The "Love Grinch" 's Heart Grows 3 Sizes

Earlier this week, my friend Nicole dubbed me the "Love Grinch".  Thanks, Nicole. I suppose that kind of put my grumpiness towards anything mushy gushy into perspective. I mean it's kind of true. Let's be real...I tried to steal Valentines Day. I guess I'm just bitter. "Happily Ever Afters" never really seem to end very happily...at least that's the way I've seen it. My feelings for relationship junk was (still sort of is) much like the Grinch's feelings for Christmas: "hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. double hate. LOATHE ENTIRELY." Okay. That might be a little carried away. So let's just say, I'm flying solo, and totes okay with it.
Anyways, tonight, a couple of my best friends and I went to go see one of the newest Disney movies, "Tangled". Well. What can I say? The Love Grinch KIND OF melted. All of the little lanterns and glowing magic? It was KIND OF precious. So....what happened you say? Well in Hburg they say the Love Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.

Insincerely, Humanity.

"Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins."

Whar is sincerity, ideally? Being 100% yourself. All the time. Something that...well, some of us aim for. But can any of us really say that we are sincere all of the time? Or that we don't ever lapse into insincerity? Doubtful. Insincerity, unfortunately, is the state that we slip into when we aren't comfortable. A teacher asks if you read the required material. Ever heard anyone say "Actually no, I was really tired and the material is long, tedious, and boring, so I facebook stalked my boyfriends ex-girlfriends mom instead". No. That being said...it's just human nature...right?
Sincerity is so rare these days. In relationships, in getting to know people, applying for jobs and colleges. My question is...why is it so hard to be sincere? What is it about ourselves that we see a problem with, that causes us to have to fabricate information about ourselves, about other people, about our interests and family life and feelings. About our styles. Our taste in music. Psychology proves that a person who knows the right answer to a survey question will be less likely to admit that answer if everyone else in the room gives a different answer. Why?
Insecurity, probably. Why can't you just come out and say "I really like you. And kind of want to date you." if its true? Or "You piss me off and your offending me" rather than sitting silently, pretending to be fine. The world would be a lot less complicated right?
I prefer to think of myself of an extraordinarily sincere person. Part of it comes from my stubborn  and my constant need to let my opinion be heard. Nevertheless, I do upon occasion, hear myself say something and then think "did I REALLY just say that? thats not me."
SO I challenge you, my four followers, and whoever else might stumble upon this... think about the answer to the next question somebody asks you.

Proverbs 10: When Gain is Ill Gotten

So I've been real bad at blogging this week...and have unfortunately fallen behind on Proverbs Project. BUT low and behold, I'm jumping back on the horse. It's been a long day, so anything I say (like that last comment) that sounds a bit senseless...I mean I'm bad at phrases anyway but just...forget it. ANYWAYS. Proverbs 10. Ahem.

As always, I find it rather hard to focus on the entire chapter, so instead I have selected a few verses that really popped out to me.

ill gotten gain has no lasting value, but right living can save your life. (verse 2)

Well now. It appears that we have all been called out. What exactly does Solomon mean by "ill gotten gain" anyways? (you might be asking). I mean...there's the obvious...cheating on a test, stealing, etc etc. But we all know that that is wrong. The Bible makes it very clear on multiple occasions that the obvious sins are neither the only sins out there or the worst sins out there. Thinking hateful thoughts is compared with murder. Thinking lustful is equated with sexual immorality. Ill gotten gain, no matter how illy gotten it was, is a sin. What about gaining happiness through sources other than Christ? Happiness, I would say, is definitely a gain. Sources other than Christ are definitely ill. Attempting to gain contentment through sources other than Jesus Christ truly do have no lasting value. Not a boyfriend or girlfriend. Not drinking. Not good grades, or perfection, or self-accomplishment, or self-glorification, or even reaching good goals set for your OWN desires. On the contrary, GOD filled relationships and fellowships will be fulfilling. God centered activities will make you happy. And doing everything you do with your whole heart for your Lord God in Heaven WILL be the ultimate source of happiness. 
WELL SHOOT. I was going to mention verse 17 but apparently I had a  whole bunch to say about verse 2, and I'm not trying to write a novel here...but I will mention verse 17 as sort of honorable mention, or something. 
So there it is.
How do you gain YOUR happiness?

Life: As Compared to Abstract Algebra...

I am currently sitting in Carrier library with my friend Kate telling myself that I am working hard on my overwhelming heap of busy work...while I am really just..not.
So I decided that instead of staring at my facebook newsfeed and periodically hitting the refresh button, I would write a blog post on the topic I have been pondering since 8 o'clock this morning.
When I enrolled in classes over the summer, my advisor told me that based on my math placement scores, I should probably take Math 103...but I could take Calculus if I wanted. At this point I may have laughed at him. I do not like Math, and eagerly enrolled myself in Math 103 (the "easy" math.)...the Nature of Mathematics. Also known as abstract algebra. Also known as a bunch of crap. 
Anyways, it just so happens that I have this class at 8 o'clock in the morning on Mondays. And wednesdays and fridays...but that's irrelevanter. Today happened to be a Monday. So my professor, named Ed, is probably one of the nicest old men in the world. Only the thing is he is insane and makes approximately zero sense. We spend a week (no lie) going over the fact that 0x=0. A well known fact, I was sure, until entering the class. With each question a student asks,usually along the lines of "what the heck did you just do...that wasn't math"...we are only faced with more questions. You'd think that 0x=0 is a simple concept, but we have overturned that statement and proven it using multiple different "theorems" and "axioms" that I had assumed to also be called common sense. such as zero is a number. 
Anyways, by the end of the class, my classmates and I are typically left feeling frustrated and stupid because our teacher has taken a simple concept and made something extremely complicated happen, by asking questions about questions, when we all know that if n+2=1, n=-1. Nevertheless, we are forced to overanalyze, becoming more and more confused. 
Kind of like life.
We tend to take simple concepts, such as a comment by the opposite sex, and flip it over in our heads thousands of times, overanalyzing, self-debating, self-doubting, in the end feeling frustrated and confused. To us...the ability to just let things go seems rather foreign. Especially girls, I feel, but who knows? We lie awake in bed tossing and turning over conversations and words that were said that could have been phrased better. We send multiple texts justifying something we said in awkward strife. We stay after class with a teacher arguing about a test that we probably should have studied more for. But just as 0x=0, no matter what questions of doubt are posed:
it is what it is.
questioning, overanalyzing...only makes things more complicated.

Proverbs 5

So...this chapter of Proverbs [5] is about a topic that people either love to talk about, or hate to talk about, from a religious stand point, that is: sexual immorality& staying away from it. When I was younger, this passage really annoyed me because it talks about immoral women being awful ["The lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But the result is as bitter as poison, sharp as a double edged sword" verses 3-4], and says nothing about immoral men. Now that I'm older, I have really realized the true meaning of the passage. This passage gives women the responsibility to remain moral, so that our result will NOT be as bitter as poison, and so that we can guard the hearts of the men that we love. On the other hand, this passage outlines well the importance of man's faithfulness to his wife: "Drink water from your own well- share your love with only your wife" (verse 15). Good deal, right? We protect our purity in order to protect the purity of the men around us, and men stay faithful to us in marriage.
Secondly, I would like to address one of my favorite verses, found in this passage" "For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes" (Proverbs 5:21). Well shoot. There's no beating around that bush! God sees all that we do, all that we think about, all of our dirty laundry: everything we refuse to tell anybody else. He sees it. He knows it. Makes you think twice, doesn't it?

I M Who I M: The Diary of a Participant in Pop Culture

"I am obssesively opposed to the typical";Lady Gaga 

My theory on pop culture?? There are two kinds of people: people who love pop culture, because everybody else loves it (hence the term pop: short for popular)and the people who hate pop culture because everybody else likes it. My problem? I don't really fit into either of my own categories. See...I am very much an individual and strive to like whatever I like despite pop culture...but if I'm being honest with myself...I am absolutely obsessed with both Lady Gaga and Ke$ha. Sure...I also love to read classical Brit Lit, and am obsessed with the Beatles and Brand New. But if you like pop music, you like pop music. It doesn't make you a "conformist". In fact, sometimes not conforming just to not conform, is actually just conforming to the nonconformist movement. ha. For me...I'm going to like what I like...and if everyone else likes it, I suppose I have good taste then. So what if Ke$ha can't sing? I understand there are plenty of talented [and not so talented] people out there. And that somebody else rights her music and edits her sound...blah blah. But to be honest, when I'm having a dance party in my dorm room- I don't really care if "We R Who We R" is autotuned and lyrically on a kindergarden level. And as for Lady Gaga haters...Lady Gaga just so happens to be abundantly talented. Whether she uses that talent while sporting meat dresses and confusing the names of her multiple...italian?...lovers...I cannot say for sure. However, all you unbelievers, Lady Gaga just so happened to be accepted as one of 20 students to her incoming class of Tisch School of the Arts at NYU...only one of the most selective performing art schools in the country, where a struggling theatric like myself can only dream of attending. To further prove my point, any lingering skeptics can feel free to watch one of her acoustics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3R3KqrJAI4. 

So moral of the story? Pop music is called pop for a reason, rap sucks, but I do confess that I take guilty pleasure in both Lady Gaga and Ke$ha, despite my musical background. 

Proverbs 4

Take my words to heart.Follow my instructions and you will live. Proverbs 4:4

so...what does it mean to really live? According to this verse...to live means to take in the word of God and live it out. And who doesn't want to feel alive?? Lately I have really come to the realization that the ONLY way I can live is through Christ. So what are Christ's said instructions you may ask. He outlines many of them in this chapter...but this one really got me:
"Avoid all perverse talk;stay far from corrupt speech"
Gossip. Cursing.Words of Anger. Spitefullness. etcetera. All of our favorite venting tools. Words can really be unhealthy and harm both us and the people around us- and prevent us from living through Christ.How many times have we said something, and layed in bed tossing and turning and going over things we could have should have would have said? God calls us to speak with open hearts and kindness on our tongues. 
So as you can tell...this is my first blog. like, ever. I'm trying it out through  Proverbs Project...so we'll see how it goes!