Wow, probably the first friday where I am so stuffed and bored Im just gonna go straight to bed…
Too tired to play Metal Gear, too tired to watch a movie…too tired to do anything, really.

What to do this weekend:
-Record movie, one of my actors is sick though so this might have to be postpond until next weekend, however we might be able to film another flick if I can get my friend INZ to be cameraman.
-Write weekreports; 4 weekreports…shouldnt be too hard.
-Train on Sunday? I hope so…

As finale, I am getting my brand new IDcard on monday, so as soon as I do, I am going by my banks to fix money and a bankcard! PRONTO!

But I dont wanna leave my avid readers without any goods this Friday…so lets see…

Oh I read in the news not too long ago, that the leadsinger of Takida tried to commit suicide a few years back.
I think he said he slit his wrists up “but something went wrong so he had to call an ambulance“…
Okay, what could really go wrong? I would think in a suicide situation everything wrong is good…like if it bleeds too much thats good, because ya wanna die, right.
Or maybe his mom walked in on him or something, thinking he was masturbating and he didnt want to die in shame… anyways glad he didnt die otherwise he wouldnt have made the great love song “Curly Sue“.



Makes me think back to over a year ago, I got a call from my ex saying she’d cut up her wrists, and she even sent me a picture…it was really terrifying and so sad, because there was nothing I could do to help her, since she was in another city.
Later that day she was institutionalized for over a month :/

What drives and motivates a person so much that he/she considers suicide?
It is really sad, because mostly these people carry a great weight inside, such emotional and psycological pain.
One of my worst fears is psycological instability and depression, though I have felt many mild episodes of this, I cant begin to imagine how it is for some people who struggle through the whole of their lives.
Something or someone can so easily ruin another persons life and make them so utterly depressed and psycologically frail that nothing is worth living for… I recognize the feeling, and I know a couple who have that feeling everyday.
I guess that is why many people consort to physical pain rather than psycological, the pain goes away much faster.

I think people who go through many hardships in their lives grow stronger and gain more experience and wisdom in life.
You can sometimes really feel a persons heart and soul, when they have been through lifechanging happenings like great downtimes.
I have had my share, and I feel like I am way ahead in my life, for I dont take it for granted anymore, I am not a child and havnt been for a while I believe.
That is what I like in certain people though, the maturity of their innerself, and I do find that very attractive in girls, who are very mature deep within.
But still, they must have their free and colourful nature, in tune with reality, morals, ethics, thought and reason.

When I meet a girl, I can usually tell if they are special.
Certain girls have certain glows to them, an aura.
I need a girl with experience, wisdom and maturity; I cannot stress that enough.
It is hard to put into words exaclty what I mean…but then again…who cares, I will know when I find her.

YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL

I have an announcement and good news for you today.  God is for you!!  Wait a second before you nod and just fast forward to the next random thought….pause and REALLY think about that truth for a minute.  God is for YOU!! Not when you get to heaven, not when everything is perfect in how you live your life, not when you get yourself together…GOD is FOR YOU NOW!!

Psalm 84:11-12 says this:

¹¹For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹²O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]!

To everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior–Without reservation and hesitation, you ought to start the next minute of your life with a renewed and refreshed view of your present situation and circumstances. Not based on whether they have changed or not, but based on the truth of God’s word being part of what you BELIEVE (act like, talk like, walk like, and look like) is true.

There’s so much promise in these few words from God and yet it has enough power to sustain you through everything you’re dealing with right now–whether good or bad.  If you have been on the bad side or troubled side of things–there’s a cross-referenced promise that applies to God’s role as our “sun”. You know the sun provides life and its light activates the life producing systems that God so masterfully placed inside the world and all of us. Spiritually speaking–God does the same for us as our “sun” and beyond as He is our “shield” as well.

Malachi 4:2 says

“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”

This word is for you and its for someone you know.  Apply it and soak in it for yourself first so that you’re convinced that God is for you.  It will be impossible for the enemy to convince you that God is not faithful.  Accept God’s healing, favor, blessings, and run out of whatever  stall or holding area that has kept you from moving forward!! GOD is For YOU!!

Blessings,

Randy

looking for life is like
looking for a gun when you
don’t have one
you won’t find it
you can’t find
what’s always there
with you
it’s not love
it doesn’t turn
to shade
like hate
though death
is like aspirin
for those who
grieve too long
and when you’re
dead you won’t
find anything
but acceptance
for what it was
you were looking for
all along
the tide
a seepage
from the imprisonment
of bones
their agonies
blinding us to
what we had
to what
we were asking
who made
me
what am
I ?

I hope all had a great Thanksgiving Day and that the prescribed gluttony wasn’t to excess (Is that an oxymoron?!).  Did you thank God for His interventions and miracles He has done for you?

27 days till the BIRTH of CHRIST,

and 2 days till the beginning of the ADVENT season.

“HO, HO , HO-ly God, We Praise Thy Name!”

Quote of the Day:

 Why settle for the lesser of two evils?

Today’s Meditation:

The Canticle of the Sun by Francis of Assisi (day 11 of 14): 

… Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High [Jesus], they will be crowned. …

“Let me be an instrument of your peace…”  If anything I have learned through my journey of Franciscan discernment, I have learned the meaning and significance of ‘peace.’  I was a man that was a very direct, to the point, and at times rude individual.  I always insisted on it being my way.  I think I was the typical American.  My philosophy was that if threatened, to ‘beat them down’ (verbally or physically) and do not allow them to tread on me.

 I still believe on the right to protect one-self.  But my aggressiveness in thought, speech, and actions has been tempered by the tenant of St. Francis’ peace, especially in an aggressive situation.  The louder someone gets, I purposely let me body and verbal interchange get softer and quieter.  This does two things.  It almost always seems to calm everyone, and it also allows me to control the conversation.  It seems ironic that one can win by peace over force.

 Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Pope John Paul II, all worked through peace to achieve their goals.  I am still not completely at their level of sustainable peace that they exuded, but I am working at it.

 St. Francis, please help me on my journey of peace and understanding of others.  Amen,

The full text of “The Canticle of the Sun” can be found at many web sites

including: http://www.poverello-society.org/prayer_canticle.htm.

Pax et Bonum

Dan Halley, SFO

*****

Franciscan Saint of the Day:  St. Francis Anthony Fasini

Born in 1681 at Lucera, southeastern Italy, Francis Anthony was the son of very poor peasants; but he was a bright lad, and received a good education from the Conventual Franciscans in his native town.  When he was 14 he received the habit of St. Francis among the Conventuals, and in 1705 he was ordained to the priesthood.  He was then sent to the Sagro Convento, adjoining the basilica in Assisi where St. Francis is buried, for the purpose of continuing his studies.  Two years later he received the doctorate in theology, and he was then appointed lector of philosophy in the college conducted by the Conventuals in his home town. He was promoted successively to regent of studies, guardian, and provincial, which latter office he held from 1721 to 1723.  After that he served as master of novices, and then as pastor of the church of St. Francis in Lucera. A bishopric was offered to him, but he declined it.

Among the devotions that he cherished there were especially a tender love for the Immaculate Mother of God, a childlike affection for the Infant Jesus, and fervent devotion, also night adoration, of the Holy Eucharist.  Once, while he was absorbed in prayer, someone who happened to be in the church heard a voice saying: “This priest prays much for his people.”

As a priest, he also became an eloquent preacher, a lover of the poor, a friend of the unfortunate.  He was a missionary, a retreat-master, and a Lenten preacher.  For hours he would sit in the confessional, hearing and absolving the sins of his penitents, consoling the afflicted, warning the hardened of heart.  He spent much time in visiting the sick, the orphans, and the imprisoned.  As a pastor he was a real father to his people.

After 35 years in the priesthood and a life of penance, union with God, and intense labor the salvation of souls, God called Father Francis Anthony to Himself on November 29, 1742.  On that day the people of Lucera came hurrying to the church of St. Francis, exclaiming as did the children at the death of St. Anthony of Padua, “The saint is dead!  The saint is dead!” And for 200 years since then, they have continues to kneel and pray at his tomb.  The cause of his beatification was introduced in Rome in 1832; and in 1951 Pope Pius XII solemnly enrolled him among the blessed.

from: The Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm., © 1959 Franciscan Herald Press

 

Also on November 27th: In 1830-31 Our Lady appeared four times to St. Catharine Laboure in Paris and instructed her to have the Miraculous Medal struck.  On these occasions, Our Lady showed herself to St. Catharine as the Immaculate Conception and the Miraculous Medal is really the Medal of the Immaculate Conception.  On the medal are the words of the little prayer which Our Lady herself wishes us to say, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”  This feast is observed by the Conventuals.

 (From http://www.franciscan-sfo.org website)

From the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO) Prolgue, Chapter 1:

All who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with all their strength (cf. Mk 12:30), and love their neighbors as themselves (cf. Mt 22:39) and hate their bodies with their vices and sins, and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and produce worthy fruits of penance.

Oh, how happy and blessed are these men and women when they do these things and persevere in doing them, because “the spirit of the Lord will rest upon them” (cf. Is 11:2) and he will make “his home and dwelling among them” (cf Jn 14:23), and they are the sons of the heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:45), whose works they do, and they are the spouses, brothers, and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mt 12:50). …

 

Psalm 30:4-12

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

Unlike some of my family — who can’t wait to go downhill skiing — I don’t look forward to winter. When the first snowflake falls, I immediately  start calculating how many of Michigan winter are left.

Imagine C. S. Lewis’ fictional world of Narnia, where for a hundred years it was always winter. Cold, wet snow — with no hope of springtime ever arriving to wipe away the memories of icy temperatures and piles of white stuff. But worst of all, in Narnia, Christmas never came. Always winter and never Christmas! To me, the best part of winter is the anticipation, excitement, and wonder of Christmas. Life is bleak when you have nothing to look forward to.

There are some whose souls are locked in winter. The hardness of life has frozen their hearts. Disappointed with life, they find that each day is filled with despair. “Weeping may endure for a night,” the psalmist tells us, “but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). In the darkest times of our lives, God longs to turn our “mourning into dancing” (verse 11).

David wrote, “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul” (Psalm 94:19). If you cry out to God in the midst of your “winter,” you can experience the joy of the Christ of Christmas today. —cindy hess kasper

Now none but Christ can satisfy, none other name for me; there’s love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus, found in Thee. —mcgranahan

Jesus can turn your sorrow into dancing.

Today was Thanksgiving and it was a very mixed day for me.

It was wonderful to be with friends – a lot of friends – from many different backgrounds and have good food and a lot of time together. It was wonderful that my incredible loving dog is doing much better. I had good conversations with people who I don’t usually talk to or necessarily have much in common with.

At the same time, I was watching people interact with their significant others and feeling that void in my life. I heard people say they were thankful for their spouse, their fiancee, their children, and their new houses. And it was harder for me to feel thankful for anything I had because it felt like God has forgotten me in what I really want. I don’t want to be that way – I want to be able to be excited for other people at the same time as I’m thankful for totally different things in my life. But I don’t feel like that’s a possibility. I just feel forgotten and empty and alone.

I don’t like the holidays.

what lives
longer
than love
is the
memory
of love

it doesn’t
die
when the
person
dies

or they
leave you

it sits
inside
you and

every morning
it wakens

as if they

had never left

” Merry”…”Happy”…. These words will be said to me and I to others  many times in the next few weeks…how I wish I could remember  what it felt like to be merry or happy.

I spent the holidays last year in a state of survival. I was “getting through” each day. When the holidays came, I just went  numb. I tried to not be a “drag” and I put on my best face. Those days have failed to become any kind of holiday memory. I couldn’t tell what I did on any of those “holidays”.  Maybe, I blogged about them. If I did, I need to read those entries  to know where I was and what I did because I truly do not have the faintest clue.

This year, the numbness is off  and I feel the emptiness and the loneliness more acutely than ever. Today was past “hard”. In many ways, it was unbearable.

I spent Thanksgiving with my younger sister who is afflicted with dementia. She has Down’s Syndrome and it isn’t  uncommon for people with Down’s to develop dementia should they live into their middle age years. So it is with my sister.

It seems that Dan’s death uncovered her memory loss. Even though she attended Dan’s Memorial service, she forgot about his death until this past July. When I met her at the doctor’s office, she asked about Dan and how he was. I told her that he died and, from that time to this, she has been in a state of inconsolable grief.

Her grief isn’t just for Dan. It is for all of the losses that has been in her life.  We lost our mother in 1990 and Dad in 2001. She went to live in the group home a few years before Dad died, but she never accepted the group home as her home. Now, it is more clear just how much she never acclimated.

For the past several years,  it seemed that she adjusted to living her own life at the group home rather than live a peripheral one through our parents. Life with Mom and Dad was a secure one. Her disability placed her at the center of my parent’s life. At the group home, everyone there is like her. She isn’t the “princess” and she misses the life where her wants and needs were met without having to share the lime light.

Every visit with our older sister or me, she would always thrill when we passed the sign for the city limits. A huge sigh would escape her and she would say, ” I am home.” Now, when she comes to visit the thrill has become a desperate desire and she says, ” I want to live with you.”

She reasons that Dan’s death opened space for her and  she should live with me on the family farm.  I know that I cannot take care of her and work. I can’t give to her the  dearest desire of her heart and the guilt compounds each time I see her. It makes finding joy in the midst of such unhappiness overwhelming at times.

As she tries to process Dan’s loss, she is reliving the loss of our parents as well as other losses. Our older sister has Multiple Sclerosis and, due to her health, had to sell the “home place” and the family business.

When she visits me, we turn directly in front of the house in which we grew up. Because she forgets that the house was sold, each visit causes her to relive the shock of seeing people living in her house. Each time, my eyes well up as I watch her tears roll down her face. Each time, I am reminded of that ache that comes to a heart after loss and the guilt compounds.

It is the same when she passes the location of the family business. She sees strange cars there and she insists on stopping. As I try to explain that our older sister had to sell the “plant” and that we cannot stop, she asks, “Why not?”. She wants to go inside and sit at the desk that was once hers.

She tries to hide the tears and frustration, but lately, she cannot contain her disappointment or her anger and fear.

Her bewilderment at the changes in her life only exacerbates the cloudiness of mind that dementia brings. Dan’s death, the sale of the home place and the business, each one would be hard for her to process, but now, she must try to work through these great losses as she struggles to remember the most simple things.

Where she once was independent in caring for herself and her personal needs, now she requires supervision and encouragement to stay on the smallest of tasks. As she roams from room to room, she knows that something is wrong. She shakes her head and says, ” my brain…” or she will sit on the couch and blankly stare and say, ” what’s going on?”

I didn’t take her to the family Thanksgiving dinner today. In the last few weeks,  an uncle and an aunt  were diagnosed with cancer. I knew that, during the dinner, my sister would learn of their illnesses and she would become hysterical.

When my sister hears the word cancer, she  immediately starts to cry, then sob, then wail…loudly. To her, cancer and death are synonymous. Our mother died of cancer, Dan died of cancer and so many others in our family have succumbed to this terrible disease. In my sister’s mind, Cancer=Death.

Her display of raw grief is hard to watch. Because the diagnosis for our aunt and uncle is so recent, I didn’t want my sister’s sobs to add more emotional stress on my afflicted uncle and aunt. My sister cries so hard that small capillaries will break in her face.

 All of this takes a great toll on my sister, on me, and on the staff at the group home. After the visits home, my sister’s behavior is becoming more difficult for the staff as she acts out her anger over  the uncontrollable events of her life.

Call me a coward, but I couldn’t emotionally handle the nakedness of my sister’s expression of grief. I am not strong enough to help her process the natural question of “Why?”. The depth of her losses is so much greater than mine…and I wonder how, or even if, my sister’s grief can be managed as her own ending is approaching.

Thankfully, she forgot that today was Thanksgiving and I cowardly chose to avoid the pain instead of walking through it. Instead, we ate at the local Cracker Barrel. While we were eating, I realized that she didn’t remember having dinner at this restaurant the night before with our older sister. Her short-term memory has worsened since her last visit four weeks ago.

As the holiday season descends on us, it feels like a dark cloud that must be endured rather than celebrated. I can redirect my thinking, but my sister can’t. My sister is lost in this fog and I know that her time here on this earth is ending.

I cannot remember how it  feels to be ”merry” or “happy” anymore. These days are a continuing reminder that the world as my sister and I knew it has ended….and her ending  is fast approaching .

I suppose I must discover a way to gain through loosing. It is such a confusing concept, yet it is the only way to walk out of these shadows. I just wish I knew where to begin walking through this loss. Maybe, I need to look for A Star to guide me.

Got a weird gutfeeling today, I hate when that happens but Im not even gonna write why because then I´ll just think about it more.

Gotta fill my mind with good thoughts again!

This evening I attended my schools OpenHouse and spoke to plenty of younglings, telling about the media course and the school itself, which was very fun
I was actually supposed to stand by a table and talk about the studentcouncil but nobody was interested so…I decided to walk around instead, which was so much more worth it.
Sometimes it feels really cool being a senior student; everybody looks up to you and you feel very old and wise
Plus girl love seniors, right?
Nobody likes me, but thats the way it should be.
However, school here in Sweden is nothing like highschool in for example the states; no highschool musical or american pie, though it would be fun if it was like that.

So guys, before we graduate this year; we gotta fuck every girl of the alphabet in the school!
-Alright, just gotta find that X!

That’d be sweet XD

But really though, sometimes you just gotta sit down and relax when you are feeling your worst, like I did today when i got that bad feeling in my stomach.
Meditation around why you are feeling bad, on reason and reality is among the best you can do.
When you realize that in reality, nothing is constant, no feeling about worldy things last forever, because the world does not last forever.
In reality, what does small things matter after a while? We have to realize that life goes on and changes, we have to realize that the past is the past and should be left as such, if we really want to move on.
We shouldnt ponder about the past, do something about it rather then, than whine about it and letting it drag you down emotionally.
Think forward, not back.
Dont get stuck in the moment, live for tomorrow.

Learn to let go of what you are most afraid of losing, to find peace.
-Almost there.

It’s been one year now since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.  This is the time to give prayers and offer a candle-light for the victims of that attack.  As we all know that their family is experiencing sadness in their heart every time they thought of it.   

I also offered a candle light for the many people who lost their life.  Let’s all give them the sympathy and hope.

May God’s promise of eternal life, comfort for them and for their family in sorrow.

They didn’t say it’ll happen today

They didn’t say that it was ok

They just told me it’ll end some day

They just told me: Wait for Bloody Sunday!

I hate it all, I hate them all, it’s true!

They told me that I should wait for their signs

They said I should listen to their sighs

But they didn’t let me learn the lines

And they didn’t even show mw those signs.

I am waiting, we are all waiting for…

They told me that there were just 3 of them.

They told me that there were only THEM.

No.

I don’t blieve them anymore.

I’m scared.

I am afraid.

And I am alone.

Have you ever been alone?

Did you ever think of dying?

Alone?

Let us leave this life.

Let us live Our lives.

Why am I doing this?

Hm.

All you need to stay alive in this world is money

And I don’t have any.

Most of us don’t have money.

What poor people have is cancer, aids, syndromes, hunger, faith and love.

And these previous two: Don’t you dare take the away from them.

Don’t you dare judge them any time.

Don’t you dare…

Kill.

Them. Us.

Leave us alone…

Liars…

The Lady wept.
She let out screams
that could not be heard
above the roaring hoards
that had invaded
her wilderness.

The Lady wept.
Her reflection quivered
on the surface, calm
as time slowly dripped,
her past life tripped
through acidic forests.

The Lady wept.
The air filled with fumes
like smokers rooms
Once undiscovered,
now silently smothered
in paradise lost.

The Lady wept.
Her tears filled the lake
dissolved the fears
of unborn years
The people stopped to think
To drink the holy water
Overcome with sorrow

The people wept
For Our Lady of Tomorrow.

D.Hinson

It was just a piece of junk. What was I suppose to do with this rubbish? All it did productively was sit in the garage and collect rust and dust. That is how I felt about that little red toy car. It brought back good memories but attached were sharp thorns that took away the bright colors. This all had to do with the accident. The moment the car collided with my wife and daughter. It completely changed everything.

The house was a silent as the wind blowing through the desert. As empty as a black hole sucking up empty matter in space. How can so much pain be brought upon one person? Never would I have imagined this to happen to me. Never had I told my daughter I love her. Rarely, had I told my wife I cherish her.

I would sit fixated on the couch thinking back to the distinct laughter of my sweet little girl with blonde curls chasing my wife outside near the apple tree. The twisted memory was just too much. It overwhelmed me and I had to quit my job. The motivation to drive around delivering mail to others was just too much to handle. I felt as if my purpose in life had just ceased to exist.

That was all before Chuck came along. I was out gardening when my old friend asked how a man could gain so much weight in just a year and that I looked like a beached whale. This was far from the truth since I had always been tall and thin but even more so since food was something I forced myself to do. I gave him a nod and said, “So what brings you over here Chuck. I thought you were living in Texas.” He simply replied, “Well things just didn’t work out down there but I was in the area and thought I would just give you a helping hand with whatever you needed for the day.”

This was the first person who had truly made an effort to help since the accident. I wasn’t even sure if he knew. At that moment, I felt some weight be released from my shoulders. I replied, “Well, I’m working on digging a ditch for irrigation that I could probably use some help with.”

That is how it started. Chuck continued to help me with projects and with moving on. He helped me get through the sorrow by frequently lending a helping hand and by his supportive demeanor.
I will never be able to completely leave that past behind but I am back to work and able to find motivation in living everyday. I see the color again. By letting go of the hurt, I was able to move forward.

“The Lord said, ‘I will hasten my work in its time’ (D&C 88:73). Surely anyone observing the recent growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is keenly aware of that hastening process. This should make us humbly grateful for the Lord’s omnipotent hand. Obstacles that seemed insurmountable have proven to be merely challenges for the faithful, for ‘with God nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37). “Inspiration has prepared the way from the beginning, when the Lord impressed the Prophet Joseph Smith to compose the twelfth article of faith: ‘We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.’ This inspired statement was surely written for our day. The Prophet knew that the gospel was ultimately to be taken to all nations regardless of their governmental differences. He knew that the ordinances of salvation and exaltation could bless the lives of people regardless of their politics. And he knew that people who were taught correct principles and who were loyal to their civil leaders and observing of their local laws would be most able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson

I would prefer to be in mallorca in this very moment, but unfortunately I am just a bit dejected Mamma Partille – welcome to the suburban lifestyle AND it is just so pouring rain over Southern Sweden today:-/ there are days oneself can feel himself/herself very little and sometimes life kind a goes down in minor key.. probably my ego will be big&happyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy tomorrow again though:-) xoxoxoxoxo

Over the last few weeks it had begun to dawn on me something in my more-or-less-spit-new-laptop was not as it should be. It was baulking at tasks, taking far too long to kick into operation. Turns out the hard drive was on the blink and on Wednesday it keeled over and died. Much help from son-in-law-to-be and I got the details I needed and reported the failure of this under-warranty device to HP, who manufactured it. More phone calls, more ‘if it is a gobble-de-gook, choose button five’ and eventually the promise of a new hard drive.

Realisation that I had only backed up some of the stuff I wanted and frantic trips to Kilmarnock to the computer shop, where they did managed to get everything accessible, but at cost of selling me some kind of external drive. I already have one (though had not used it as much as I should have – fear nothing however, the book was fully backed up)

I was promised the HD on Saturday – it arrived late Tuesday, and on putting it in, it returned yet more error messages. Turns out they should also have sent disks with the OS on them. These will now come from France. They will come in two weeks time.

Meanwhile I dragged out my old lap top. It struggles. It has no card reader, so I will need to search for my camera cables – dear knows where I put them! – It really struggles with ebay which I need for present buying. Its keyboard is faulty, and I need to keep checking it has actually delivered the message I typed, which would be easier if I was not dyslexic.

I do realise this is not a proper blog post – it is a frustrated wail. Still, at least now you know.

So apologies and I will post something more interesting and less exasperated tomorrow.

“There’s a hole in the world now … A center, like no other, of memory and hope and knowledge and affection which once inhabited this earth is gone. Only a gap remains. A perspective in this world unique in this world which once moved about in this world has been rubbed out … There’s nobody who saw just what he saw, knows what he knew, remembers what he remembered, loves what he loved … Questions I have can never now get answers. The world is emptier.”

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament of a Son

verfasst von Joe

Wenn man im Bus oder im Zug sitzt, auf etwas wartet, oder gerade auf dem Heimweg ist, dann ist die beste Möglichkeit, Zeit totzuschlagen eindeutig Gaming. Wenn man dann noch seine liebsten Retro-Titel unterwegs zocken kann, dann fängt der Spaß erst so richtig an. Ich liste euch heute ein paar meiner Retro to go Games auf.

Dragonball Z Buu's Fury

Mein erster Tip ist gleichzeitig ein Geheimtipp. Mit Dragonball Z Buu’s Fury ist nämlich eines meiner liebsten GBA Spiele erschienen. Das tolle Action Kampfsystem mit den Rollenspielelementen und der Dragonball Saga rund um Buu macht diesen Titel für mich zu einen wirklichen Hit. Ich habe viel Zeit mit diesem Titel verbracht, auch nach dem Story Ending war es spaßig, die Charaktere hochzuleveln, die Welten noch ein bisschen zu erforschen und neue Fertigkeiten zu lernen. Sehr cool: Man kann zwischen allen Dragonball Z Charakteren, die in diesem Teil der Saga tätig sind, spielen und wechseln nach Lust und Laune.

Final Fantasy IV Advance

Ein weiteres Rollenspiel darf hier in diesem Artikel dabei sein. Dabei handelt es sich um Final Fantasy IV Advance, welches ich schon seit SNES Zeiten gut kenne. Damals hat mich das Spiel schon begeistert, heute laufe ich noch gerne mit dem Gameboy Advance herum und spiel den Teil. Busfahrten werden so nie langweilig und auch der ein oder andere Sitznachbar ist sofort still und schaut gespannt auf dem Bildschirm um die sofort ergreifende Story mitzubekommen, oder die toll gemachten Kämpfe mitzuverfolgen.

Klar, es gibt noch viele andere Final Fantasy’s auf dem GBA, aber die müssen nicht alle genannt werden. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance etc. sind alles wirklich gute Titel, aber das hier ist einfach das beste Handheld Game der Reihe!

Mega Drive Collection (PSP)

Um auch eine gelungene Collection zu erwähnen, bringen wir diese mit ein. Schon allein die zwei Phantasy Stars (II und IV) berechtigen den Kauf dieser Collection allemal. Die anderen Titel sind auch wirklich gut. Wer mehr Info’s zu den einzelnen Titeln will, sollte einfach auf Amazon nachschauen…

Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow

Auf sämtlichen Handhelds ist Castlevania nun schon erschienen, aber auf keinem konnte es mich mehr überzeugen. Aria of Sorrow ist eines der wenigen Titel, dass die Elemente von Videospielen so gut verbindet wie sonst. Die RPG Elemente und das gut umgesetzte Metroidvania Prinzip, sowie die Liebe zum Detail seitens Konami machen den Titel unheimlich gut. Man spielt ausnahmsweise keinen Belmont und peitscht auch nicht in der Gegend herum, stattdessen sammelt man verschiedene Waffen und Seelen und läuft im Schloss von Graf Drakula umher, besiegt gigantische Bossgegner und erkundet die Umgebung.

Meiner Meinung nach eignet dieser Teil sich sowohl für lange als auch für kurze Sessions, da man jederzeit in Speicherräumen sein Spiel absichern kann, jedoch auch einfach fortfahren kann.

The Legend of Zelda - The Minish Cap

Schade dass ich Minish Cap erst jetzt nachhole. Denn hätte ich dieses Zelda Abenteuer früher gekannt, wäre ich wohl öfter mit dem früheren Bus gefahren,  um dann vor der Schule sitzend Zelda zu spielen. Stattdessen darf ich jetzt daheim spielen, weil ansonsten keine Zeit für das langwierige Adventure bleibt.

Ich habe übrigens bewusst zu Minish Cap gegriffen, da mir dieser Teil von den Handheld Zelda’s am besten gefallen hat, neben Phantom Hourglass. Aber Phantom Hourglass ist noch kein Retro Game, von daher…

Pokémon - Silberne Edition

Diese Videospielreihe prägte mein Leben als Gamer. Dank ihr spiele ich jetzt Rollenspiele, durch sie hab’ ich lesen gelernt und mit ihr gehe ich gerne auch heute noch aus dem Haus. Zwar nehme ich, um nicht mit dem klobigen Kultklumpen Gameboy aufzufallen, lieber meinen GBA mit, allerdings kann es schon oft passieren, dass genau dieses Spiel im Slot steckt. Die unheilmich gute Spielmechanik packt einen unheimlich gut, man kann allerdings auch jederzeit speichern und dann ausschalten.

Wer mehr über die Pokémon Reihe in Erfahrung bringen möchte, kann sich auch gleich die Retro-Perspektive dazu durchlesen. Hier hat Edgar mit mir über die gesamte Pokémon Reihe gechattet und wir konnten neben hilfreichen Details auch einiges an Material und Zusatzwissen bieten.

Hier zur Retro-Perspektive!

Jetzt seid ihr an der Reihe, was sind eure Lieblingsspiele für Handhelds? Wo und wann spielt ihr? Postet eure Geschichten einfach in die Comments!

2 Corinthians 6:10

As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

As we enter this week of “Thanksgiving” we want to look at things that we can be thankful for.  In 2 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul is talking about the things that he has suffered through and endured in his ministry.  We see his mindset as he continues to look on spiritual things and not physical circumstances.  The things going on in his life, he could feel sorry for himself and ask the question “why me?” but instead he is rejoicing.  What is he rejoicing in, is it the sufferings that he is enduring?  No, Paul is rejoicing in who and what he has in Christ, not thinking of physical things but spiritual.  Then Paul tells us that he is poor not having anything, we know this because he had to work and make tents for a living.  Paul was not in the ministry for money but for helping others as he tells us when he says that he is making many rich.  This is not physically but spiritually by edifying one another so that he can present them perfect in Christ Jesus.  Paul doesn’t have any earthly things but still he possesses all things, how is this?  Because the things that he is possessing are again the things that he has in the Lord Jesus Christ as an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ.

Rejoicing in Grace,

Keith

2 Cor 5:14-15

www.richeofgrace.com