I WON! And an Announcement

Sami at Sailor & Company hosts a new blog carnival/photo contest called Raw(e). The idea is to post a completely unedited picture to go along with the theme of the week. Last week's theme was 'Distractions'. My original post explaining why I have been distracted by fear is here. I backdated my post because my children hadn't been told of our situation, but thanks to a brother and sister-in-law and their 14 year old son, my kids now know! It's okay, I still love them, but I don't know that I'll be sharing secrets with them any time soon!

Now that the contest is over, I did go back and do a little editing. I decided I needed to blur my last name and the name of my doctor because Hello? TMI for the internet world!

I've also been hesitant to make this announcement because I know there is one person who reads my blog who might be a little hurt and upset when she reads this. Erica, I am so sorry. Please know I would give anything for you to be right here with me. Well, not the fear part, but you know what I mean.

So, Sami (or Sami's dad) chose my picture as the winner last week. I could not be more thrilled. Not only did I win a $50 gift certificate to The Vintage Pearl (and believe me, I will agonize for days over what I want to order), but the comments I received both on my original post and on Sami's post have been so encouraging. I am touched beyond words.

To Infinity & Beyond

I know I said I don't like using my flash, but when I went to check on my Little Man last night, and saw him hugging "Duzz", it was just too cute not to get a picture.

Please excuse the drool monster stains on the pillow.

Please Don't Faint

I'm making an attempt to catch up on my Alphabitty Moments posts!

N is for Nature Girl. My Princess loves all things in nature. She has a soft spot in her heart for animals, and just loves being outside. These pictures were taken the day after Christmas at Grandma and Grandaddy's pond.


O is for Ocean. What can I say? We live in Florida, we love the beach!

P is for Pool. Again, it's Florida. It gets HOT here. Any outside activity pretty much requires water!

Q is for Pedro's Bar-Be-Que. No, my brother's name isn't really Pedro. It's a nickname his sons made up when they would say, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" over and over and not get his attention. He makes the very best, fall off the bone ribs, which we usually only get on the 4th of July, but now that I have been playing around with these pictures, I am having some serious rib cravings, so I may be begging him to fire up the smoker soon!



This week is supposed to be the letter R. I know exactly what I want to do for R, but I don't have the pictures, and it's rainy and dark here today, and I don't like to use my flash, so I'll have to try to get R posted next week.

Check out other Alphabitty Moments at 4 The Love of Family.

Lost: Dr. Linus (and The Chosen)

I've had a lot of stuff on my mind that I don't really want to be thinking about, so to get my mind off of that stuff, I spent a lot of time thinking about LOST. I even re-watched last night's episode today and took notes. Just call me Nerdy MckNerderson.

There was a lot I wanted to mention, but I sort of got side tracked by something I saw in the background, and what I came up with probably doesn't answer any questions as to the mysteries of the island, but I did find it interesting. And time consuming. And it took me back to my days as an English major in college.

And it took my mind off of other stuff, which I will discuss here at some point, when the time is right.

So.

First of all, Michael Emerson did an amazing acting job in last night's episode!

Illana, Lapidus, Sun, Miles and Ben go back to the beach where the Losties had originally established their camp. Ben is looking for things they can use, and the camera pans momentarily to a book in the sand. The book is The Chosen by Chaim Potok.

So. I Googled The Chosen and read a synopsis.

The Chosen revolves around the friendship of two Jewish boys who meet after a baseball game when one, Danny, hits a line drive that hits the other, Reuven, and sends him to the hospital with an eye injury. Eventually, Danny tells Reuven that he did, in fact, want to kill him when he hit the ball, but he can't explain why.

Danny is Hasidic, and his father is the leader of their sect. Danny is supposed to follow in his father's footsteps but doesn't want to. He is extremely smart and spends his time in the library reading books his father does not approve of. He wants to become a psychologist and even learns German so he can read Freud. Danny's father never speaks to him except when they study Jewish law together.

In the novel's climax, the two friends learn Danny's father's purpose for raising his son in silence. Danny's father had discovered early on that his son's intelligence was far outstripping his sense of compassion for others. He wanted his son to understand the meaning of pain and want, so he shut him out emotionally.

So.

My interpretation of tonight's episode in relation to The Chosen:

Ben represents Danny. Jacob represents Danny's father.

Ben was supposed to follow in Jacob's footsteps and protect the island just as Danny was supposed to follow his father as leader of their sect. However, Ben lost all sense of compassion for other people as evidenced in so many ways throughout LOST. He killed his own father, for Pete's sake. Jacob did not communicate with Ben at all, much to Ben's dismay. He was hurt and disappointed by Jacob's lack of contact with him.

By the end of last night's episode, Ben had learned compassion both on the island and in the flash sideways. On the island, he admitted to Illana that he killed Jacob because he was angry about Alex's death and that in the end he realized that power was not what mattered to him, the only thing that mattered (Alex) was gone. In the flash sideways, Ben gave up his chance to take the principal's job in order to preserve Alex's chances to go to Yale. So, Jacob's silence did, in fact, instill some compassion in Ben.

I'm pretty sure Locke represents Reuven, but that theory isn't as clear. Ben did kill Locke, and I'm not sure he knows exactly why. I do think he regrets that decision as well. And while Danny and Reuven became close friends, a true friendship never really developed between Ben and Locke.

Then again, if Ben hadn't killed Locke, maybe they could have been friends.

Other points from this episode:

* Have we seen the principal before? And do Yale graduates really end up as high school principals?

* I don't think Sayid is dead because when Jack asked Richard about Sayid and Kate being at the temple, Richard said they weren't there.

* Apparently Richard was "in chains" when he arrived on the island on the slave ship, The Black Rock.

* Jack has finally become a "man of faith".

* Jacob's touch is a gift/curse. Richard's gift/curse is immortality (sort of, he doesn't age, and can't kill himself, but apparently he be killed). What are the gifts/curses Jacob bestowed on the others he touched? Hurley's seems to be that he can see dead people. What about Jack? The fuse on the dynamite went out, could he have the same gift as Richard? Will he actually take over Richard's role (whatever that may be) on the island?

* We seem to all be working out our Daddy issues.

* I don't have a good feeling about Miles' future after seeing him with that diamond. It sort of seems like he's stealing from the island, which can't be a good thing. Sort of reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean. Then again, the mention of East India Trading Company when Dr. Linus was tutoring Alex already had Pirates on my mind.

* The reunion on the beach was super sweet and had me feeling quite emotional!

* Did anyone else totally expect Ben to be blown away by Widmore's submarine people at the end? Wouldn't that have been very LOSTish. He finally redeems himself, then BOOM!

For more LOST reviews, go to Rocks In My Dryer.