From the Midwest and Around the World

Hey readers! I will be packing for college this weekend and next week, so there will probably not be any blog posts until I start College (after Labor Day). I hope you all have a great week!

     It's always interesting when movie and TV directors interpret books onto the screen. Sometimes, when in the case of Eragon (by Christopher Paolini), the movie is horrible and extremely disappointing. Of course, it is always difficult to reveal character's inner thoughts (unless one uses the annoying voice-over) and some action scenes/special effects are hard to demonstrate. However, many directors are quite successful in their fandom-pleasing interpretation.      I am one of those ASOIF (A Song of Ice and Fire) fans that started with the HBO series before reading the books. At this moment I am in the middle of "A Feast for Crows." It is interesting to remember how accurate the TV show is compared with the books. While they cannot get every plot detail in and reveal the motives of the characters, they do a very good job of showing the tension cruelty and heroism within human nature.      My only major complaint is of the ages of the c...

      People are rude. I understand that it is just a fact of life, but it always surprises me how rude people can be. This habit of rudeness is concentrated on the Internet. People believe that they can say rude and unnecessarily sarcastic things from the safety of their keyboard. I have certainly been guilty of being sarcastic on the Internet. However, I always attempt civility and rational thought when posting my opinions. I do recognize that many people bristle or consider it an affront to their intelligence when someone posits a reasonable and balanced opinion on the many forums of opinion. For example, the other day I commented on an acquaintance's Facebook status where she derisively shared an article written by a pair of conservative young women. Of course the usual liberal comments of "ew" and "lol" and even a link to an open letter written insultingly to these women. In my opinion, both the original article and the open letter article both had very g...

     The first few entries of these "Political Tuesday" posts will serve as an introduction to my political beliefs and why I believe what I believe. I love to get into political debates (as long as they remain civil) and this often gets me into trouble because I am often sarcastic (and it is surprising how many people do not understand sarcasm and think that I am being serious!).      First of all, a little bit about my basic political ideology before we get into the hairy debates that so polarize American society. I enjoy personality quizzes and I will start this series by taking the Political Compass Quiz (so that you, the reader, can get a general idea of my ideology). My political ideology on the compass is as follows. I am fairly economically conservative and barely libertarian when it comes to social life. While personality quizzes are never fully accurate, they offer a window into a simplified version of oneself.     

     This is the first of (hopefully) many entries that I will post throughout this year and beyond. I am now entering my Sophomore year at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. This year I will be pursuing my double major in International Relations (IR) and Japanese by taking three IR classes in the fall and then traveling across the world to Japan in the Spring Semester. Hopefully this blog will follow that journey.      While this blog is mostly for family and friends, I welcome any readers that do not know me personally and I hope that you will enjoy my musings, rants, and narratives about my life. Please feel free to comment or email me ( elizmarfos6@gmail.com ) with any questions.      Generally, I will post narratives about my life. However, I will often post political opinions and thoughtful musings about pop culture, Christianity, etc. If that is not your thing, then this may not be the right blog for you...but I always enjoy a civi...