Seeing the signs

This week I've been fascinated M. Night Shyamalan's movie, The Village. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, this posting may spoil the plot.
Watching the movie again, there were several things that I noticed.
1. M. Night Shyamalan's cameo. Oddly enough, I recognized his voice before seeing his reflection in the medicine cabinet.
2. Noah's mischief to try to keep Ivy and Lucius apart. Obviously, I saw the stabbing the first time I watched it. But, I'm wondering if Noah saw Lucius find the red plant and then skinned the dead animals to get Lucius in trouble and away from Ivy.
3. William Hurt's character, Edward Walker. Since I knew why the village was created, his simple statement to the elders about the preservation of innocence became more poignant. And, for the first time, I saw the irony of how Edward Walker was trying to protect Ivy from seeing a loved one harmed by violence and how it still came about, despite his actions.
Perhaps I'm late in seeing these things. A more logical movie-watcher might have seen the three things above right off the bat. When I watch movies, I become so absorbed in the plots, the characters, and the movie soundtracks (which this one was creepy as hell) that I don't analyze or question what's going on. This time, though, it was different.
And, it's made me wonder. How often do I live my life at face value without analyzing or questioning what I'm doing? Like movies, I become absorbed in my life (going to work, getting groceries, doing laundry) that I wonder if I miss seeing things in my life from a deeper level. Of course, the things that I saw in The Village partly came from previously knowledge of seeing the movie before. It's kind of different with my life because I don't know exactly what plots, characters, and hopefully, soundtracks it will contain before it ends. I also can't press rewind, fast-forward, or pause either.
So I guess I'm in the same boat as Ivy. I'm just running blindly down the road and trusting my Father that the road will lead me where I need to go even though I can't see it.

Wisdom from Wisconsin

Life is a journey, not a guided tour. This saying on a sign that I saw over the week-end has given me plenty food for thought. I mean, on the one hand, there are times when I would rather have my life be a guided tour. Or, actually just a movie reel that runs with all the climaxes, characters, and plot points established. But, where is the fun in that, right?
Then again, the journey thing isn't always a barrel of laughs. The uncertainty factor in a journey can be annoying because who knows what twists, turns, mishaps, and complications the journey will have before it ends? The tour thing is a breeze because it's already mapped out, but what interesting and exciting experiences will a person miss while being on the tour?
Personally, I used to think that gearing my life towards the planned travel destinations was what I should do, but now I'm not so sure. Twists and turns can be a lot of fun, and if they are not at the time, they sure leave you with interesting stories later.

New kid on the block

It's my first weblog entry...and I'm not quite sure what to write. I suppose I could philosophize about how my life has turned out differently than I would have imagined. As a kid, Oregon was the place to be - with its mountains, streams, and the often stormy, but gorgeous when it's sunny, coastline. I really did not imagine myself being a librarian, either. Marion the librarian was the last person I wanted to be. The nerve of her falling for a con man, singing the most cheesy songs about him, and then kissing him - yuck.
But, I am a librarian. Despite Marion's affections for Harold Hill, I realized that I liked learning about things, and I enjoyed helping others learn as well. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I am a Minnesotan. I appreciate the state's lakes and trees as well as the people's concern to preserve them. However, the day anyone hears me mispronounce Oregon in the typical Minnesotan fashion - please ship me back there.
Anyway, so I guess what I'm trying to say is that this weblog will probably dabble in a lot of different things: experiences with God, comments about pop culture, or just paragraphs about how much I love my Converse low top shoes. A wide range of stuff, but, hey, feel free to come back and visit if you want.