Minority Report

The other night, Matt and I watched Minority Report. I really enjoyed the movie. It was engaging and entertaining and thought-provoking. I've only given the movie a little bit of thought the past couple of days and thought that blogging about it would help me put a little more thought into it.

If you don't know the plot, Tom Cruise plays an agent for an organization called Precrime. They use the cogs who can see future murders to stop murders from occurring. Another federal agent is there to investigate the validity of the program. And everything goes crazy when Cruise's character is the next expected murderer. The movie's main point deals with the idea of knowing that someone might committ a crime and arressting them before it happens because of what they intended to do. But the movie presents the side of free choice once you know what you're going to do. A person who knows that they are going to do something, has the choice to not do it.

I'm trying to think of examples where we use this system in everyday life on a smaller scale. I guess what usually happens is that someone believes that another person is going to do something dangerous or illegal they will say something to the person or try to stop them. We don't punish people in advance for something they did not do.

Trying to guess a person's actions or motivations for the future would be overwhelming, and people do sometimes do the unexpected. I guess I would like to be less cynical and believe that people can choose the good even if it doesn't always happen.

Texas minors are allowed to drink alcohol

While playing cards with some friends last night, I was shocked to learn that in Texas a minor (someone under 21 years of age) can drink alcohol if their parent, guardian, or spouse buys it for them and physcially hands it to them. One girl said that parents will buy it for their children in restaurants. I didn't know that there were laws that allowed for this in the U.S. Interesting.

I'd like to know about the statistics of alcoholism and underage drinking in Texas as related to the rest of the U.S. I don't know if I think it would help decrease the allure of drinking or if it just gives kids a chance to start drinking at an early age without having to sneak around behind their parents' backs. But I guess that there are parents in other states who allow their children to drink even if it isn't legal. What a bonding activity for a family.

"A person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor's adult parent, guardian, or spouse, or an adult in whose custody the minor has been committed by a court, and he is visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage." http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/AL/content/htm/al.004.00.000106.00.htm

House

So, I've become a huge fan of the USA drama House. For many years I wanted to be a doctor before realizing that it wasn't the right career path for me. But science and medicine still fascinate me. The show always has some great medical mystery for House and his colleagues and interns to solve while also presenting some side stories on the doctors. I appreciate that it's not a nighttime soap with all of the side stories, but it does show the character of the doctors.

This was just a random blog to tell you about what I enjoy doing on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Children of Men

Saturday, Matt and I went to see Children of Men. In my opinion, it deserves all of the amazing critiques that it's receiving. It's one of those movies that was so powerful that I was just ready for it to end because I didn't know how much more I could take. The reality portrayed is very dark which is mirrored in the settings and camera work. The scenes seem raw and unlit, and for the last 15 minutes when the characters are running, it appears that the camera men are running, too.

One of the most disturbing scenes for me was inside the refugee camp with the "prisoners" being tortured. There was violence depicted, but even the images not directly portraying violence were so overwhelming. I felt like I coudn't bear to watch anymore.

Matt and I discussed the ending afterwards (I won't give it away), but I'm not sure if I think it was a positive ending or not. Matt said that it's too cynical to think that it wasn't hopeful, but maybe that speaks to me being a pretty cynical person at times. I want to believe that it was a hopeful ending, but I'm afraid that the world really might be as disgusting and dark as shown in the movie. I want to say that I can easily believe that the Kingdom of God will one day win and replace this dark view of humanity, but on some days my cynicism takes over and my faith wavers.

I would like to give this a hopeful ending that I am not every cynical and I always put my faith in God and God's Kingdom. But the best I can do for today is to leave you with the type of ending that Children of Men offered to me: you can see the hopeful ending if you choose to see it.

Spring semester

For those of you who are interested in my spring semester schedule, I am taking Latin American romanticism to modernism, history of the Spanish language, and government and politics of Mexico. The government class is in the political science department, and I am very excited about it. The professor is great, and I am very interested in the topic. I'm hoping to get a better idea of if I want to continue my education in the field of political science.

Pets and Parenting

So, I've been thinking about the idea of children and parenting, not because I'm ready to have kids but because I'm not ready to. I don't know if that makes sense at all. At this point in my life, when I think about children I get kind of scared. Growing up, I always wanted to be a mom, but when I got married three years ago that possibility became too real for me. I was overwhelmed by the idea. I thought (and sometimes still think) that I'd be a terrible mother or I wouldn't love the kid.

Recently, I've remembered why I like children as I've spent time with younger cousins and my first nephew. They bring a sense of wonder and excitement to the everyday. But I'm still not ready to have this much wonder and excitement around all day everday.

Some friends who already have children like to tease Matt and me that we're on our way to have children because we got a puppy this summer. I tell them that if I can put a kid in a kennel with Livy (my puppy) for four hours then maybe I am on the path to motherhood. But if my pet parenting skills are any indication of my children parenting skills, then I still feel a long way off from motherhood.

For instance, my dog loves to look up the trees everytime I take her outside because she loves birds. And some days I'm not in the mood to chase birds. I just want her to pee so that I can get back to my work. And the last two times I've tried to cut her toenails, I've accidentally made her yelp and bleed. So, I feel like my patience level is way too low for children. And if their nails bleed as easily as a dog's then keep the clippers away from me!

But having a puppy also brings out my joy more often and makes me laugh and smile more. She loves me even when I'm frustrated with her or the world and even if I make her nails bleed. So for now, I'm content being a pet parent and learning to trust that I am good at this.

Disney and the indigenous

Matt and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at our wonderful cheap movie theater in Waco. And by wonderful I mean old, uncomfortable, and cheap. Every college town needs one. The movie was definitely not as good as the first, but my problem with it was the stereotypical portrayl of the indigineous people who held Jack Sparrow captive. They planned to eat him and spoke a strangely silly sounding language. Hasn't Disney moved past this cliched portrayl of dark skinned people? I guess that's a silly question. It's Disney. And stereotypes sell.

by the way...

I am not desparately checking my blog every 5 minutes to see if someone has responded, but I do like hearing from people.

Is anybody out there reading this?!

Hello to whomever might be reading this. This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. Actually, this is a test to see if anyone is still reading my blog. I haven't had any responses to the last few blogs, and it seems pretty pointless to be blogging to myself. Just wondering if I should keep writing.

Marriage/Weddings

So, my sister Christine got married this past Saturday. It was a wonderful weekend celebrating with friends and family. I wish her and Michael all peace, love, and blessings.

On the drive home, Matt and I were talking about how most Christian weddings may accidentally accomplish some very important aspects of marriage but don't seem to do it intentionally. We discussed how there really aren't traditions with significances for Christian weddings. Or, if we have traditions (something old, something new) we don't know what they mean or why we do them. Other religious traditions have set traditions with specific meanings and implications. I'm not saying that Christian weddings mean anything less, but we just seem to accidentally accomplish things.

Maybe an example will help. The idea of the families coming together and supporting the couple is expected, but there's not really a set tradition for the families to come together and do this. The rehearsal dinner somewhat provides this opportunity, but if the families aren't intentional in establishing a connection or making it clear that they support their children, it may not occur.

I guess what I'm saying is that Christians want to have meaningful weddings and traditions, but as a group we haven't really done this. Any suggestions on what this would look like or what we could do?