Darlee's Rules

          In case you didn't know, I'm really into the show "NCIS" (by the way, it's the Washington D.C. one, not the LA version).  I didn't used to be really interested in all of those crime investigation shows that they have now days.  But I love the characters!  And one of the main characters, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, has a famous list of rules.  This website list all of them that we've heard so far and explains some of the inconsistencies.  Just ignore all of the annoying advertisements.  
          Well, I have my own list of rules.  Some may sound similar to Gibbs', some are completely different.  Some are more metaphorical, and some are more literal. Some are funny, and some are rather cynical.  Some apply to everyone, and some only apply to a few or just me.  They all apply more to my life and interests.  A lot of them have to do with my writing. 

Rule #1:  Never go anywhere without a book.

Rule #2:  A good eraser is just as important as a good pencil.

Rule #3:  If you get a good idea, write it down NOW.  No matter how good an idea it is, if you wait, you WILL forget it.

Rule #4:  It has to get worse before it gets better.

Rule #5:  Don’t feel good?  Drink some water.  It’ll cure almost anything.

Rule #6:  Always be an over-achiever.

Rule #7:  Never go anywhere without a backup book.

Rule #8:  If you wake me up early…you’re dead.  If you interrupt me while I’m reading…you’re gonna wish you were dead.

Rule #9:  Sometimes hope and faith are all we have...but it's all we need.

Rule #10:  Don't over-think things.

Rule #11:   Never smoke (anything).

Rule #12:  If it seems too good to be true, proceed with caution because it most likely is (exception: God).

Rule #13:  Save the good part till last.
.
Rule #14:  Never go out with a guy that you would never consider marrying.  Dating is not a game.

Rule #15:  Have a list in your head of things to look forward to.  It helps you get through tough days.

Rule #16:  Sometimes the greatest thing you can do for someone is to just listen.

Rule #17:  Every moment of your childhood is more precious than all the gems in the world.  Take mental pictures and remember every little detail because you’ll never be able to rewind.

Rule #18:  Make set rules and limitations for yourself and follow them.  Otherwise you’ll never know when to draw the line.

Rule #19:  A hand written letter will always be taken more seriously than an email or text, because it's more personal and you took the time.  (Note: This is for personal messages.  I wouldn't recommend it for job-related stuff.)

Rule #20:  A shelf without books is like a heart without beats.

Rule #21:  When life sucks you can always count on two things.  1) God loves you.  2) And now you have inspiration for all the sad parts in the books you're writing.

Rule #22:  Never take two trips with the groceries if you can only take one.

Rule #23:  You should always choose "morally right" over "politically correct".

Rule #24:  Drinking is not a sin.  Getting drunk is.

Rule #25:  Be weird.  It's fun.

Rule #26:  Learn from other people's mistakes.  Or...if you can't, then make sure other people learn from yours.

Rule #27:  A few close friends is always better than being popular in a large crowd.

Rule #28:  Perfectionism and procrastination don't mix.

Rule #29:  Breathe air.  Drink water.

Rule #30:  Never give up hope.

Rule #31:  When in doubt, make a list...or two.

Rule #32:  When people ask dumb questions on purpose always give sarcastic answers in return.

Rule #33:  10:00 pm - 3:59 am is Night Time.  4:00 am - 7:59 am is Early Morning.  8:00 am - 11:59 am is Morning.  12:00 pm - 4:59 pm is Afternoon.  5:00 pm - 9:59 pm is Evening.

Rule #34:  The volume must always be on an even number (an exception is double numbers...ex: 33 or 55), and preferably a multiple of 5 or (even better) a multiple of 10.

Rule #35:  "If there is a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."  (quote by Toni Morrison)


(I'm sure I'll add to this list as time goes on.  However, I haven't made a post in almost five months, so I REALLY need to post this one!)

The Great Artist of the World

I took this picture of the lawn
in front of Old Main
last week.  It's a rainbow!

          Lately I've been drawing a lot because of a Costume Design class I'm taking.  I'm an okay artist (sort of), but my perfectionist side makes it very difficult at times when I'm drawing. 


Sunset over
Bellingham Bay

          On another, but related topic (I'll explain the connection later), I've been enjoying the scenery at my new college a lot lately.  The leaves are beautiful right now.  There are so many different types of trees in a relatively small area that the fallen piles are literal rainbows!  (See picture)  Also, here at Western, we're high on a hill overlooking Bellingham Bay.  When it's somewhat clear, the sunsets are absolutely gorgeous!  When it's cloudy or rainy, the different shades of blue, black, gray, and purple in the sky, water, mountains, and clouds are beautiful together.  When it's misty or foggy, the clouds cover the water and horizon completely.  Then, when you look down from our high position, it looks as if we're perched on the very edge of the world, with only mysterious oblivion beyond.  Beautiful huh?


There is usually a large drop and a view
of the bay and some small,
distant mountains over that
way.  Now you only see clouds.
 Doesn't it seem like the edge
of the world?  Amazing!

          Well, I mentioned drawing and art a while ago.  I promise that I will get to the connection.

          I walk around campus and see these wonderful sights.  But they are obvious to anyone with eyes.  I also see smaller scenes of incredible beauty.  A single raindrop on a pane of glass can capture my attention for minutes at a time.  It might be a design of twigs silhouetted against a street lamp.  Maybe it's the wind, dancing a dizzying ballet with some dust and old wrappers.  It might be a cluster of red berries amidst hundreds of others on a huge holly tree.  Perhaps a single stone sitting by itself in the gutter.  It may be a piece of reddish bark that's fallen off of a tree.  All of these things may seem random and insignificant.  However, for those with the right eyes, it's an incredible piece of art!  Something that beautiful couldn't be an accident.  Therefore, there must be an artist.


A single raindrop on a pane of
glass can capture my attention
for minutes at a time.

          If you don't believe in a Creator and you think the world happened by some big accident, I'm not going to argue with you about it right now.  Though I will ask you one quick question.  What is it like to go through life knowing that you were an accident?  To know that you came from a bunch of chemicals and junk that just happened to meet up?  Doesn't that make YOU just one big mistake?  Sorry, that was three questions.  Moving on.

          Geez!  I really am taking forever getting to the point!

It might be a
design of  twigs
silhouetted
against a street lamp.

          Anyway, for the sake of argument, God is the artist of all the beauty in the world.  He paints living art.  I look around me and I WISH I could paint or draw something half as wonderful as the thousands upon billions of God's paintings surrounding us every day.  Then I started thinking (I'm probably going to ramble pretty bad for a while, but bear with me), He's even more amazing than that.  We only have to create a 2-D picture on a flat surface.  He drew and colored everything from every possible angle under every possible factor.  In science classes they tell you to control the variables in an experiment, because the smallest difference changes everything.  Think about distance.  You can see a tree from 20 feet away and that's one picture.  But every molecule closer or farther away you get is yet a whole NEW picture!  Then there's the variable that everyone sees things differently and in different focuses.  And even that can change from one nano-second to the next!  Every angle is different!  There is an unlimited amount of ways you can view a single object.  Think about what it would be like if you translated all of those things into an actual number of physical paintings.  Mind blowing, huh?


He paints living art.

            Here's another point to think about though.  Of those uncountable numbers of paintings, imagine the tiny, minuscule percent of them that humans ever see!  Think of the billions of beautiful, constantly changing cloud formations that we NEVER see!  All of the amazing, twisted roots in funny shapes under the ground that no eye EVER saw!  All of the single flames flickering like rubies on the face of the sun!  Yet, they are still there.  He still made every painting, every little perfect detail...even though no one will ever see even close to 99.9999999% of them in the whole history of the world. 
 
          I feel really sad that of the things we DO see, it seems impossible for us to appreciate all of them.  No matter how hard we try, we will always think some paintings are ugly.  So not only do we only see a small portion of God's masterpieces, but the vast majority of them...nay...nearly ALL of them are disliked or go unnoticed or unappreciated.  But He still did it.  Still made every painting and every detail in every possible set of variables...though we might never see or like any of them.  He did all of this simply because...He is God...and He loves us...and He is the great artist of the world.


He is the great artist of the world.

  

The Mountains of Mourne

         
          I love listening to Celtic music.  My favorite groups are Celtic Thunder and Celtic Woman.  There is a song by Celtic Thunder called "The Mountains of Mourne" that makes some good points.  It comes across as having old fashioned and over-used themes.  Yet these are things we face every day.  I think that if people didn't dismiss them so quickly and actually thought about them more often, there wouldn't be half so many that made these mistakes.


The Mountains of Mourne

Oh Mary this London's a wonderful sight

With people here workin' by day and by night

They don't sow potatoes, nor barley, nor wheat

But there's gangs of them diggin' for gold in the street

At least when I asked them that's what I was told

So I just took a hand at this diggin' for gold

But for all that I found there I might as well be

In the place where the dark Mourne sweep down to the sea.

There's beautiful girls here, Oh never you mind

Beautiful shapes nature never designed

Lovely complexions of roses and cream

But let me remark with regard to the same

That if at that those roses you venture to sip

The colours might all come away on your lips

So I'll wait for the wild rose that's waitin' for me

In the place where the dark Mourne sweep down to the sea.

You remember young Davey Mc Clarin of course

Well sure, now, he's round here with the rest of the force

I saw him one day as I was crossin’ the strand

And he stopped the whole street with a wave of his hand
And as we stood talkin’ of days that are gone

The whole town of London stood there to look on

But for all his great powers he's wishful like me

To be back where the dark Mourne sweep down to the sea

But for all his great powers he's wishful like me

To be back where the dark Mourne sweep down to the sea





          The song is about a man writing a letter to Mary (who is likely his girlfriend).  He describes the people in the city and the things that they do.  All of them seem promising at first.  But then he realizes how useless and fake they all are and he yearns to be home where life is more simple and the sea and beautiful mountains are nearby.
          Firstly, when the man goes to London (and this could be true where ever you are in the world) he sees people digging for gold instead of planting crops.  The significance is that they are trying to earn money fast instead of work hard and being patient.  It's like all of those "get-rich-quick" schemes that you here about.  But they hardly ever work.  So he decides that since he's wasting his time he might as well be in the place that he loves doing honest labor.  That's true of anyone.  You could also stretch it a bit and say that it's better to work hard doing what you love than working for the money.
          Secondly, he talks about the beautiful girls in the city.  They almost don't seem natural because they are so lovely.  He admires them, but soon realizes how fake they really are.  I love the line, "if at that those roses you venture to sip / The colours might all come away on your lips".  He's content to wait till he gets home to his wild, but true rose.  He is probably talking about Mary, which I think is sooooo sweet.  " I'll wait for the wild rose that's waitin' for me / In the place where the dark Mourne sweep down to the sea."  He is saying that even though the girls there are beautiful beyond belief, he'd still rather have her.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!  Sorry, that was the girlish, romantic side of me showing through.  It's a good example of how beauty is in the heart.  How girls expect a man to love them when they constantly wear a mask is beyond me.
          Then he runs into an old friend of his, Davey McClarin, who has grown up and become very powerful in the city.  So powerful that the whole city stops and is silent when he commands it.  Yet even Davey admits that power isn't everything.  He misses the simpler, homey life back in the Mountains of Mourne.  Power isn't all people crack it up to be.  You miss so many of the sweet and simple things in life.
          I like this song.  It has a very simple tune which only makes its point even better.  You can't really find it by Celtic Thunder on YouTube though, which is sad.  You can hardly find any of their songs on their.  It's easier to find Celtic Woman songs, but I get tired of watching them parade around in their dresses.  Celtic Thunder is much more interesting to watch.  RABBIT TRAIL!  Sorry!
          I wish modern music were more like this.  I miss the simple morals and themes that encouraged real, attainable happiness.    
           

Jumping Off A Cliff

          "Don't judge."  We hear it all around us every day.  I had a friend for years who used it as an excuse for everything.  But I say that discriminating for unjust reasons is far from using morals to determine the right course.  Because there IS a right and wrong, people!  No matter how much our modern philosophers might try to tell us differently.  In more educated terms, there are absolute truths.  There is no way around it.  If a person jumps off a cliff, no matter how much they may sincerely believe that they had wings, they will still fall to their death without some sort of equipment.  Gravity is an absolute truth.

          So when I choose to do or not do something that offends some one else because it indicates that I believe they are wrong in some way, I'm not hating them.  I am hating the sin.  I am choosing to do something different from them because there are many morals and values that cannot be bent to fit every and any lifestyle.  Some things are wrong no matter how much you try to twist, hide, or excuse them. 

          This in no way makes me a hater.  Just because I don't agree with everyone on everything doesn't mean that I can't love them as fellow children of God.  Christians, don't get discouraged by this kind of negative feedback.  You cannot force people to change their minds.  But you CAN live a life pleasing to God that shows people that you are not a hypocrite  and that this way of thinking is not hurtful like they claim it to be.