The Most Recent Reject: The Neverending Story

I just couldn't get into this book.  The beginning was alright, but by the middle, it just got worse.  The book reminded me of an 80's drug trip.  I thought the premise was to inspire children to write their own stories, but it turns out, the more wishes you make the more memories you lose.  According to the book, to create you own world/story you have to lose your identity.  Furthermore, the main character's imagination started to seem more like hallucinations.  The poor kid's mom died and his father was distant, and to add to the problem he was unathletic and overweight.  There are healthy ways to deal with issues like that.  Talking to a school counselor is a good start.  Escaping into a fantasy land where you are the perfect version of yourself, not to mention all powerful, is not healthy.  I'm all for getting caught up in a good book, but don't use it as an excuse for not tackling real issues that need to be addressed.  I am going to stick with the Chronicles of Narnia.  Even though the stories take place in an unreal would, I feel like Lewis inspired children, and adults, to overcome the problems in their real lives.

The Daily Bite: India Gate Restaurant

After going to the Bellevue Temple last night Matt and I went to the India Gate Restaurant.  I have loved Indian food ever since Matt introduced it to me on our first date at India Palace.  I have been missing India Palace's mango lassis and Coconut Chicken Korma.

India Gate was pretty good, but it wasn't India Palace.  The mango lassi at India Gate had less mango and more yogurt flavor, and Matt thought it was more sugary.  I liked the Chicken Korma, but the real treat was the bite of Matt's Lamb Tika Masala.  The lamb tasted just like venison my Opa Lynn made, except Opa's was a bit more salty.  It brought me back to years ago, sitting at Opa's table, enjoying the delicious meat.  If we do end up going back, I will skip the lassi, but I will definitely get the Lamb Tika Masala.

Wet Winter Wonderland

It's snowing!  Big fluffy flakes!  Some are even an inch an a half around!  They are slowly floating to the ground.  It's absolutely lovely!  But I am glad I am warm inside our apartment, looking out our balcony door.

A Day at the Beach

You can barely see it, but the seagull in the picture caught a fish and was eating it! 

Today Matt and I went to Alki Beach in West Seattle.  The view from the beach is amazing.  It was beautiful, but windy and cold.  We ate lunch on a bench and then went searching for sea glass.  We actually found a lot of smoothed sea glass and shell pieces.

Most Recent Read: American Shaolin

My motivation for reading American Shaolin, by Matthew Polly, was my husband's passion for martial arts.  He as won martial art tournaments and does several types of martial arts. (I know about Shotokan Karate, Taekwando, Budoshin Jujitsu, Brazilian Jujitsu, Hapkido, and Capoeira.)  I enjoyed reading about the Shaolin monks and Chinese culture.  That said, the book is riddled with swearwords, namely the f-word, so I couldn't in good conscience recommend it without a warning.  Also, there are one or two inappropriate parts to watch out for.  Other then those glitches, it was a phenomenal read.    

The text was peppered with Chinese proverbs, one of which Matt taught me "I do not fear the 10,000 kicks you have practiced once; I fear the one kick you have practiced 10,000 times" (7).  Another by Lao-tzu, I heard before but have forgotten where, "The knowers do not say; the sayers do not know" (139 & 242).

The way Polly wrote sometimes sounded like a Chinese proverb.

"[Coach Yan] was the most in touch with his inner monster...his mean streak wasn't wide, but it was deep" (8).

"Life started to imitate art" (57).

"Kungfu had started as physical exercises meant to help the monks focus on their sitting meditation.  Now sitting meditation was used to help the monks focus on their kungfu.  The evolution was complete" (138).

And some words of wisdom came from his acquaintances.

"Who knows? It is hard to separate life from fiction"-Cheng Hao (85).

"No, you didn't," [Doc] said with a stern look.  "No one does, because he doesn't go around showing off all of his skills..." (108).

"This is China. The leaders' children are like the descendants of Heaven.  This is their world not ours"-Cheng Hao (131).

"But muscles that are too big reduce the quickness of your technique," Deqing said. "Power is generated by speed, not size.  You saw what a tiny bullet can do" (167).

"It doesn't take much courage to fight when you still believe you can win.  What takes real courage is to keep fighting when all hope is gone" (168).  Deqing

At the time Polly was living with the Shaolin Monks, he was in the middle of getting a degree from Princeton University in Religion with a focus in mysticism.  He writes,"What I discovered from studying the Zen monks, the Sufi mystics, and the Catholic saints was a similarity in the descriptions of their experiences.  They used different images, metaphors, and theological concepts, but they seemed to me to be pointing in the same direction.  It brought to mind a saying form the Upanishads I'd always liked: "God is one, but the scholars call him by many different names"...My working hypothesis was that the cosmos was made up of spirt and matter, heaven and earth, and that humans consisted of both elements, a body and a soul, dust and divinity.  The mystical experience was what happened when the divine or God or Allah or whatever name you prefer breaks through the mundane in a particular soul and exposes it to the universal spirit" (139).

The book is filled with culture references that I found fascinating.  I love learning about different cultures.  Also, it was inspiring to me to learn how dedicated people can be.  The monks practice Kung Fu for seven hours a day six days a week.  It was a good reminder that sometimes we have "eat bitter" to get to where we want to be.  It was also a good reminder that "Life is a one shot deal" (340).  We need to make the most we can, with the time we have.  But, from the wise words of LeVar Burton, "Of course, you don't have to take my word for it."