Perseverance

I love this monologue by Sam Gamgee in The Two Towers movie:

Sam: It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo—the ones that really mattered… full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? but in the end, it’s only a passing thing. Even darkness will pass—a new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine all the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you and meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think I do understand—I know now. The folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back. Only they didn’t—they kept going, because they were holding onto something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

And you can watch it here:

This monologue really wields a sort of power which human beings through the ages have brought forth in order to persevere. This talk of courage, of finding good in the midst of evil, of really having hope that there will be a way to succeed, even if it is not clear today and even if it is not clear tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after. We have to keep fighting, because if we give up, if we give in, then we lose not only in the struggle but in our own faith, our own strength. People sometimes forget, this world can have a bright future. We just have to bring it about. And this applies not only to world struggles but also to our own, personal ones. It applies to everything we have to work for, everything that's a fight, a struggle. We just have to believe that the end is there, it's there somewhere in the future, and every small battle we overcome, every bit of writer's block or sleepless night or bureaucracy that we get past is yet one more step closer toward our goal, toward the end, toward the prize.

But...but I have a problem with this. I like this idea, but in those stories Sam refers to - even in his own story - there's always a way to take away the power of evil. Whether it is melting a witch or killing a pirate or breaking a spell or destroying a magic ring. But today, in real life, there is never just one thing that will fix everything else. There is no ring of power to destroy, there are no horcruxes to demolish, there is no spell to break or witch to melt or magic object to find. The world is so much more complex than that. The problems of the world don't have such easy, black and white answers. So how can we fix them? They are like weeds, you start to cut them down from one side and they spring up in new places that you cannot get to. So what is there to do? Why can we not just have a ring of power and be done with it? Why does it always have to be so complex...and how can Sam's speech apply when we don't have the key to destroying evil the way he and Frodo do?

If I seem to be contradictory here, this is because I like to be rather contrary - or maybe it's because I see both sides and don't know which one to take.

"You Keep On Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means"

This post has nothing to do with words. I just want to make that clear, since the title has everything to do with words. But really I just like the title. And if I could write a post right now about words, I would.

Oh, what the heck. I'll write about words.

Words fascinate me. This is the alphabet: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. That's it. That's the whole thing. And out of those twenty-six letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, chapters, stories, novels, whole tomes are written! Out of just twenty-six letters! Amazing. We can take twenty-six little symbols and use them to express ourselves for the rest of our lives, to make up our whole extensive vocabulary. To write science books, philosophy books, historical novels, fantasy, action, adventure, spy novels, biology textbooks, psychology books, movie scripts, plays, poetry, letters, essays, arguments, articles, pamphlets, laws, governmental documents, birthday cards...you name it. Incredible.

And now, for the subject I intended to write about when I started this post. Movies. I was thinking about the sort of movies I like and the sort I don't like. I used to not be very picky, just so long as it was appropriate and not gory or too violent. Now, though, I've become almost afraid of drama. I can't watch it. Sap makes me squirm, too much drama makes me squirm, everything that is serious and not light and funny makes me squirm. Why is that? I don't know, am I so insensitive? Am I too sensitive? It's weird. I recently realized that I don't like watching movies that make me feel sad, depressed, or serious afterwards. It isn't like I don't enjoy being in a contemplative mood, because believe me, I do (would I keep a blog if I didn't?), but when it comes to entertainment - I like to be entertained. To me, being entertained means being put in a good mood, it means feeling happy, enjoying life, that sort of thing. I just don't get that from serious movies. And as amazing as some serious movies are, I can't bring myself to want to watch them.

But then I ask myself, am I so shallow that I only like movies that are funny? It got to the point where, I used to hate chick flicks because I thought they were stupid, now I kind of like them (if they're not too dumb) because at least they're light and fun and don't make me feel serious afterwards. I don't know why I shy so much away from feeling serious. Maybe it's because I'm afraid to let my guard down and actually feel because I might be vulnerable like that - but that's odd. I don't strike myself as a hard, guarded person. Maybe I just think that, if I have the choice, I choose to feel happy rather than depressed or serious.

But I'm not a shallow person. I'm really not! And I do think there's a time to be serious, just like there is a time for everything else. I guess I just think that, if life can't always be that way, at least in the fictional world, people should live happily ever after, with a bunch of sarcastic, cynical, and goofy jokes on the side (so it's not too sappy).

Two Worlds, One Family

I've actually been thinking about this for a while now but if I had the right pictures, I would totally make a slide show video using the Phil Collins song "Two Worlds, One Family" from Disney's Tarzan about Jews in Europe pre-WWII and during WWII and Jews in Israel at that time. It would go something like this:

(Pictures of Jews in the shtetl in Europe)
Put your faith in what you most believe in
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lives we see

(Pictures of chalutzim in Israel)
A paradise untouched by man
Within this world blessed with love
A simple life, they live in peace

Softly tread the sand below your feet now
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lives we see

(Pictures of Jews in the shtetl in Europe)
Beneath the shelter of the trees
Only love can enter here
A simple life, they live in peace

(Pictures of Jews building up the land of Israel)
Raise your head up
Lift high the load
Take strength from those that need you
Build high the walls
Build strong the beams
A new life is waiting
But danger's no stranger here

(Pictures of Jews during antisemitism in Europe)
No words describe a mother's tears
No words can heal a broken heart
A dream is gone, but where there's hope

(Pictures of European Jews going in boats to Israel, pictures of Israel all built up)
Somewhere something is calling for you
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lives we see

Doesn't it fit so well?

Ok, Crush. I Need To Get To The East Australian Current. EAC?

"Good afternoon. We're gonna have a great jump today. Okay, first crank a hard cutback as you hit the wall. There's a screaming bottom curve, so watch out. Remember: rip it, roll it, and punch it."

That's right. Today I drove on the highway for the very first time. I know, it's probably not such a big deal to most of you out there, but I had a terrible fear of driving for the longest time and only got my license right after this past Pesach, before I went back to school (and if any of you thought you had to take the road test too many times before you passed, just be glad that number of times probably wasn't as many as it was for me). So today my dad took me on the highway and, I have to say, it was FUN. I was really nervous before getting on, and while I was merging on, but once I was on it, it really wasn't so bad. It was sort of exhilerating. And it DID feel like I was riding on a current, like the EAC (ten points if you know what movie that's from, even though it's waaaay too easy. Great movie, though). It hardly felt like driving. More like going along with the waves, you know? The current sort of just pushing you forward. Yeah, you have to watch out for cars switching lanes and all, but going that fast, and straight, and just everything. It was, well, awesome. I don't know how comfortable I'd feel doing it on my own just yet, but a few more times with my dad and it'll probably be no problem.

Now I just need to get over my fear of driving across bridges. I mean, what if a huge truck comes along in the lane next to you, doesn't see you, switches lanes, and pushes you off???