Fun with toys

I am so excited!  Both of my new toys came today!  :)  

I've synced my ipod and plugged in my speakers which I played loudly enough for Kat to come out and demand I turn them down.  And what song did I play first?  Every Story is a Love Story, naturally!  

This is kinda like getting a baby.  Because now I want to get all these accessories to go with it.  I shall have to restrain myself.  :P

A little more

When reading the program from Les Mis last night, I discovered a few fun tidbits about the actor (Rob Evan)  who played Valjean.  

First of all, he was a varsity football player who in college took his girlfriend to see Les Mis at the Fox in 1989 where he was so moved that he decided he had to do theatre.  He has a great voice...but you probably already know that since most of my readers have heard him sing.  Either on the original Broadway cast album of Jekyll & Hyde since he was the original Jekyl/Hyde or perhaps you've heard him sing "What is Christmas?" or "Back to a Reason" or "What Child is This?" from my favorite TSO album, The Lost Christmas Eve.  

My latest addition to my collection of tickets (and i'm not refering to the speeding kind!)

A dream completed

I'm not sure for how long this has been in my head...at least the past 3 or 5 years, but it has been a dream that before I die I will see these 3 Broadway musicals: Beauty and the Best, Les Miserables, and Phantom of the Opera.
Papa took me to Beauty and the Beast in 2005. I saw Phantom a few years back with friends, and yesterday, I saw Les Miserables. It's amusing to me that it didn't take very long for me to do those three things, since when I first conceived the idea I pictured it taking decades.
I loved Les Mis. It is such a beautiful and moving story, I was crying, almost sobbing the entire last scene.
All three of those shows exceeded my expectations and I love them.

Oh the agony

I have always been the type of person who agonizes over a decision especially but not limited to purchases.  I think about every angle, is this a wise purchase, is there another way I should spend this money, is this a quality product, is it worth the money, will I actually use it,  why do I want to buy it, is this a wrong decision, etc...

And then finally, if all questions are answered at least somewhat favorably I end up buying it - whatever it is.  Although I have been known to keep contemplating the subject after a purchase and even  go the point of returning the item because I decided it did not meet whatever of the qualifications I deemed most important.  

Now, it's important to realise that I am not this way about every item I purchase.  (I can buy milk with very little thought)  But to a degree it is a process I use in every day life.  I sit back and laugh at myself even while I am in the middle of working through the thought process.  It can take hours, days, weeks, months or in extreme cases years - although nothing comes to mind in the years category so that one may be hypothetical - unless you count spouse hunting  ;)

So what brought on this long and rather boring post about Amanda's crazy inner workings?  I just bought an iPod.  Don't ask how many hours/days/weeks this one took.  The relief is that I made the decesion and am not looking back because, if you go back to the moment I first thought to myself, "an iPod would be a nice thing to have" it has been years coming.  But then, good things come to those who wait!  Which is a rather silly saying, unless taken in the context of "those who wait on the Lord."

Dreaming in Chrome

I'm not all that knowledgeable about technology and such, but there are 2 companies who consistently come out with products so cutting edge, fun and usable, that I admire and get excited about what they do.  Those 2 companies would be Apple and Google.  

This morning I downloaded Google's new browser, Chrome.  So easy, fast, simplistic, fast, such a clean design, and did I say it was fast?   :)

He must be a Wright on the inside

Today I taught the 2&3 year old sunday school class at church. During play time, Ric was 'cooking' on the play kitchen set when he told me, "I only cook. I don't wash dishes."

Princess Tinkerbell???

Last night I had a dream that we (Overlook) were doing Aida and I was in it. I was wearing a purple and green fairy dress because I was Tinkerbell and on the Sunday matinee' performance, instead of the princess singing the opening song, Scotty asked me to. So when the stage went dark I stepped out and sat on the swing that was on stage left and started to sing and swing which was a little scary because the swing went really high, above horizontal each way and sorta stalled there for a few seconds and I was worried about falling off or not getting off in time for when the music changed. But I made it through the song and hit all my cues and right as it transitioned into the next song (which Scotty was singing, of course) I woke up. The show Aida has nothing at all to do with swings or fairies. It was such a silly dream, I had to share it with you. :)

Parables

You know that parable Jesus taught about the woman loosing a coin and sweeping every corner of her house until she finds it? Well, I decided to reenact it Thursday night. :)

I spent 2 hours going through the summer's worth of papers that I'd let accumulate in my room. I'd needed to do it for awhile, but I had a motivator that night - I had misplaced a pay check. At the end of the two hours I had a very clean room...but still no paycheck. No worries though, I found it the next morning in my car.

Stupid

One whole day of watching TV and not spending any time with God - STUPID.

Star struck

The last two nights I have laid on my bed and gazed up at all of the stars projected onto my ceiling from the do-it-yourself planetarium I purchased in Ohio. I love it! I've always had an interest in the celestial beings, loved gazing at them and wanted to know their names and which ones fit together into constellations. After 2 nights, I've memorized the 15 or so constellations on the Northern Hemisphere dome and I can't wait for a good night to find some sky and lay down on my back to look for my friends for real in the night sky.

It's not enough for me to just appreciate their beauty, although that's good and important as well, there's so much more to discover, so many stories they tell.

It's the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search it out.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race. 6 Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat. 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:1-11

Special Alert: Palin Adds to Euphoria over Strength of GOP Platform

Commentary: Palin Adds to Euphoria over Strength of GOP Platform
by Tom Minnery, senior vice president, Focus Action


'It is the sturdiest pro-life, pro-family document put forth by a major political party in memory.'
The roar when Hurricane Sarah hit St. Paul on Wednesday night at the Republican convention gathered its strength from a source far deeper than just her sparkling speech.
And the media are largely missing that source, in their collective convulsion over John McCain’s selection of the Alaska governor as his running mate. The joy is rooted in the Republican Party platform adopted at this week’s convention. It is the sturdiest pro-life, pro-family document put forth by a major political party in memory.
Sarah Palin ignited the crowd, but they were already primed to blow, in their euphoria over the strength of the platform, and by the ease with which the McCain campaign accepted the platform’s social conservative them es.
The platform stakes a claim to one-man, one-woman marriage, and to the right to life for all preborn children without exception. It calls for the nomination of federal judges who are pro-life, and it even upholds the suitability of the public display of religious symbols like the Ten Commandments.
The platform even stands its ground against an issue McCain has supported — scientific research on human embryos. Surprisingly, the McCain campaign did not object to the prohibition of this research being included in the platform.
Furthermore, the platform paints in primary colors. It boldly asserts that, “This is a platform of enduring principle, not passing convenience… we offer it to our fellow Americans in the assurance that our Republican ideals are those that unify our country.”
And neither is the document ashamed of the “G” word. It states that “Our platform is presented with enthusiasm and confidence in a vision for the future, but also with genuine humility — humility before God …”
For the last year, when none of the social conservatives running for president could emerge from the pack, reporters began saying — no, they began hoping — that those pesky people in the Religious Right would become a spent force in politics. That was a theme in reporters’ questions to me during the primary election season. The theme only strengthened with the death of two national evangelical leaders, D. James Kennedy and Jerry Falwell.

Another thread in that media theme was that in 2008, the Republican Party itself was a spent force, and due for a drubbing on Election Day. But that was before the adoption of this platform, before Sarah Palin’s selection, and before John McCain’s encouraging performance at the Saddleback presidential forum, where he boldly asserted that “life begins at conception.”
Not only are religious conservatives back, they are turning out to be the life of the party.

A Sweet Night

Last night Katherine slept in her new room! To celebrate her moving in, or, just because we wanted to, she and I went and saw a movie together. The two of us comprised 1/3 of the people in the theatre, which was nice because you could talk or laugh and not worry about bothering the people behind you. But that's not the point. We saw The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I enjoyed it so much more than the first one, which I really didn't think much of. This one was a very sweet movie...I guess technically it's a "B" movie, but I enojyed it for what it was. It's even better than Mamma Mia!