Review of The Least Among Us

It took me a while to sit down and watch this. I received The Least Among Us from blogspot.com about two weeks ago, maybe more. By the time this review gets finished it will be a lot more. Maybe a whole month. It wasn't something I'd usually watch, but it turned out pretty good. A little slower than I'm used to. The characters were a little cliched, especially the roommate or the guy with a chip on his shoulder. It was overall a good story with a good ending. It was based on a true story so that's always a nice added touch. Somehow I got confused about the prison at the beginning. I think I was expecting to be about the guy going to prison not the story of how this guy overcame his own prejudices and the prejudices of the university. The acting was good. I probably would never watch this movie again. Although good, it was slow and I had a hard time focusing. Besides it's not a movie I would usually watch. I'm not the based on a true story kind of girl unless it's Seabiscuit. Once again I received this from booksneeze.com and hope you enjoyed my review.

Review of The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews is a small book that blew me away completely. I was expecting a cute story about how what you do affects the world with a sweet moral ending. What I ended up reading was a powerful historical story of how someone actually impacted the world. The first story was one I’d never heard and one that overwhelmed me in its significance. The other story and the events leading to changing the world made me think more of how each action on my part can have a huge significance in the scheme of things. I had heard the story of George Washington Carver before, but this put it in a whole new perspective. I let a friend read it and she also enjoyed the book. She said she read through it twice. Before I began reading it, I planned on passing it on as a gift to someone who likes butterflies. It was difficult to pass it on after reading it though. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It’s a small book, but will have a huge impact on your thoughts. I received the book from booksneeze.com. Everyone should read it as soon as possible.

Beyond Opinion Review

Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zachari is an excellent, although sometimes deep, book compiled of several essays from different people on topics relating to Christianity. Topics include teaching youth, atheism and the Muslim. The authors knew their subject. The depth of each essay is increased because each writer has experince with the topic raised. Some essays I found uninteresting, based on the topic and at least one was confusing to understand. I think this had more to do with my interest level than anything. I found many good points in each essay that I was willing to share with others in discussions. I did get distracted by another book, Radical, and returned to this one later. It was hard to restart in the middle. Sometimes I had problems getting into certain essays. I admit, I'm not too interested in Hinduism. I recommend it to anyone who wants to increase his or her level of knowledge of Christianity and topics relating to it. I enjoyed it.

Billy Graham

Last night, before watching a great movie on Hallmark channel, I just finished "Billy Graham" by David Aikman, which covers this famous evangelist's life. There were so many things I did not realize about Billy Graham, and this biography gave me more insight into his life and influence. The biography takes a deeper look at how Graham impacted the nation spiritually and the also how he related to national affairs and the presidents. I learned a great deal about this man than I already knew, and as each page turned I was even more impressed with him. I didn't realize how his evangelism and personality had also impacted other national events such as communism or preventing our nation from going to war. Aikman did well in researching Graham's life and he answered any questions I may have had plus some. He did well in dividing up each chapter and showing each aspect of Graham's life in an organized fashion. I also enjoyed the details on Ruth Graham and how she impacted Billy's life. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone else interested in either Graham's life or history. I received this book from booksneeze.com.

I Am Hutterite by May-Ann Kirkby

I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered "I Am Hutterite" by Mary-Ann Kirkby. I've read biographies and nonfiction before, but never anything about someone running away from a community like this. When it arrived, I was excited to get started and I wasn't disappointed. It only took be a couple of days to finish reading it because I couldn't put it down. Kirkby is an excellent storyteller, making everything come alive. She fills the pages with stories of her past and who she is. There wasn't a dull moment. She really did her research on her parent's history and brought the thoughts and opinions of the other characters of her past to life. The various stories of the communitity and then after life there, added layers to her characters and the history. Kirkby did well telling about her childhood, and the research on her parents gave more meaning to the book. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, even though it took such a short time to read it. I would recommend it to any body who would like to read an account of a girl who's entire world and mindset had to be changed to adjust to her settings.

Slow runs

Something I've learned about myself recently: when I run somewhere new, I always run way slower than my normal pace. I just returned from running in a neighbourhood near my gma's house. I think it's supposed to be 1.5 miles. I know I didn't run it in 15 minutes. At least, I didn't time myself, but by looking at the clock... (I did feel good when I got back from it. This morning it rained and cooled everything down outside.) The same thing happened the other day when I added an extra .5 miles to my run. I'm going to have to learn to actually pace myself and keep my speed up. I have less than a month before the 5Ks start by the monkey park. I plan to run them with or without the rest of my family. I'm starting to think I'll be able to. It'll just be slow and embarrassing. At least for me. When I'm running I think about a couple of stories I've read in magazines of ladies in their 60s beginning to run and now they're doing marathons. I'm hoping in a few years I'll be running in marathons, but I'd also like to have a little speed on me. Maybe one day even win something. It would be nice to enter something I can win. I'm starting to think I'm never going to start barrel racing. I guess I can start on that when I'm 60.

Another Day

Last week I had a really amazing ride! I was riding Bullseye with no one else around on the doctor's trails, which doesn't seem to happen to often lately. Brittany was riding with me for a little while and I keep inviting other people over to ride. Anyway, we went out and I rode around the trials. The ground has finally dried completely out so I don't to worry about Bullseye sinking in. I got into the pasture and ran him back anf forth and practiced turning at faster gaits. He does well at turning. It's the brakes that don't work too well. After riding to the part I like to call the clover patch, I rode him back to the big pasture. I worked on his 'brakes' the whole way over there. I think he finally started to understand the concept of STOP when I pull back. I was having to spin him in circles to get him stopped. Anyway. This one section I always open Star up. It's about a tenth or more long. You can't get her to stop going down it. I took him to the top of it and opened him up. And he flew. Except for one time when he tried to jump on Ruby. I can't tell who's faster, him or Star. I really want to race them one day. They run different. He's short lengthwise, but he has a lot of power. Star is longer, half-Throughbred, a barrel racer and just like to run. Bullseye's ADD kicks in sometimes. I'm going to have to get Brittany out there with me and see.