Dinesh D'Souza's "America" is a Remarkable Achievement

I finally watched Dinesh D'Souza's America, and I was really blown away.  Now, I should probably mention here that I'm not new to the work of Mr. D'Souza, but nothing before of his has really come close to What's So Great About Christianity for me.  It's not that I didn't like his other works, but they were hard for me to get into the same way that I entered into that earlier work of his, but  "America" changed all that.

This is a remarkable movie, and its content is shockingly persuasive.  It's like a breath of fresh air from the current idiocy of the political scene in the United States.  He first examines a series of "indictments" against our nation--from the likes of Howard Zinn to Ward Churchill--then proceeds to systematically destroy their anti-American claims with logic, history, and a strong dose of common sense.  It's powerful, and it's unlike any documentary I've seen before.

The emphasis on exposing the attempted rewrite by the left of our nation's history is particularly eye-opening.  I knew the allegations were wrong, but Dinesh D'Souza has a gift for exposing just how ridiculous they are.  Into the mix, he shows the viewer the context of the situation in a new and powerful way.  For instance, he points out that prior to the Civil War, more than three thousand black plantation owners owned ten thousand slaves and were strong supporters of the Confederacy themselves.  Mr. D'Souza exposes the evil of slavery from a different perspective as well: "stealing labor and stealing lives."

As a guy who entered the state political scene briefly about a year ago, it's been incredibly disheartening watching the news of riots and racial tensions across the United State these past few weeks.  It's even more distressing that the protesting sheep are unable to discern who their shepherds are.  The mainline media is simply fanning the flames of division and stupidity once again.  Documentaries like this one are an excellent reminder that sanity remains strong with many still.  It's also an encouragement to re-enter the fray and do all that we can to fight for this country's future.  I urge you to buy or rent this movie today!  (Trailer link below.)

Speaking of these cultural distractions, here's some related food for thought.  We need more purveyors of common sense like this.  I hope you will add your voice to the demand for a return to santity in our nation.  After all, it all starts in the home.

                                          

Karl's Famous Pretzels (Encore Post)

I’ve been perfecting this recipe for several years now, and I think you will enjoy it. One word of advice is not to skip the quick immersion in the boiling water! This step makes all the difference in their final texture, creating pretzels that are moist yet crisp. I don't go into a lot of detail here about forming the pretzels, but just do your best. It takes a little practice. Even if they look odd, they should still taste great!

Ingredients and Preparation

1 1/4 cup water or beer (1/4 cup of warm water for the yeast)

3 cups bread flour

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

about 1 1/2 tsp of dry yeast

2 tbsp softened butter (optional)

1-4 tbsp of sourdough sponge

1 or two beaten eggs

course salt

sesame seeds

1/2 stick of butter

Activate the yeast separately by adding it to the water and sugar. If you have a bread machine, try using this to prepare and knead the dough. (It helps if you add the water first.) If it’s too large a batch for the machine, try cutting the recipe in half. Otherwise, prepare the dough as you would for an ordinary loaf of homemade bread.

Neither the butter nor the sourdough is a required ingredient, but I think both help make a better finished product. The sourdough enhances the depth and richness of flavor. The butter not only improves both the texture and flavor, but it also might help slightly when it comes time to form the pretzels. (You may also want to try adding one tablespoon corn meal and letting the bread "rest" before rising.  Also, cooking sprays work well on one's hands.)

Watch the dough’s progress in the bread machine (or food processor) carefully. It often requires a little fine-tuning with additional water and/or flour in order to achieve a proper ball of dough. You will want the dough to rise for several hours, and, depending on the size and habits of your bread machine, you may decide to transfer before long to a bread pan inside a barely heated oven and cover with a moist towel. (I pre-heat to a couple hundred degrees, put the bread in, then turn off the oven.) As an alternative, you may also want to form the pretzels now, then place in the oven under the towel to rise.  

HINTS: Another alternative, recommended by my daughter, is to roll the dough into eight-inch ropes and let those rise before later forming the pretzels.  You may also find it helpful to roll the pretzles on a floured cutting board.

When it looks like it’s done rising, it’s time to get everything else ready. Beat your eggs for the wash and set aside. Get a deep pan and fill it halfway with water and bring it to a boil. Begin forming the pretzels by making eight-inch ropes. Once they're formed into their classic shape, carefully pick each up and dip in the boiling water for ten seconds before returning to the greased baking sheet.

When this step is complete and they’ve all had their hot bath, then brush the egg wash over each and season with the course salt and sesame seeds. Bake until lightly browned for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Enjoy with melted butter.

Some Quick Pretzel History

Pretzels are said to have had their origin in Europe in the 600s, and were used by monks to reward children for memorizing their prayers and studies. The History of Science and Technology, by Bryan Bunch and Alexander Hellemans, describe their invention by a monk "...as a reward to children who learn their prayers. He calls the strips of baked dough, folded to resemble arms crossing the chest, 'pretiola' ("little rewards")". Pretzels were also used as a teaching tool for the mysterious three-in-one nature of the Holy Trinity.

A Book Club Recommendation!

Book clubs are an exciting way to discover great mysteries with friends, and it's even better when authors can drop by to share insights or backstory details on what's being read.  If you are part of a a book club, I invite you to read my new mystery, The Blood Cries Out.  I know that you'd love the story, but it also raises some great topics for group discussion and dialogue.  There are many, many different potential conversations that could arise from reading my novel, but one of my favorite would be the discussion of the unique frontier history of the Pacific Northwest.  One great book concerning our area's tumultuous history--which pertains particularly well the sixth chapter of my novel--is Massacred for Gold, The Chinese in Hells Canyon.  What would you do, for instance, if you found gold that dated back to a tragic historical episode like the Snake River Massacre?  What should you do?

For a fascinating list of other topics related to my novel, just contact me.  From the importance of conveying an authentic sense of place in fiction to the nature of sin itself, there are many, many possibilities for fascinating conversations.  In addition...if you're in western Oregon, I'd love to drop by and talk about my book with you.  I can come with something prepared, entertain your questions, or just join you in a lively conversation about good books.  If you'd like to also discuss the arts, my wife might also be able to join us.  Who knows...maybe I could bring our Newfoundland, too.  :)

There are also unique packages available, if you'd like to be supplied with the books and supplemental materials.  Depending on your budgetary restrictions, I'm also willing to consider visits beyond the Pacific Northwest.  Just contact me for details.  

I look forward to hearing from you today! 

Chesterton is our 150 lb Newfoundland.

Is Suicide Murder?

I'm fortunate that suicide has only touched my life a handful of times.  When a colleague suffocated herself, I found that it helped in sorting out my thoughts and feelings on the matter to write a short story called "The Stars Within the Glass."  Admittedly, those thoughts and feelings can be a little overwhelming.  In 1998, a young woman named  Mora McGowan and her addict boyfriend hung themselves off of Portland's Steel Bridge.  I had known Mora and her sister in elementary school and junior high, and I'll never forget the child's happy, innocent smile or how much she loved to read good books.  If we try to look beyond the emotions, though, what is the morality of suicide?

If murder is indeed the intentional killing of a human being, then suicide seems to fit that description.  With the well-publicized suicides of Robin Williams and Oregon's Brittany Maynard, we need to take a close look at the minefield before us.  If we accept that suicide is a legitimate answer in only some situations--e.g. terminal illness--then we are, in effect, placing the pain of one group of people on a pedestal, discounting the pain of others as inferior.  This only makes it that much more abundantly clear that suicide is never the answer.

In other words, if you support a terminally ill patent's attempt to kill herself, why don't you also support the depressed teen or the mentally ill person who has a similar desire?  How about a disabled person who is tired of living with the pain of a severe disability?  You see, don't you, where this leads?  There is, frankly, no end to the people you might encourage in their planned suicide.  We all experience pain, after all.  If you pick and choose...you're placing the pain of one group of people above the pain of the other.  Your logic crumbles, and it exposes a black heart.  

As an aside, I'll offer a brief suggestion here.  Learn the histories and backgrounds of those organizations who fight for death.  Don't mistakenly assume they have society's best interest in mind, because they most assuredly do not.

Suicide, euthanasia, and abortion are all manifestations of a devaluation of life around us.  Life is not a commodity; it is a sacred gift.  We didn't create ourselves, and we didn't set our own hearts to beating.  Ending this life in suicide is throwing away the greatest gift we have.  Perseverance, hope, and prayer don't offer an immediate release, but, of course, neither does suicide.  Death is just the beginning of what's to come.

So, I ask you to stop glorifying and praising suicide as a "personal choice."  It's the wrong choice; it's a selfish choice, and it's murder.  For once, let's call it for what it is.  Instead, embrace life with thankfulness and endeavor to offer up the pain.
  


Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said “dignity is something other than putting an end to one’s own life,” when asked about Maynard’s decision to kill herself. Carrasco de Paula said “Brittany Maynard’s act is in itself reprehensible, but what happened in the consciousness we do not know.”

Courtesy LifeNews.com

Additional Links:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Suicide: Finding Hope

List of Organizations

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Don't Forget the Editor!

I hear a lot these days about the unfair  reputation of self-published authors.  Sadly, it seems many of these authors write their book, upload it to Amazon, and hit publish--all before seriously considering its editing.    

For those of us who may carefully try the self-published route, the authors who rush to press really aren't helping the marketplace situation.  It leads to the blanket refusal of some publications to even review our self-published works or to take them seriously.  This isn't some mysterious conspiracy of the big publishing houses--well, it might be that, too--it's primarily because of the dismal quality of some of the work that's easily found up on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  I've been contacted, for instance, by friendly and well-meaning authors for reviews only to find significant grammatical problems within their first page.  

I don't care if you have the best darn story idea since Hamlet, if you can't write a coherent sentence, then you...may need to stick with that day job--or hire a real editor.  Yes, it sounds harsh, but no one wants to read a stream of consciousness narrative without correct grammar or punctuation.  

So, what are some low cost ideas for dealing with the editorial challenge?  In the case of my most recent work, which was published through a hybrid press, I relied upon several approaches.  Beta readers were arguably the most important part, though.  I don't want a beta reader who thinks everything I write is a masterpiece; I want a critical and well-read reader who can spot my errors and give me sound advice.  In return, of course, I need to be thankful and courteous--even if the beta reader tells me the entire subplot needs to be mercilessly ripped out.  (This has actually happened to me.)

I think many of us have forgotten that even independent eBooks should be higher quality than a college freshman's English paper.  If we all want to be taken more seriously, then we need to hold our fellow authors to a higher standard.  If you write, take your content seriously!

   

Grab Some Free eBooks This Weekend!

Free eBooks through tomorrow night!  Just click on the book in order to visit that page.  Please note that the cover of the third title is not updating correctly, but the eBook should contain the updated contents today.

Enjoy!

An Interview of Kimberly Erickson

(Re-printed courtesy Catholic365.com.)

Twenty-four years ago, I married Kimberly Erickson in Dallas, Texas. Coming from a family where her father and grandfather are both successful artists, I knew she was artistic. Still, the breadth of her artistic range never ceases to amaze me.  She really has done it all in the past two decades: illustrations, water gilding, and, most recently, fused glass creations of vivid color and light. It’s her glasswork, though, that has really struck me the most.

I’m excited to share the following interview of my wife about her life, her art, and our family.

How did you make the transition from book illustrations to glass art?

Well, I’ve always loved to collect glass, so, when the opportunity came, I jumped in with both feet. As a newer Catholic, I had been looking for a holy water font to put on my wall, but I couldn’t find anything I liked. One day, I decided to try designing one myself. I drove to a shop that lets customers play around with glass and design your own creations. I was excited to finally work with glass, but my first two attempts were failures.

Soon, though, I was able to learn from my mistakes and try new approaches and techniques until I created a holy water font that I was truly excited about showing. When people saw it, they loved it, and the orders started coming in! 

What drives or influences you to create your art?

I have to do it. Something inside me seems to be missing unless it comes out in some form. I truly feel like God gave me this talent, and everything I am able to do is because of this grace.

We joined the Catholic Church in 2005 from a Protestant background. How has this enriched your artwork? 

It’s funny, but I haven’t thought of this before. Coming from a Free Methodist background, it’s really like I have been a given a new freedom. Free Methodists don’t believe in having statues or much artwork in their churches out of a fear that it could tempt people to worship the created over the Creator. Catholicism, on the other hand, thinks of art like a teacher who reminds and inspires us of God. As an artist, this makes more sense to me.

Since becoming Catholic, you could say that my art has bloomed. It began with me illustrating my husband’s two books for children (Toupee Mice and Tristan’s Travels), then I was asked to water gild a fifteen-foot reredos (frame) for Saint Peter’s Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. This project took a couple of years to complete, and it took every ounce of skill I had to accomplish it by myself. This felt like something I really did for God. There is something satisfying for a Christian artist when they are able to give what God gave them back to Him. It’s like a song praising God.

Your father, John Collier, is a great artist and sculptor, and he’s done many religious pieces around the country—and beyond. What lessons have you really learned from him?

I’ve learned an amazing amount from my father. It’s like having an amazing art teacher always available to answer your questions and tell you what you need to work on. It’s helped me make my art so much better. Most artists don’t like their art critiqued, but when you’re learning from someone as kind as my dad, the medicine goes down very easily. Art is something you learn by constantly doing.

What kind of symbolism do you use, and why do you use it?

Symbolism really takes a lot of study. As a new Catholic, I feel I am just beginning to learn this, so I use simple symbols usually: crosses, doves, or blue hues for the color of Mary. An artist is always learning, and I am definitely still a student.

What brings you the greatest joy as an artist?

When something turns out just like I imagined it. This is especially true with glass, since you never know until the last kilning.

How is it different to create in glass than upon a canvas?

For me, it’s being pushed into impressionism. I love impressionist work, but I am a bit of a perfectionist when asked to draw. Glass pieces are usually larger than a dot or a line on paper, and working with glass forces you to bring out colors or feelings more than that single line on an image. It’s more like a mosaic that plays with colors and conveys feelings.

 Do you feel the leading of God’s hand with regards to your art?

I do truly feel that God has helped me bring out my art. When I started trying to put together a studio for glass art, I was overwhelmed by how quickly it came together. Within a couple weeks, I had a kiln, glass supplies, tools, and a workspace all ready to go. I felt like God was really taking care of me. 

Besides holy water fonts, what other types of glass creations do you create?

I’ve also been creating bowls and plates, but it’s really up to what I feel like doing at the time. I’ve been playing around with some Christmas designs, but…we’ll just have to see what happens.

Where can people go to see more of your work?

I invite everyone to visit my online portfolio, and my paintings and glasswork are also on display at the Red Raven Gallery in Salem, Oregon.