw inside to a batter to back him off the plate . Rather he would prefer to pick flowers in the outfield and daydream about fluffy sheep while praying for his enemies and keeping his emotions under control"- Mark Driscoll  Vintage Jesus 

This book is pretty interesting. It talks about cultural caricatures of Jesus in art and teaching and also compares these ideas with the historical Jesus and the Biblical Jesus. 

Hello Everyone... or No one?

So I finally caved and decided to start a blog. So hello everyone... or no one depending on who is reading this. I am still unsure what it will be about primarily, other then the daily/weekly/monthly/whenever I get around to updating happenings in my life. One of the most difficult decisions was what I was going to use as my "title".  I decided on "Life as a Story" primarily because I think life is best understood in that sense. Tyler asked me why I didn't say "Life is a story", and I didn't because I am not trying to make a claim about what life "is" just about what it through what lens it can be best understood. Anyhow it was comforting when I discovered that I can actually change the title if this one ever grows old. That's nice for me too, because who knows I may think of something better later. 

So, I guess to catch everyone up to speed here is a little bit about myself. I am a reformed (Calvinist) Christian. I try to be love others and be like Jesus, although I usually am falling short on that one. I am married to the most amazing man on the planet (Tyler Miller). I have two cats, Calvin and Luther. I graduated ETSU in spring of 08' with a BSW and a minor in Philosophy. My husband is in school at Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville. I work at a preschool with some of the greatest kids ever. I am super thankful for all of my amazing friends both in Ky and Tn and wherever else they are scattered about. I enjoy hiking and yoga. I play just about any sport. I love cooking! I especially love vegetarian cooking and making my own faux meat and meatless dishes. I LOVE to read (I'm sure I'll write more about that later). I am interested in politics and advocating for the rights of the oppressed both here and abroad. Finally, I love laughing and living life to it's fullest.