Whoops, the whole "check back tomorrow" thing didn't exactly pan out like it was supposed to, but oh well. You can read Part 1 here, or just scroll down. Next up on the list is one of my favorite foods: salmon! Anyone else like it? Of course, salmon is filled with protein, but it is also filled with omega-3 fatty acids, which help heart health. Wild salmon is usually better than farmed salmon since farmed salmon can sometimes contain additives and contaminants. Here's a recipe for Teriyaki Salmon with Gingery Chard. I'm drooling, it's a combo of my two favorites, teriyaki and salmon, ah...
Oats are next! Seriously, what beats oatmeal with brown sugar and milk on a cold morning? I love oatmeal, I used to eat it almost everyday, my parents would buy this big thing of oats and it'd be gone by the next week! (FYI: I've scaled back to only eating it once or twice a week, and I put sunflower seed butter (very good for you!) and jelly on top instead of brown sugar. (My mom's a big stickler for the whole "eat protein at breakfast" thing.) Oats can help lower total cholesterol and help lower LDL cholesterol. (The bad cholesterol) Oats also contain plant chemicals that contain antioxidants. (Free radicals, beware!) But be careful, eating too much oat bran can be bad for you. I heard that it slows the absorption of some other type of vitamin, I forget which one. Anyway, here's a recipe for Fruit and Oat Granola Bars.
Next up is dark chocolate. (Yes, dark, not milk or white!) Dark chocolate is packed full of antioxidants and can help lower blood pressure. Still, you shouldn't eat too much, of course, because of calories and fat. (It's still high in that!) And remember, the darker, the better, since processing strips the chocolate of much of it's health benefits. Here's a list of organic and fair trade dark chocolates! My mom buys 72% dark chocolate from Trader Joe's, it's fair trade too, I think.
Blueberries are up next! Olivia loves blueberries, I like them, but not as much. Blueberries contain lots of antioxidants, and can help slow some degenerative diseases associated with old age. They're also known to help improve urinary tract health. (Cranberries are too, I think) Olivia puts blueberries in our pancakes, they're good! Here's a recipe for Blueberry Crumb Bars, don't they sound delicious?
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Yummy Superfoods, Part 1
On the news today, I saw an article for "Super foods that you'll love to eat!" According to my mom, a superfood is a food that is packed full of vitamins and nutrients, so full, in fact, that it can take the place of other foods. Let's see here...Number one on the list was spinach! Yup, Popeye's favorite food! Apparently, it can help prevent some cancers, as well as cataracts and other things. I like spinach, so I wouldn't have any problem eating it, but here's a recipe if you want to try spinach in a different way. (The recipe is Spinach and Jack Cheese Bread Pudding)
Next up was the walnut. Walnuts are high in protein, fiber, and Vitamin E, as well as being high in antioxidants. (Those are the things that help keep free radicals from attacking your cells, I think, ack! We learned about this in school, but I forget :) Walnuts aren't my favorite thing to snack on, but I think my parents like them. Here's a recipe that uses walnuts. (It's Sweet Potato Casserole, interesting...)
Following is honey, an old favorite of parents and kids alike, known for it's sweetness and golden color. Honey contains antioxidants. (I was right! Antioxidants help protect us from the effects of free radicals. Free radicals can be found in cigarette smoke and radiation, and can contribute to disease, yikes!) Fun fact! The darker color the honey is, the more antioxidants it has. Also, here's something else that I learned from, what else, a manga (a Japanese comic book that reads from right to left, they're getting quite popular over here). Granulated sugar requires Vitamin B to process, so if you eat too much white sugar, you could end up with a Vitamin B deficiency, which could amplify the tired feeling you get after you eat sweets. (Must...sleep...zzz...) Honey is a better choice because the sugars in honey are naturally occurring glucose sugars, which don't need Vitamin B to process, and are easier to absorb, to boot! I think it's better for diabetic people, too. Got all that?! Also, honey helps increase the number of good bacteria in the gut. Basically, honey is a sweetener with practically no side effects, on the contrary, it has many good benefits! Here's a recipe for Honey Cake, yum! (Also, honeyed lemon slices are a popular snack over in Japan, they sound good)
Come back tomorrow to learn about the next superfoods in line, salmon, oats, and, chocolate?!
(Note: thanks to thedailygreen.com for the great recipes, maybe I'll try one out!)
Next up was the walnut. Walnuts are high in protein, fiber, and Vitamin E, as well as being high in antioxidants. (Those are the things that help keep free radicals from attacking your cells, I think, ack! We learned about this in school, but I forget :) Walnuts aren't my favorite thing to snack on, but I think my parents like them. Here's a recipe that uses walnuts. (It's Sweet Potato Casserole, interesting...)
Following is honey, an old favorite of parents and kids alike, known for it's sweetness and golden color. Honey contains antioxidants. (I was right! Antioxidants help protect us from the effects of free radicals. Free radicals can be found in cigarette smoke and radiation, and can contribute to disease, yikes!) Fun fact! The darker color the honey is, the more antioxidants it has. Also, here's something else that I learned from, what else, a manga (a Japanese comic book that reads from right to left, they're getting quite popular over here). Granulated sugar requires Vitamin B to process, so if you eat too much white sugar, you could end up with a Vitamin B deficiency, which could amplify the tired feeling you get after you eat sweets. (Must...sleep...zzz...) Honey is a better choice because the sugars in honey are naturally occurring glucose sugars, which don't need Vitamin B to process, and are easier to absorb, to boot! I think it's better for diabetic people, too. Got all that?! Also, honey helps increase the number of good bacteria in the gut. Basically, honey is a sweetener with practically no side effects, on the contrary, it has many good benefits! Here's a recipe for Honey Cake, yum! (Also, honeyed lemon slices are a popular snack over in Japan, they sound good)
Come back tomorrow to learn about the next superfoods in line, salmon, oats, and, chocolate?!
(Note: thanks to thedailygreen.com for the great recipes, maybe I'll try one out!)
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Lost in Blue
(Took the title from one of my video games, seemed fitting)
Summer's coming up, and today was the day that workers began to clean out our neighborhood pool. They drain out all of the old, brown water into the lake, (I wonder if the fish appreciate that...I wouldn't!) then they hose it out, clean out the pool, (usually, it has gunk and gross stuff on the sides) and fill it up with new water. (The water that they add in is freezing!) Last year, they repainted it, so it looked all nice and new. Another perk from that: No skinning your toes on the bottom of the pool anymore! (We used to scrape our toes a lot, it hurt!) The pool is really nice, the only problem is that it's only five feet deep. No jumping/diving! It gets really crowded sometimes too. We go a lot during the summer, although we didn't go as much last year.
Actually, Olivia and I prefer to go to the Y to swim. (FYI: The Y=The YMCA) The Y near our house is really nice, and the pools go up to nine feet deep! Olivia and I can touch the bottom, but sometimes our ears pop. We also love the hot tub. Ah, so nice and relaxing...Water looks like a blue jewel when light shines on it just the right way, doesn't it? Like an aquamarine, or something. Yup, us Ginn kids sure love to swim!
Summer's coming up, and today was the day that workers began to clean out our neighborhood pool. They drain out all of the old, brown water into the lake, (I wonder if the fish appreciate that...I wouldn't!) then they hose it out, clean out the pool, (usually, it has gunk and gross stuff on the sides) and fill it up with new water. (The water that they add in is freezing!) Last year, they repainted it, so it looked all nice and new. Another perk from that: No skinning your toes on the bottom of the pool anymore! (We used to scrape our toes a lot, it hurt!) The pool is really nice, the only problem is that it's only five feet deep. No jumping/diving! It gets really crowded sometimes too. We go a lot during the summer, although we didn't go as much last year.
Actually, Olivia and I prefer to go to the Y to swim. (FYI: The Y=The YMCA) The Y near our house is really nice, and the pools go up to nine feet deep! Olivia and I can touch the bottom, but sometimes our ears pop. We also love the hot tub. Ah, so nice and relaxing...Water looks like a blue jewel when light shines on it just the right way, doesn't it? Like an aquamarine, or something. Yup, us Ginn kids sure love to swim!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Movie bloglist
Movies we've seen lately:
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Yep, we're going back and watching a classic, the Indiana Jones trilogy. We've only watched the first two, but I'm going to get the third from the library today. Yeah! My dad thought that Olivia would like them, since they're in the same genre as the movie National Treasure, (If you know Olivia, you'll know that she loves National Treasure, she's memorized most of it, and can quote it, as well as having watched it around a million times! I mean, I like it too, but I don't watch it over and over! Although, there are movies that I like a lot.) but I'm surprised at how much I like them too. We just watched the second one yesterday, and we liked it a lot. (Note: Olivia and I are the ones watching them, Claire would probably get scared.)
We're studying the Aztecs right now for history, and in the movie, there was this one scene where a freakish priest pulls the heart right out of someone, it looked very Aztec-inspired. (Not for the faint-hearted!) The first two Indiana Jones movies are rated PG, but I read that so many kids went to go see Temple of Doom and got the living daylights scared of them, so the moviemakers had to come up with the PG-13 rating just for The Last Crusade.
The fourth Indiana Jones movie, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is coming out on May 22nd, May is turning out to be a good month for movies. (Both Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are coming out that month) I wonder how Indiana Jones will do in the theater, I heard that it'll have to rely a lot on fan nostalgia for it's success. (There'll have to be a lot of fan nostalgia, it's going to have to make at least $400 million for Paramount to make any profit!) But I'm sure that it has a huge fanbase, right?
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Yep, we're going back and watching a classic, the Indiana Jones trilogy. We've only watched the first two, but I'm going to get the third from the library today. Yeah! My dad thought that Olivia would like them, since they're in the same genre as the movie National Treasure, (If you know Olivia, you'll know that she loves National Treasure, she's memorized most of it, and can quote it, as well as having watched it around a million times! I mean, I like it too, but I don't watch it over and over! Although, there are movies that I like a lot.) but I'm surprised at how much I like them too. We just watched the second one yesterday, and we liked it a lot. (Note: Olivia and I are the ones watching them, Claire would probably get scared.)
We're studying the Aztecs right now for history, and in the movie, there was this one scene where a freakish priest pulls the heart right out of someone, it looked very Aztec-inspired. (Not for the faint-hearted!) The first two Indiana Jones movies are rated PG, but I read that so many kids went to go see Temple of Doom and got the living daylights scared of them, so the moviemakers had to come up with the PG-13 rating just for The Last Crusade.
The fourth Indiana Jones movie, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is coming out on May 22nd, May is turning out to be a good month for movies. (Both Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are coming out that month) I wonder how Indiana Jones will do in the theater, I heard that it'll have to rely a lot on fan nostalgia for it's success. (There'll have to be a lot of fan nostalgia, it's going to have to make at least $400 million for Paramount to make any profit!) But I'm sure that it has a huge fanbase, right?
Monday, April 21, 2008
International Worldview
Let's take a look at what's happening around the world, shall we? Hmm... Yi So-yeon, South Korea's first astronaut (I can't believe that they haven't had a person in space until now!), had a terrifying experience when the Russian spaceship she was on made a sudden steep descent towards Earth this last weekend. She was staying aboard the Soyuz capsule, and just got back down to Mother Earth today! You can read the full article here. (Interesting fact: South Korea paid Russia, wait for it...$20 million for the right to send Yi to the Soyuz!)
The world's largest island just got a little bit larger. (For those who don't know, it's Australia, but you knew, right?!) Australia extended control of its continental shelf by nearly 1 million square miles (an area five times larger than France) under an agreement with the United Nations. They hope to find oil and other natural resources there. Apparently, it's pretty much unexplored territory. (Of course, since it's seabed!) You can read the article here.
Let's skip halfway across the world to Jerusalem, Israel, where Greek and Armenian worshippers got into a fight, it started when an Armenian clergy kicked out a Greek priest. When police tried to intervene, they got hit with palm fronds that the crowd was holding. (It happened this palm Sunday) But guess where it happened! Over the site in Jerusalem believed to be the spot where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead! What a nice place to have a fight. >_> You can read the full article here.
Israle is certainly full of news today. According to former president, Jimmy Carter, Hamas, (an Islamic group who have called for the destruction of Israel) has agreed to live in peace with Israel, and accept Israel as it's neighbor. But there will be no peace if the U.S. and Israel continue to shut out Hamas' main supporter, Syria. Wonder how it will play out. Apparently, this dates back to 1967, when there was a war, and the land known as the Gaza Strip was taken over by military forces. You can read the full article here.
We're certainly lucky to have the Internet, to be able to know what's going on halfway across the world with just a couple mouseclicks, another cool thing about the Internet! And thanks to all those news reporters and journalists who write up those articles!
The world's largest island just got a little bit larger. (For those who don't know, it's Australia, but you knew, right?!) Australia extended control of its continental shelf by nearly 1 million square miles (an area five times larger than France) under an agreement with the United Nations. They hope to find oil and other natural resources there. Apparently, it's pretty much unexplored territory. (Of course, since it's seabed!) You can read the article here.
Let's skip halfway across the world to Jerusalem, Israel, where Greek and Armenian worshippers got into a fight, it started when an Armenian clergy kicked out a Greek priest. When police tried to intervene, they got hit with palm fronds that the crowd was holding. (It happened this palm Sunday) But guess where it happened! Over the site in Jerusalem believed to be the spot where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead! What a nice place to have a fight. >_> You can read the full article here.
Israle is certainly full of news today. According to former president, Jimmy Carter, Hamas, (an Islamic group who have called for the destruction of Israel) has agreed to live in peace with Israel, and accept Israel as it's neighbor. But there will be no peace if the U.S. and Israel continue to shut out Hamas' main supporter, Syria. Wonder how it will play out. Apparently, this dates back to 1967, when there was a war, and the land known as the Gaza Strip was taken over by military forces. You can read the full article here.
We're certainly lucky to have the Internet, to be able to know what's going on halfway across the world with just a couple mouseclicks, another cool thing about the Internet! And thanks to all those news reporters and journalists who write up those articles!
Fuming!
Okay, look at this.
"When I wasn't with my Mom in the emergency room/hospital, I was at home. Usually multi-tasking. Getting the boys something to drink, making lunch, putting the boys down for a nap, making sure Claire cleaned her room, getting laundry done and making sure Parker did the dishes. But he's usually good about that."
That's from Olivia's blog, um, hello! "Making sure Parker did dishes?!" (How old does she think I am, 5?! I do dishes fine!) Grr...Sorry, just needed to fume! (And I'm sure you all just love to hear me sit here and cyber-complain, dont'cha? :D)
"When I wasn't with my Mom in the emergency room/hospital, I was at home. Usually multi-tasking. Getting the boys something to drink, making lunch, putting the boys down for a nap, making sure Claire cleaned her room, getting laundry done and making sure Parker did the dishes. But he's usually good about that."
That's from Olivia's blog, um, hello! "Making sure Parker did dishes?!" (How old does she think I am, 5?! I do dishes fine!) Grr...Sorry, just needed to fume! (And I'm sure you all just love to hear me sit here and cyber-complain, dont'cha? :D)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A Sunny Day
It's so quiet in our house right now, the babies are sleeping, Olivia and I are doing school, oh, and Claire is staying at my aunt's house. (Hope she's having fun!) Times like right now are good for going outside to read a book, or something relaxing like that. (In stark contrast with this) We've been having such good weather the past few days, too. It's about 70 degrees outside right now, and so sunny. Seems like the perfect day, not too hot, not too cold, birds singing... (Seriously, when it's 85 degrees out and the mosquitoes are eyeing you as an afternoon snack, yeah, not so lovely) It makes me wanna sing a song and DANCE!!! (Hee hee, just kidding, like I'd ever do anything like that in public, well, does my room count?) Going on a bike ride would be good, too! Olivia and I took Gabriel and "miniature Corbin Bleu," as Olivia calls him, to the park, they had fun, although they cried when we had to go home, aww...I hope we have nice weather like this all summer too, no more rain!
Monday, April 14, 2008
We're back!
After another long break, I'm back! Well I've got a good excuse okay! Our family has had quite the month. We got two new fosterchildren, I can't say their names for legal reasons. (Yikes!) They're brothers, one of them is three and has totally crazy cool hair! (nickname: crazy hair), and the other is two months (nickname: Baby E). (I think) They're really sweet, but don't put Baby E down, he gets really mad, he likes to be held.
Crazy Hair and Gabe have a love/hate relationship, they'll play so nicely one minute, and then the next, Gabe is throwing things at Crazy Hair, and Crazy Hair's running for cover! They'll have conversations too, and argue about the funniest things. (Example:
Crazy Hair: *pointing at Baby E* That's my baby brother!
Gabe: *pointing at Nate* That's my Nate!
Etc, etc. It's funny! Anyway, a few days after we got them, Nate landed in the hospital. (For the third time that week) He'd been losing weight and throwing up, stuff like that. (I must sound horrible, just dismissing it like that, right? Oh, it's nothing, he's just been throwing up, no big deal) Well, he ended up staying in for a while, my poor mom, she stayed him most of the time, and she barely got any sleep. (Nate didn't either, but he doesn't sleep anyway) The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with Nate, the diagnosis kept changing, ugh! We all had to step up, Olivia and I became like mini-adults, babysitting, even cooking dinner. (In case you wanna know, I can make spaghetti and meatballs!) It's nice to know that we're responsible enough to take care of siblings, but boy is it nice to finally take a break! :D
Crazy Hair and Gabe have a love/hate relationship, they'll play so nicely one minute, and then the next, Gabe is throwing things at Crazy Hair, and Crazy Hair's running for cover! They'll have conversations too, and argue about the funniest things. (Example:
Crazy Hair: *pointing at Baby E* That's my baby brother!
Gabe: *pointing at Nate* That's my Nate!
Etc, etc. It's funny! Anyway, a few days after we got them, Nate landed in the hospital. (For the third time that week) He'd been losing weight and throwing up, stuff like that. (I must sound horrible, just dismissing it like that, right? Oh, it's nothing, he's just been throwing up, no big deal) Well, he ended up staying in for a while, my poor mom, she stayed him most of the time, and she barely got any sleep. (Nate didn't either, but he doesn't sleep anyway) The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with Nate, the diagnosis kept changing, ugh! We all had to step up, Olivia and I became like mini-adults, babysitting, even cooking dinner. (In case you wanna know, I can make spaghetti and meatballs!) It's nice to know that we're responsible enough to take care of siblings, but boy is it nice to finally take a break! :D
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Chaos ensues...and disappears as fast as it came
Wow, if you were in our house right now, here's what you'd see: Pure chaos...Claire throwing a fit because she doesn't want to clean her room, Gabe screaming because he's mad at Claire, Olivia trying to comfort Gabe, but actually only making him angrier, Nate screaming because Gabe woke him up, birds chirping, and my mom trying to get everything under control while holding a conversation on the phone. Talk about multi-tasking (and ear-splitting sound levels!) Seriously, according to the OSHA, a quiet residential area is around 40 decibels, right now, I think our house is hovering at about, oh, 85 decibels, which is when you need hearing protection! (I think that Gabe's scream is probably about that, no kidding! Maybe even louder because the OSHA says that a baby's scream can be about 110 decibels ) At times like this, there's three things that we need are usually in short supply: patience, cooperation, and relaxing music, in that order. (Well, the third thing is optional, just my preference, helps you calm down...) Oh yes, definitely need patience. Ahh...breathe in, breathe out...repeat X10, all better! Better yet, don't think of getting mad as a waste of time, think of it as an exercise for the blue vein on your forehead, as Jeremy Duncan from the comicbook Zits would say. (Always makes me laugh!) Nah, just joking, think of it as a test from God, more like. Got patience down? Good. Next comes cooperation, which, unfortunately can't be done unless everyone wants to cooperate, like hitting a needle in a haystack, and if you're on the phone or have someone coming over, it's like hitting a needle in a haystack with a deadline, ack! Okay, by this time, our house has calmed down to a dull roar. (Just kidding, it's actually pretty quiet, if you don't count the vacuum running :) Okay, I take it back, Gabe just started blasting our ears...I mean, screaming again...Breathe...All better. Overall, my mom and dad do a great job at keeping the house under tabs, I wouldn't be able to do tht good! Personally, I like to calm down by listening to music.
CDs that are in my collection now:
High School Musical/High School Musical 2 Soundtracks-The High School Musical Cast (A weird choice for relaxation music, I know, but hey, if it works, it works!)
Dignity-Hilary Duff (Another weird choice...:)
The Greatest Hits-The Newsboys
And CDs with songs by various artists, check out the About Me section for a list of my favorite artists. So there you have it, the full anger guide, by Parker Ginn. :D I think Olivia posted an entry about how she cools off when she's angry too, you can read it here.
CDs that are in my collection now:
High School Musical/High School Musical 2 Soundtracks-The High School Musical Cast (A weird choice for relaxation music, I know, but hey, if it works, it works!)
Dignity-Hilary Duff (Another weird choice...:)
The Greatest Hits-The Newsboys
And CDs with songs by various artists, check out the About Me section for a list of my favorite artists. So there you have it, the full anger guide, by Parker Ginn. :D I think Olivia posted an entry about how she cools off when she's angry too, you can read it here.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Happy Easter!
Did everyone have a good Easter?! Let's celebrate God's victory over death! Sorry, too much sugar, still hyped up on Easter candy...So yesterday, we got up and found our Easter baskets, (you're never too old for an Easter basket! :D) filled with candy, and one of those Bibles that looks like a magazine, pretty cool! We went to an Easter service at Heartland church. It was okay, they talked about how Jesus is the only way to be saved, how true! The worship service was good too, I like the music there, although my mom is always trying to get me to sing and dance! :D We sat up near the front, you could feel the shock waves from the drums! And yeah right about being able to hear yourself sing! :D Good service though; after that, we went home and had a perfectly wonderful lunch/dinner of lamb, various veggie dishes, and potatoes with, with, you'll never guess...CHEESE!!!! Yum! The lamb was nice and tender too, perfect! Mom said that it was so good because, "It had the love..." as Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond would say. Then, later that night, we watched End of the Spear. It's about these five missionaries who went to visit this savage Indian tribe in South America. Five of them ended up being killed, but the whole tribe was eventually evangelized, good movie, although a little violent. A good ending to a good day!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
To resist, or not to resist, that is the question...Whether it's easier to do what's right, or to give in and be happy...
Okay, I need to stop with Shakespeare! :) My devotional has been hitting on a lot of good things lately, things I'm not particularly good at avoiding *weaknesses, ack!*. They've been helping me, maybe they'll you or someone you know too, or at least encourage you in your walk with God! :) Today, I read about resisting temptation. Temptation can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, and in a variety of ways, making it hard sometimes to even know we're getting tempted. Satan tempts us because he thinks that we're dumb enough to give up true happiness in God for a minute of worldly pleasure. (Which we are sometimes) The best way to counter temptation is to pray everyday, to ask God for strength against temptation, Satan will try to use our greatest weaknesses against us, that's another reason to get rid of them! (I was recently listening to a song that talked about facing your inner-self and trying to get rid of your weaknesses, good song) Everyone gets tempted, Jesus even got tempted by Satan, but it's what we do when faced with temptation that's the real challenge. King David, called "a man after God's own heart" was tempted, he gave in to it, and paid the consequences for the rest of his life. But God is our greatest strength. He'll give us strength when we need it, so in the meantime, we should stay close to Him and ready ourselves for Satan's attack, so that we'll be ready when it comes!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Wisdom, wisdom, where art thou?
No, it's not Shakespeare...Today, I was reading my devotional and it hit on a really good point: even if we think we know something, we shouldn't be afraid to ask God for His wisdom and help. If you know me, you'll know that I can be stubborn and a know-it-all sometimes. :D I'm not too good when it comes down to asking direction or help from others, sometimes because I'm shy, but also sometimes because I don't want people to think that I'm dumb. But is it better to resist help and keep stumbling around in the dark, or ask for help and steady yourself? It's certainly not easy, at least not for me, but God's always there to help us, and He's always happy to give us wisdom and help us out.
There was a story in my devotional about how the author was staying in a hotel, and from her balcony, she could see where the water was shallow, and where it suddenly dropped off into a deep area. If she could've been in contact with the swimmers, she could've told them where a deep area was coming up. God is like that, He sees all, He knows when danger is headed our way, but the only way that He has contact with us is if we pray and ask Him for wisdom to discern what would be the right choice. We can never have too much wisdom, and God will never stop giving it out, so let's stock up while we can! :D Anyway, so later that day, the author went out to the beach to see if the deep areas of water were visible from ground level. Since she knew here the dropoff was, she stepped out to the edge...and promptly fell off the edge into deep water, like she'd seen the other swimmers do. The point is that even if we think we know something, we can't get smug about it, only God knows the whole truth, life is full of twists and turns that we can't see around, but He can!
There was a story in my devotional about how the author was staying in a hotel, and from her balcony, she could see where the water was shallow, and where it suddenly dropped off into a deep area. If she could've been in contact with the swimmers, she could've told them where a deep area was coming up. God is like that, He sees all, He knows when danger is headed our way, but the only way that He has contact with us is if we pray and ask Him for wisdom to discern what would be the right choice. We can never have too much wisdom, and God will never stop giving it out, so let's stock up while we can! :D Anyway, so later that day, the author went out to the beach to see if the deep areas of water were visible from ground level. Since she knew here the dropoff was, she stepped out to the edge...and promptly fell off the edge into deep water, like she'd seen the other swimmers do. The point is that even if we think we know something, we can't get smug about it, only God knows the whole truth, life is full of twists and turns that we can't see around, but He can!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Status Quo...
No, it's not a post about High School Musical, although I might write about that soon, those looking for the music video for that can watch it here...Okay, I'm back after being MIA for a week. (Just kidding! :D) But let's see, what has the Ginn Family been up to the last week? Well, last Saturday, we went to a surprise party for our friend, Mr. Cantwell, who's turned 50. (Or, now he's half a century old, more on that in a minute) Anyway, the Cantwells are the ones who adopted Kevin/Carter, remember him, he was one of our fosterkids. (His name is now Jackson, for those who have been living under a rock hiding away from the Ginn Family :) We all had a great time, throwing surprise parties is so much fun, you should've seen the look on Mr. Cantwell's face. It was real surprise! *cough, cough, surprise baby shower, cough, cough* Some of the people put together a tribute, we sang a song, Olivia and Mom wrote it, and we all sang it. Here's the lyrics. It goes to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me."
Kevin Cantwell you're so great.
7 kids was your great fate.
You're a great father and a friend.
Never ever would you offend.
Yes Kevin Cantwell.
Yes Kevin Cantwell.
Yes Kevin Cantwell.
You're half a century old.
Jesus loves you yes it's true.
And we also love you too.
You strive to please Him every day.
His light shines in every way.
Yeah Kevin Cantwell. (clap, clap)
Yeah Kevin Cantwell. (clap, clap)
Yeah Kevin Cantwell. (clap, clap)
You're half a century old.
Nice job Olivia and Mom! Anyway, they even got it on tape, aahhh!! Then we got home, and forgot that we had to change our clocks, ugh, my internal clock is still adjusting. I wake up, and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, it's 9:30!" Because it would've been 8:30, oh well. Oh, but one thing to be thankful for, it's been nice and sunny out lately, a very nice change after all this snow and rain we've been getting! :D All in al, it's been a normal week, status quo.
Kevin Cantwell you're so great.
7 kids was your great fate.
You're a great father and a friend.
Never ever would you offend.
Yes Kevin Cantwell.
Yes Kevin Cantwell.
Yes Kevin Cantwell.
You're half a century old.
Jesus loves you yes it's true.
And we also love you too.
You strive to please Him every day.
His light shines in every way.
Yeah Kevin Cantwell. (clap, clap)
Yeah Kevin Cantwell. (clap, clap)
Yeah Kevin Cantwell. (clap, clap)
You're half a century old.
Nice job Olivia and Mom! Anyway, they even got it on tape, aahhh!! Then we got home, and forgot that we had to change our clocks, ugh, my internal clock is still adjusting. I wake up, and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, it's 9:30!" Because it would've been 8:30, oh well. Oh, but one thing to be thankful for, it's been nice and sunny out lately, a very nice change after all this snow and rain we've been getting! :D All in al, it's been a normal week, status quo.
Monday, March 3, 2008
The generosity of Eli Lilly
I was reading through the news just recently, and it turns out that Eli Lilly (the really big drug company headquartered here in Indy) is donating $4 million to fight tuberculosis. (TB) Tuberculosis has adapted itself and is now resistant against the drugs previously used to treat it. Not good. So Eli Lilly is donating the money to help train workers to be able to diagnose and treat the virus in Russia. I'm sure they're happy. Actually, we have to get tested every year for TB since we're a fosterfamily, and a few years ago, my mom's test turned out to be TB positive! She was a little freaked out. (Okay, maybe more than a little, right mom? :) Luckily, it turned out to be a strain that was nonactive and not contagious. (I think) The upside to this is that my mom doesn't have to get tested for it anymore, since we know that she already has it. So last year, while Claire, Olivia, and I are sitting in the doctor's office with a bubble of skin on our arms, (the shot makes your skin swell up and a little bubble of air appears under it, its weird) my mom's sitting there smirking. Yeah, real funny mom, if looks could kill...(Olivia was giving her the evil eye) It doesn't hurt that bad though. And my mom's already had more shots than anyone should have to. (They have to poke her a lot to find a vein for an IV, ouch...) Let's just hope that none of us ever get an active strain of it, then we'd be in trouble! :D
Friday, February 29, 2008
Captured on camera
No, it's not a UFO (or celebrity) sighting, despite the title. Okay, so for those of you who missed the eclipse last week (the last total lunar eclipse until 2010), YouTube user, Fishersofmenvideo, from Newfoundland, Canada, was kind enough to upload a video of the eclipse, speeded up X80, so you don't have to sit through ten minutes of footage. You can watch it here. (Made possible using YouTube's handy dandy embed feature)
Interestingly, he points out that in the Bible, book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 20, it says,"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, Before the coming of that great and notable Day of the Lord." Now, the verse number 20 corresponds to the 20th day of the month, the chapter number 2 corresponds to February, the second month of the year. But what really got me is the fact that Acts is the 44th book in the Bible. Adding 4 plus 4, standard procedure in numerical coding, gives us 8, corresponding to 2008. I never thought of that. Hmm...gets you thinking, doesn't it?
Interestingly, he points out that in the Bible, book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 20, it says,"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, Before the coming of that great and notable Day of the Lord." Now, the verse number 20 corresponds to the 20th day of the month, the chapter number 2 corresponds to February, the second month of the year. But what really got me is the fact that Acts is the 44th book in the Bible. Adding 4 plus 4, standard procedure in numerical coding, gives us 8, corresponding to 2008. I never thought of that. Hmm...gets you thinking, doesn't it?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Balled up hair, clogged drains, and plumbing problems, oh joy!
DISCLAIMER: by reading this, you agree that Parker Ginn and/or his family members are not responsible for any medical bills that may occur from vomiting, fainting, counseling for psychological problems or things of the sort that may arise from reading this blog entry, read at your own risk.
Just joking! It's not that gross, although those with weak stomachs may want to pass on this one. Okay, I'm writing about something that quite a few people I know will call revolting, nasty, and otherwise gross! So if you hate thinking about, oh, say, hair, bathrooms, and clogged shower drains, you might find this post offensive! :D Well, anyway...I was reading up on other people's blogs, and I found out that my mom's friend, Mrs. Kroeker, had written about runaway strands of hair, clogged drains, and how to stop them. (Olivia, Claire, are you listening?!?!) You can read it here, it's pretty funny, if talk about that kind of *stuff* doesn't make you gag...Also, you should read it or else none of this stuff will make sense. Well anyway, What? You're still reading? Okay, I would've taken a bet that you would've left the page by now! We only have two females who wear their hair long in this house, as opposed to the Kroeker's 4, but I think Olivia sheds enough hair to make up for it. (I mean, seriously, have you seen our bathroom sink/floor?!) And I've had to stick my hand down the drain on occasion to clear out the balled up hair that builds up there. Too bad I don't have a picture...You'll just have to imagine it, you know what, on second thought, don't. I wonder if Olivia and Claire would agree to doing this, because I really, really, don't like touching slimy, barf colored hair that looks like it got chewed up by a rat and stuck in the sewer. Its a quick-fix for the situation! But if they start leaving their hair on the shower wall, they're gonna get chewed out by the person who has to clean out the shower! (Yours truly)
Just joking! It's not that gross, although those with weak stomachs may want to pass on this one. Okay, I'm writing about something that quite a few people I know will call revolting, nasty, and otherwise gross! So if you hate thinking about, oh, say, hair, bathrooms, and clogged shower drains, you might find this post offensive! :D Well, anyway...I was reading up on other people's blogs, and I found out that my mom's friend, Mrs. Kroeker, had written about runaway strands of hair, clogged drains, and how to stop them. (Olivia, Claire, are you listening?!?!) You can read it here, it's pretty funny, if talk about that kind of *stuff* doesn't make you gag...Also, you should read it or else none of this stuff will make sense. Well anyway, What? You're still reading? Okay, I would've taken a bet that you would've left the page by now! We only have two females who wear their hair long in this house, as opposed to the Kroeker's 4, but I think Olivia sheds enough hair to make up for it. (I mean, seriously, have you seen our bathroom sink/floor?!) And I've had to stick my hand down the drain on occasion to clear out the balled up hair that builds up there. Too bad I don't have a picture...You'll just have to imagine it, you know what, on second thought, don't. I wonder if Olivia and Claire would agree to doing this, because I really, really, don't like touching slimy, barf colored hair that looks like it got chewed up by a rat and stuck in the sewer. Its a quick-fix for the situation! But if they start leaving their hair on the shower wall, they're gonna get chewed out by the person who has to clean out the shower! (Yours truly)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Lunar Eclipse tonight!
Hi again!
In other news, there's going to be a total lunar eclipse tonight! Apparently, it'll be the last one until 2010, so if you've ever wanted to see one, here's your chance! It'll be visible to people in North and South America. People looking through telescopes will be able to see Saturn's rings, and the star, Regulus, the brightest in the constellation Leo. Here's an article about it for people living around Indianapolis. (You can just click on the link, you don't have to copy and paste anymore!)
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/LOCAL/802200570
And here's the article for the rest of the nation, it has some info on what a lunar eclipse is and is a lot more interesting!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080220/ap_on_sc/lunar_eclipse;_ylt=ArhUaN1vrFw6jYWP0hM3QQKs0NUE
In other news, there's going to be a total lunar eclipse tonight! Apparently, it'll be the last one until 2010, so if you've ever wanted to see one, here's your chance! It'll be visible to people in North and South America. People looking through telescopes will be able to see Saturn's rings, and the star, Regulus, the brightest in the constellation Leo. Here's an article about it for people living around Indianapolis. (You can just click on the link, you don't have to copy and paste anymore!)
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/LOCAL/802200570
And here's the article for the rest of the nation, it has some info on what a lunar eclipse is and is a lot more interesting!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080220/ap_on_sc/lunar_eclipse;_ylt=ArhUaN1vrFw6jYWP0hM3QQKs0NUE
Lost...and Found! (Partly)
Remember that entry I posted a few days ago about those four paintings getting stolen from that museum in Zurich? (You can view it here, http://parkerginn.blogspot.com/2008/02/wow-its-sad-day-for-world-of-art.html)
Well, they found two of the paintings! Claude Monet's Poppy Field at Vetheuil, and Van Gogh's, Blooming Chesnut Branches, worth $64 million combined, were found in that back of a car just a couple hundred yards from the museum. The paintings were in perfect condition, thank goodness. The museum director and art experts have said that the robbery was done by people with no knowledge of art, the robbers probably took advantage of the low security museum without the knowledge of how hard it is to sell well known works. The Monet and Van Gogh paintings were likely abandoned because they were the largest of the stolen paintings, and were too bulky to be carried easily. Two other paintings remain missing. The most valuable is Cezanne's, Boy in the Red Waistcoat, worth $91 million. The other missing painting is Degas' Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter, worth $9 million. Hopefully the police will find them soon. Here's the link to the news article. (And I've figured out how to post links so that they'll pop up when you click on them, instead of you having to copy and paste it)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_eu/switzerland_art_robbery;_ylt=Avcf9Oz_GvUxLhKmOXRSqCR0bBAF
Well, they found two of the paintings! Claude Monet's Poppy Field at Vetheuil, and Van Gogh's, Blooming Chesnut Branches, worth $64 million combined, were found in that back of a car just a couple hundred yards from the museum. The paintings were in perfect condition, thank goodness. The museum director and art experts have said that the robbery was done by people with no knowledge of art, the robbers probably took advantage of the low security museum without the knowledge of how hard it is to sell well known works. The Monet and Van Gogh paintings were likely abandoned because they were the largest of the stolen paintings, and were too bulky to be carried easily. Two other paintings remain missing. The most valuable is Cezanne's, Boy in the Red Waistcoat, worth $91 million. The other missing painting is Degas' Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter, worth $9 million. Hopefully the police will find them soon. Here's the link to the news article. (And I've figured out how to post links so that they'll pop up when you click on them, instead of you having to copy and paste it)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_eu/switzerland_art_robbery;_ylt=Avcf9Oz_GvUxLhKmOXRSqCR0bBAF
Monday, February 18, 2008
Happy Presidents' Day!
In celebration of Presidents' Day, I've decided to find some fun facts about the past (and present) leaders of our country. Here's some funny ones.
Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding while driving a horse and buggy in Washington, DC. He had to pay a fine of $20.00 and walk back to the White House. Busted!
Andrew Jackson ran a lady over while he was speeding to get somewhere in his horse and carriage! The charges were later dropped. (Note: he was also the one who killed a man in a duel, on accident, I'm sure...)
Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford are two presidents who loved to golf, but spectators had to watch carefully because Gerald Ford was known for conking people on the head with his wild shots. Heads up! :D
It was during Benjamin Harrison's presidency that electric lights were installed in the White House, but he was so afraid of getting shocked by the light switches that he refused to go near them! He had the White House staff go around turning the lights on and off for him.
Licoln was the tallest president at 6' 4", Madison was the shortest at 5' 4", (Madison weighed only about 100 lbs!)
John Tyler loved children, he had 15 of them! Wow, can you say full house?!
Rutherford B. Hayes was the first President to use a phone - his phone number was 1.
*Dials 1 in 1880..."Hello, this is Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States of America, how may I help you?" Hey mom, wanna come talk to the president?*
Chester Arthur owned 80 pairs of pants, and changed them several times a day! Wow!
Warren Harding once gambled away a whole set of White House china, using only one deck of cards, yikes!
Thomas Jefferson spoke quite a few languages. Not only did he master English (of course), but he also learned Latin, Greek, Spanish, Italian, French and more than twelve Native American dialects. Approximately 18 altogether. Wow, that's making my brain hurt! :D
And while we're on the subject of multi-lingual conversations, Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou, learned Chinese so well that they often spoke it around the White House to protect themselves from eavesdropping.
George H. Bush was the first president to refuse publicly to eat broccoli! He announced at a farmer's convention that he didn't like eating broccoli. Farmers got mad and began sending truckloads of broccoli to the White House. His wife, Barbara, accepted the broccoli, but Bush said, "I am President of the United States and I don't have to eat it." Wish I could say that to my mom! :D
Another thing he did. After telling the press he was an expert in hand gestures, George Bush gave the "V-for-Victory" sign as he drove in his armored limousine past demonstrators in Canberra, Australia's capital in January 1992. In Australia, holding up two fingers to form a "V" has the same meaning as the middle-finger gesture in the United States. *GASP* The Australian demonstrators were very mad, and they signaled in the same manner back at the U.S. President. He later apologized.
In high school, Bill Clinton played saxophone in a jazz trio. The three musicians wore dark glasses on stage and they called themselves "Three Blind Mice"
Richard Milhous Nixon and William Jefferson Clinton are the only two presidents whose have the letters that make up the word "criminal" in them! Ooh!!!
And last but not least, never touch George W. Bush's collection of over 250 signed baseballs, or else! He is also the first president to have had twins.
So there you have it, we've had presidents who were scared of light switches, loved to golf, loved wearing 80 different pairs of pants, hated broccoli, ran people over, spoke Chinese, and gambled...Some of our presidents are very weird. Oh well, let's celebrate them, quirks and all! Happy Presidents' Day!
Here's some cool links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidential_pets
Birds, cats, dogs, horses, even tigers and alligators, you bet they've lived in the White House at sometime or another!
http://www.littleknownfactsshow.com/presidents.html
The best site I've seen with fun facts about our presidents!
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4670
This one's good too
Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding while driving a horse and buggy in Washington, DC. He had to pay a fine of $20.00 and walk back to the White House. Busted!
Andrew Jackson ran a lady over while he was speeding to get somewhere in his horse and carriage! The charges were later dropped. (Note: he was also the one who killed a man in a duel, on accident, I'm sure...)
Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford are two presidents who loved to golf, but spectators had to watch carefully because Gerald Ford was known for conking people on the head with his wild shots. Heads up! :D
It was during Benjamin Harrison's presidency that electric lights were installed in the White House, but he was so afraid of getting shocked by the light switches that he refused to go near them! He had the White House staff go around turning the lights on and off for him.
Licoln was the tallest president at 6' 4", Madison was the shortest at 5' 4", (Madison weighed only about 100 lbs!)
John Tyler loved children, he had 15 of them! Wow, can you say full house?!
Rutherford B. Hayes was the first President to use a phone - his phone number was 1.
*Dials 1 in 1880..."Hello, this is Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States of America, how may I help you?" Hey mom, wanna come talk to the president?*
Chester Arthur owned 80 pairs of pants, and changed them several times a day! Wow!
Warren Harding once gambled away a whole set of White House china, using only one deck of cards, yikes!
Thomas Jefferson spoke quite a few languages. Not only did he master English (of course), but he also learned Latin, Greek, Spanish, Italian, French and more than twelve Native American dialects. Approximately 18 altogether. Wow, that's making my brain hurt! :D
And while we're on the subject of multi-lingual conversations, Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou, learned Chinese so well that they often spoke it around the White House to protect themselves from eavesdropping.
George H. Bush was the first president to refuse publicly to eat broccoli! He announced at a farmer's convention that he didn't like eating broccoli. Farmers got mad and began sending truckloads of broccoli to the White House. His wife, Barbara, accepted the broccoli, but Bush said, "I am President of the United States and I don't have to eat it." Wish I could say that to my mom! :D
Another thing he did. After telling the press he was an expert in hand gestures, George Bush gave the "V-for-Victory" sign as he drove in his armored limousine past demonstrators in Canberra, Australia's capital in January 1992. In Australia, holding up two fingers to form a "V" has the same meaning as the middle-finger gesture in the United States. *GASP* The Australian demonstrators were very mad, and they signaled in the same manner back at the U.S. President. He later apologized.
In high school, Bill Clinton played saxophone in a jazz trio. The three musicians wore dark glasses on stage and they called themselves "Three Blind Mice"
Richard Milhous Nixon and William Jefferson Clinton are the only two presidents whose have the letters that make up the word "criminal" in them! Ooh!!!
And last but not least, never touch George W. Bush's collection of over 250 signed baseballs, or else! He is also the first president to have had twins.
So there you have it, we've had presidents who were scared of light switches, loved to golf, loved wearing 80 different pairs of pants, hated broccoli, ran people over, spoke Chinese, and gambled...Some of our presidents are very weird. Oh well, let's celebrate them, quirks and all! Happy Presidents' Day!
Here's some cool links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidential_pets
Birds, cats, dogs, horses, even tigers and alligators, you bet they've lived in the White House at sometime or another!
http://www.littleknownfactsshow.com/presidents.html
The best site I've seen with fun facts about our presidents!
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4670
This one's good too
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Owen's Pre-Trial Report
*BREAKING NEWS REPORT*
Recently, it has come to light that the Ginn Family residence has suddenly been over run by dinosaurs! The dinosaurs no longer want to be stored in their box, and are currently found in random places around the house. The resistance is aided by Gabe, who organizes escape attempts for the dinos by dumping them out of their box. I had an interview with Gabe earlier today. He denies any involvement in the resistance, despite reports to the contrary. He maintains his innocence, that is, unless the jury decides to try him as an accomplice! The family dog, Owen, has taken it upon himself to become the local law enforcement, crushing any resistance by savagely biting off the heads, tails, and other various body parts of the rebelling dinosaurs, as seen in the news photo. However, Owen was not given permission to kill the rebelling dinos, he was ordered to bring them in alive. He was taken into custody today, and is currently awaiting his trial, scheduled for later tonight. He declined to comment. The trial will be led by the honorable judge, John Ginn, with the assistant judge, Susan Ginn presiding. For continuing coverage, report to susanginn.blogspot.com, or parkerginn.blogspot.com for the latest in the Ginn Family news.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Tragedy in the art world...
Wow, it's a sad day for the world of art. Apparently, three armed men stole four paintings from an art mueum in Zurich, Switzerland. The paintings were worth a combined total of, wait for it...$163.2 million!! It's the largest art robbery in Switzerland's history, and police have compared this latest heist to an art robbery that occurred in 2004, where two paintings, The Scream, (I love that painting, it's hilarious!) and Madonna, painted by Edvard Munch were stolen from a muesum in Norway.
The three men behind this latest heist entered the museum wearing dark clothes and ski masks. One of the men held the museum staff at gunpoint, while the other two went in and stole the four paintings. The paintings were hung behind glass, and an alarm went off when the glass was broken, but I guess security didn't get there fast enough. The museum director says that he's just glad that no staff or visitors were hurt.
Last week, two Picasso paintings were stolen from an exhibition near Zurich, and police are wondering whether the two robberies are related. The FBI estimates that the market for stolen art totals around $6 billion a year! Interpol has over 30,000 pieces of stolen art in its database, but only a fraction of the stolen art is found every year, despite heavy investigation. Most stolen art is sold on the black market, although some art pieces that have been stolen frequently are harder to sell. Anyway, sometimes it takes years of work before any clues on a piece of stolen art is found. Seven Picasso paintings were stolen from a museum in 1994, and it took six years for them to be recovered!
-----------------------------------
In other news, while all of Europe is searching, All of South Korea is mourning. A fire broke out Sunday night and burned down the wooden structure on top of the Namdaemun Gate (it's official name is Sungnyemun, meaning, "Gate of Exalted Ceremonies"), which once formed part of a wall that encircled the South Korean capital. A man with the last name Chae was arrested after evidence pointed to him, (he left two lighters there, apparently, although the police are still investigating different possibilities). Wonder what will come of it. Anyway, Namdaemun Gate was named South Korea's top national treasure on December 20, 1962, and for many Koreans, its destruction is like losing a family member. Some Koreans can't even sleep because they are mourning so deeply for the loss of the 610 year old cultural monument. The Namdaemun Gate was built in 1398, and has gone through some renovations since then, but it had survived the harsh Japanese occupation between 1910-1945, and the Korean War between 1950-1953, when much of Seoul was destroyed. The Korean Cultural Heritage Administration has undertaken a three year project that will cost $21 million, and will rebuild and restore the historic landmark. So it's a sad day for the cultural world. Hopefully, justice will be served.
Here's pictures of Namdaemun Gate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Namdaemun-Fire-16.PNG (shows the blazing fire)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Namdaemun_After_Fire.JPG
(a picture of the gate after the fire)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nandaimon_in_the_Japanese_Period.JPG
(A picture of the gate during the Japanese occupation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seoul-Namdaemun-at.night-01.jpg
(A picture of the gate at night)
-------------------------------
Here's pictures of the stolen paintings
http://www.abcgallery.com/D/degas/degas119.JPG
(Edgar Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter,")
http://z.about.com/d/arthistory/1/7/Q/V/ambrvoll_05.jpg
(Paul Cezanne's, "Boy in the Red Waistcoat."
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Zurich-van-Gogh-Vincent-van-Gogh/photo//080211/photos_ts/2008_02_11t092035_450x354_us_art_theft//s:/ap/20080211/ap_on_re_eu/switzerland_art_robbery;_ylt=AstS_b_hTLjVWL1P46pWNBxbbBAF
(Vincent van Gogh's, "Blooming Chesnut Branches.")
http://www.riversidefurniture.co.uk/images/DSCF0029.jpg
(Claude Monet's, "Poppy field at Vetheuil." Not the best picture, but the only one big enough to see)
The three men behind this latest heist entered the museum wearing dark clothes and ski masks. One of the men held the museum staff at gunpoint, while the other two went in and stole the four paintings. The paintings were hung behind glass, and an alarm went off when the glass was broken, but I guess security didn't get there fast enough. The museum director says that he's just glad that no staff or visitors were hurt.
Last week, two Picasso paintings were stolen from an exhibition near Zurich, and police are wondering whether the two robberies are related. The FBI estimates that the market for stolen art totals around $6 billion a year! Interpol has over 30,000 pieces of stolen art in its database, but only a fraction of the stolen art is found every year, despite heavy investigation. Most stolen art is sold on the black market, although some art pieces that have been stolen frequently are harder to sell. Anyway, sometimes it takes years of work before any clues on a piece of stolen art is found. Seven Picasso paintings were stolen from a museum in 1994, and it took six years for them to be recovered!
-----------------------------------
In other news, while all of Europe is searching, All of South Korea is mourning. A fire broke out Sunday night and burned down the wooden structure on top of the Namdaemun Gate (it's official name is Sungnyemun, meaning, "Gate of Exalted Ceremonies"), which once formed part of a wall that encircled the South Korean capital. A man with the last name Chae was arrested after evidence pointed to him, (he left two lighters there, apparently, although the police are still investigating different possibilities). Wonder what will come of it. Anyway, Namdaemun Gate was named South Korea's top national treasure on December 20, 1962, and for many Koreans, its destruction is like losing a family member. Some Koreans can't even sleep because they are mourning so deeply for the loss of the 610 year old cultural monument. The Namdaemun Gate was built in 1398, and has gone through some renovations since then, but it had survived the harsh Japanese occupation between 1910-1945, and the Korean War between 1950-1953, when much of Seoul was destroyed. The Korean Cultural Heritage Administration has undertaken a three year project that will cost $21 million, and will rebuild and restore the historic landmark. So it's a sad day for the cultural world. Hopefully, justice will be served.
Here's pictures of Namdaemun Gate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Namdaemun-Fire-16.PNG (shows the blazing fire)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Namdaemun_After_Fire.JPG
(a picture of the gate after the fire)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nandaimon_in_the_Japanese_Period.JPG
(A picture of the gate during the Japanese occupation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seoul-Namdaemun-at.night-01.jpg
(A picture of the gate at night)
-------------------------------
Here's pictures of the stolen paintings
http://www.abcgallery.com/D/degas/degas119.JPG
(Edgar Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter,")
http://z.about.com/d/arthistory/1/7/Q/V/ambrvoll_05.jpg
(Paul Cezanne's, "Boy in the Red Waistcoat."
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Zurich-van-Gogh-Vincent-van-Gogh/photo//080211/photos_ts/2008_02_11t092035_450x354_us_art_theft//s:/ap/20080211/ap_on_re_eu/switzerland_art_robbery;_ylt=AstS_b_hTLjVWL1P46pWNBxbbBAF
(Vincent van Gogh's, "Blooming Chesnut Branches.")
http://www.riversidefurniture.co.uk/images/DSCF0029.jpg
(Claude Monet's, "Poppy field at Vetheuil." Not the best picture, but the only one big enough to see)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
In the Year 2038...(Take Two!)
In 30 years, what do I see myself doing? I imagine myself driving around in a hovercar, (if they're around) or maybe a car with heated/cooled seats! I imagine being married and having lots of kids. When I was younger, I remember saying that I wanted four kids, two girls, two boys. But now, I'm thinking that I want more, maybe five or six kids instead. I don't want my house to be lonely and quiet all the time, or be living in a house that has rooms that I don't even use. If I had left over space, I'd want to use it to help people. I want to be a fosterparent, and have lots of kids coming and going out of the house, like we do now. I want to have a good job, a CEO of a company, Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo, maybe, would work just fine! :D. I'd just like a job where I can help people. That'd be good. But no matter what I end up doing, I want to glorify God in what I do. Most of all, I want to be close to my wife, kids, family, and friends, and closer to God.
Monday, February 4, 2008
SuperBowl XLVIII
Okay, I was going to (re)write about what life will be like in 30 years, but put that on hold, let's talk about the SuperBowl! We went over to Steve and Hester's (church friends) house to watch it. (They have a big screen TV, good for watching sports, heh heh...) Hester was in India for a wedding, (fun!) but our friends, the Blanchards, were there, and we all pitched in and brought snacks and stuff for dinner. I honestly had no idea what was going on for the whole forst quarter of the game. (If you know me, you'll know that watching/understanding sports, yeah, not so high on my priority list.) All the guys were yelling something about downs and getting sacked and I was like, "uh huh, yeah, go Giants!!" Can you tell I felt like an idiot?
But Steve started to explain the game to me and Olivia, so I (sort of, kind of, not really) understand the rules of football now. (Basically, only about getting downs, field goals, and touchdowns, oh yeah, and getting sacked! :D) The game got more exciting after I started to understand what was going on. We were rooting for the Giants, if only because we didn't want the Patriots to get a perfect season. Too bad the Colts didn't make it to the SuperBowl again this year, wonder who would've won, Colts or Patriots...Oh well, at least we got to see Eli Manning play, and Peyton was at the game, so I guess we did get to see him too) Anyway, it didn't get really intense until the Giants were backed into a corner with the score at 14-10, and they pulled off a touchdown with a minute left on the clock. (I missed the last few minutes. I got to watch the replay of the last few minutes when we got home though.) I didn't notice a lot, I did notice that Tom Brady seemed frustrated the whole game, wonder why? We all had a fun night. Maybe if I fully get to understand the rules of football some more, then I'll watch it more. (When someone asks me about a person on a football team, I'm usually like, "uhh, who?" Completely embarrassing.)
But Steve started to explain the game to me and Olivia, so I (sort of, kind of, not really) understand the rules of football now. (Basically, only about getting downs, field goals, and touchdowns, oh yeah, and getting sacked! :D) The game got more exciting after I started to understand what was going on. We were rooting for the Giants, if only because we didn't want the Patriots to get a perfect season. Too bad the Colts didn't make it to the SuperBowl again this year, wonder who would've won, Colts or Patriots...Oh well, at least we got to see Eli Manning play, and Peyton was at the game, so I guess we did get to see him too) Anyway, it didn't get really intense until the Giants were backed into a corner with the score at 14-10, and they pulled off a touchdown with a minute left on the clock. (I missed the last few minutes. I got to watch the replay of the last few minutes when we got home though.) I didn't notice a lot, I did notice that Tom Brady seemed frustrated the whole game, wonder why? We all had a fun night. Maybe if I fully get to understand the rules of football some more, then I'll watch it more. (When someone asks me about a person on a football team, I'm usually like, "uhh, who?" Completely embarrassing.)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
In the year 2038...
In the year 2038...Maybe we'll have hovercars!! Okay, maybe not.
Olivia suggested that I write about what life will be like in 30 years. Olivia and I will be in our 40s, (Aaaahhhh, we'll be old!!!) and by that time, I'm pretty sure that Mom and Dad will be, dare I say it, empty-nesters?! In 30 years, I hope to be married, if it's God's will, (my parents say that I'll never get married if I don't learn how to kiss people. It's Mission: Impossible!...JUST JOKING!!! I'm sure I'll learn how to kiss a girl when I find the right someone.)
Anyway, off the subject of my dysfunctional love life, (read: love life is M.I.A., I'm too young! :D) I hope to be closter to God, depending on Him for everything. I worry about the future sometimes, what job I'll have, if I'll be married, if I'll have kids etc. But worrying isn't going to help anything, it'll just make you have a headache. Like the proverb, "Who can add a minute to his life by worrying..." I don't really know what I picture myself doing in 30 years really, other than that I want to be married and closer to God. 30 years is a long way off, I don't think we need to worry about it yet. We just need to leave everything up to God. (And do well in school.)
Olivia suggested that I write about what life will be like in 30 years. Olivia and I will be in our 40s, (Aaaahhhh, we'll be old!!!) and by that time, I'm pretty sure that Mom and Dad will be, dare I say it, empty-nesters?! In 30 years, I hope to be married, if it's God's will, (my parents say that I'll never get married if I don't learn how to kiss people. It's Mission: Impossible!...JUST JOKING!!! I'm sure I'll learn how to kiss a girl when I find the right someone.)
Anyway, off the subject of my dysfunctional love life, (read: love life is M.I.A., I'm too young! :D) I hope to be closter to God, depending on Him for everything. I worry about the future sometimes, what job I'll have, if I'll be married, if I'll have kids etc. But worrying isn't going to help anything, it'll just make you have a headache. Like the proverb, "Who can add a minute to his life by worrying..." I don't really know what I picture myself doing in 30 years really, other than that I want to be married and closer to God. 30 years is a long way off, I don't think we need to worry about it yet. We just need to leave everything up to God. (And do well in school.)
Monday, January 28, 2008
AAAHH!!! You're sick, stay away from me!!!
Apparently, we have a bug going around our family. Claire and I caught it last week, we didn't leave the couch for a few days, it was horrible, headache, sore throat, fever, the whole nine yards. Now Olivia has caught it, and she's taken up residence on the couch. She's watched National Treasure three times now, I think! It's funny, because while Claire and I were sick on the couch, she was busy trying to avoid us like we had the plague, because she didn't want to get sick. I guess it didn't work. I hope she gets better soon. The Blanchards had a bug going around their family too! But I think that only Faith caught it. I hate getting sick in the wintertime, in fact, strike that, I hate getting sick at all, but it happens. When someone in our family gets sick, our schedule ends up going out the door for a few days, and it starts a family epidemic, so we usually try to avoid it!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
In Ten Years...
In ten years, everything will be much different, maybe we'll have hovercars! Nah, just joking. :D But Olivia and I will be 24, and in college, (possibly married, ooh!) Claire will be 21, Gabe will be 12, Nate will be 11, and who knows if we'll have anymore kids! Looks like Mom and Dad won't be empty-nesters for a while. :D I don't really know what I picture myself doing in ten years, I've always wanted to be a roller coaster engineer, but now other things look interesting, like being a pharmacist, or a video game programmer or even better, a tester! :D In ten years, I hope to be closer to God, depending on Him more, to be a good influence on my "college friends." Maybe by that time, I'll have gone on a missions trip or something. Only God knows where we'll be in ten years, and we have to trust and leave our future to Him. (Doing well in school always helps too, as in, no playing hooky everyday, and expecting God to shape up a great future! Not that any of us do that, right?! :D)
Friday, January 11, 2008
My Resolution...
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:2 NIV
My mom told Olivia and I to pick out a Bible verse that we'd live by this year, I picked out Romans 12:2, here's why.
I think that during the past year(s), I've been too focused on me, myself, and I, and not focused enough on God or His will for me. My trust in Him was (and still sometimes is, though not as often nowadays) shallow and wavering, I was like a fair weather friend: I'd only follow Him when things were going good, then my trust in Him would fail when the going got hard. I was also passive in my spiritual life, I was a total slacker when it came to reading my Bible, I acted like I knew what I was talking about when we went to church, but I didn't know a thing. I was "spiritual" for one day of the week, then I was in hibernation for the other 6.
I remember how this started too, it was when my mom was sick and in and out of the hospital so much, and I remember asking God to heal her, and I was always so confused. If being a Christian is like running a race, I must've dropped out, I thought that God wasn't someone I could depend on, I was wrong to think that. Not that that's any excuse, James 1:2-4 says that God will allow Satan to send things that will test our faith and perseverance, but I started blaming God for everything bad that happened in my life, even though good things did happen. Like when my mom's feeding tube was put in wrong, and the doctors said that she almost died. My parents were about to drive down to IU, but they made a last second decision to go to Community Hospital instead, because some championship was going on downtown. (NCAA, I think it was) That was a miracle sent by God, because if she'd spent a few more hours with that feeding tube in her, she would have died. But still, I became more and more negative, and refused to accept that any of these things were miracles, I thought they were simply coincidences. I was so angry at God, even though my mom is here today because of His intervention. I guess you could say I was holding a grudge...
Okay, so now for the renewing of my mind. Like I said, I became more and more negative, and I started making some not so good choices. (includes, but is not limited to, being irresponsible, being stubborn, etc.) But this time, instead of blaming it on God, (I wasn't on "speaking terms" with Him at the moment) I blamed it on my parents. I thought they were so mean, and no matter how hard they tried to help me, I kept on making the same mistakes over and over again, sometimes on purpose just because I was mad. Ask my parents, they'll tell you just how tiring it was, and even though I knew they hated it as much as I did, I kept on making those mistakes. And the worst thing, is that they had no idea why I was like that.
But I was frustrated at the wrong person. I thought in my head that I was frustrated with God and my parents, but it turned out I was just frustrated with myself, though I didn't want to admit it. (I'm never the one to take responsibility for what I've done, just ask my mom!) I didn't want to be negative, but I didn't know how to get out of it. Then I started reading this book for school called Battlefield of the Mind: the Teen Edition, it's by Joyce Meyer. It talked about all these different things, negativity, passivity, etc. and how to defeat them. I began to realize that all those things that I felt weren't my parents or God, it was Satan waging a war on my mind, and I was letting him take over!! While that's no excuse for my behavior, it did wake me up out of my spiritual hibernation and help me to get back on track with God.
While I'm not perfect by any means, my parents said that they've seen dramatic improvement, and that they've seen me seeking God more this past year. (As you can see, I was very confused about who I was and what my future would be) I now realize that God will help me, and that He's always there for me, even when I'm not there for Him. God renewed my mind, and He'll help me learn what His will is for me, if I trust in Him. Okay, by now, you're probably sick and tired of hearing me yak on and on about the ups and downs of my spiritual life over the past few years, so I only have one last thing to say. My resolution...
So here's my resolution, not just for 2008, but hopefully for the rest of my life: To stay strong for Him, even when it gets tough, because I know that any testing of my faith that I might endure is to strengthen it and bring me closer to Him, to stay motivated to live for Him, even when there's no one around to motivate me but myself, and lastly; to listen closely and pay attention, to learn how to follow the will He set out for me before I was even born, all I need to do to is trust and obey...
Romans 12:2 NIV
My mom told Olivia and I to pick out a Bible verse that we'd live by this year, I picked out Romans 12:2, here's why.
I think that during the past year(s), I've been too focused on me, myself, and I, and not focused enough on God or His will for me. My trust in Him was (and still sometimes is, though not as often nowadays) shallow and wavering, I was like a fair weather friend: I'd only follow Him when things were going good, then my trust in Him would fail when the going got hard. I was also passive in my spiritual life, I was a total slacker when it came to reading my Bible, I acted like I knew what I was talking about when we went to church, but I didn't know a thing. I was "spiritual" for one day of the week, then I was in hibernation for the other 6.
I remember how this started too, it was when my mom was sick and in and out of the hospital so much, and I remember asking God to heal her, and I was always so confused. If being a Christian is like running a race, I must've dropped out, I thought that God wasn't someone I could depend on, I was wrong to think that. Not that that's any excuse, James 1:2-4 says that God will allow Satan to send things that will test our faith and perseverance, but I started blaming God for everything bad that happened in my life, even though good things did happen. Like when my mom's feeding tube was put in wrong, and the doctors said that she almost died. My parents were about to drive down to IU, but they made a last second decision to go to Community Hospital instead, because some championship was going on downtown. (NCAA, I think it was) That was a miracle sent by God, because if she'd spent a few more hours with that feeding tube in her, she would have died. But still, I became more and more negative, and refused to accept that any of these things were miracles, I thought they were simply coincidences. I was so angry at God, even though my mom is here today because of His intervention. I guess you could say I was holding a grudge...
Okay, so now for the renewing of my mind. Like I said, I became more and more negative, and I started making some not so good choices. (includes, but is not limited to, being irresponsible, being stubborn, etc.) But this time, instead of blaming it on God, (I wasn't on "speaking terms" with Him at the moment) I blamed it on my parents. I thought they were so mean, and no matter how hard they tried to help me, I kept on making the same mistakes over and over again, sometimes on purpose just because I was mad. Ask my parents, they'll tell you just how tiring it was, and even though I knew they hated it as much as I did, I kept on making those mistakes. And the worst thing, is that they had no idea why I was like that.
But I was frustrated at the wrong person. I thought in my head that I was frustrated with God and my parents, but it turned out I was just frustrated with myself, though I didn't want to admit it. (I'm never the one to take responsibility for what I've done, just ask my mom!) I didn't want to be negative, but I didn't know how to get out of it. Then I started reading this book for school called Battlefield of the Mind: the Teen Edition, it's by Joyce Meyer. It talked about all these different things, negativity, passivity, etc. and how to defeat them. I began to realize that all those things that I felt weren't my parents or God, it was Satan waging a war on my mind, and I was letting him take over!! While that's no excuse for my behavior, it did wake me up out of my spiritual hibernation and help me to get back on track with God.
While I'm not perfect by any means, my parents said that they've seen dramatic improvement, and that they've seen me seeking God more this past year. (As you can see, I was very confused about who I was and what my future would be) I now realize that God will help me, and that He's always there for me, even when I'm not there for Him. God renewed my mind, and He'll help me learn what His will is for me, if I trust in Him. Okay, by now, you're probably sick and tired of hearing me yak on and on about the ups and downs of my spiritual life over the past few years, so I only have one last thing to say. My resolution...
So here's my resolution, not just for 2008, but hopefully for the rest of my life: To stay strong for Him, even when it gets tough, because I know that any testing of my faith that I might endure is to strengthen it and bring me closer to Him, to stay motivated to live for Him, even when there's no one around to motivate me but myself, and lastly; to listen closely and pay attention, to learn how to follow the will He set out for me before I was even born, all I need to do to is trust and obey...
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
My First Post of 2008!
Say hello to my first post of the New Year!
Well, Christmas vacation is over, and it's back to school. We got a long vacation this year, two weeks! We spent it mostly sitting lazily around the house, although yesterday the whole family (minus Olivia, and Nate) did Pilates. Gabe even joined in a little bit. Yeouch! Doing lots of ab crunches hurt! But anyway, Christmas was fun, I got an EyeClops, maybe you've seen it on TV? It's a microscope shaped like an eyeball that you just plug into the TV, haven't had a chance to test it out yet. And I got Apples to Apples, one of my favorite games. I went digital this year for Christmas, and all the gifts I bought everyone were CDs or DVDs.
Oh yeah! Say hello to the new and improved 14 YEAR OLD blogger, Parker Ginn! Yes, my birthday was on December 30, we went out to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets at the new AMC Theatre that just opened at the mall, (comfy seats :D) then we went to this restaurant called Stir Crazy, it's Asian with a twist. You get to go up to a bar and pick out your stir-fry ingredients, then you watch the chefs prepare it right in front of you, it's pretty cool! You can also pick from the menu and have your food brought to you for you traditionalists. I also got a game for my Nintendo DS, it's supposed to help with learning French, and I got a Rubik's Cube from Olivia. Overall, a fun night. We also found out that Prince Caspian, one of our favorite Chronicles of Narnia books, is coming to the theater on May 16th. Olivia's dying to go see it.
J'écrirai encore bientôt ! Jusque-là, l'adieu, mon cher blog !
(French for, "I'll write again soon! Until then, farewell, my dear blog!"
Cheesy, I know, but funny! :D)
Well, Christmas vacation is over, and it's back to school. We got a long vacation this year, two weeks! We spent it mostly sitting lazily around the house, although yesterday the whole family (minus Olivia, and Nate) did Pilates. Gabe even joined in a little bit. Yeouch! Doing lots of ab crunches hurt! But anyway, Christmas was fun, I got an EyeClops, maybe you've seen it on TV? It's a microscope shaped like an eyeball that you just plug into the TV, haven't had a chance to test it out yet. And I got Apples to Apples, one of my favorite games. I went digital this year for Christmas, and all the gifts I bought everyone were CDs or DVDs.
Oh yeah! Say hello to the new and improved 14 YEAR OLD blogger, Parker Ginn! Yes, my birthday was on December 30, we went out to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets at the new AMC Theatre that just opened at the mall, (comfy seats :D) then we went to this restaurant called Stir Crazy, it's Asian with a twist. You get to go up to a bar and pick out your stir-fry ingredients, then you watch the chefs prepare it right in front of you, it's pretty cool! You can also pick from the menu and have your food brought to you for you traditionalists. I also got a game for my Nintendo DS, it's supposed to help with learning French, and I got a Rubik's Cube from Olivia. Overall, a fun night. We also found out that Prince Caspian, one of our favorite Chronicles of Narnia books, is coming to the theater on May 16th. Olivia's dying to go see it.
J'écrirai encore bientôt ! Jusque-là, l'adieu, mon cher blog !
(French for, "I'll write again soon! Until then, farewell, my dear blog!"
Cheesy, I know, but funny! :D)
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