Another Country, Part II

I started this as a response to Julie's comment on the last post, but it grew until it just seemed smarter to create a whole new post for it.  So here you go.  Visiting the Christian Book Store, Part II.


I try to keep my snarky opinions to myself in these situations, because as much as I think this stuff is ridiculous, the rest of my family has an honest interest in some of it.  (Not the more junky stuff that I made fun of here, but the books, music, and movies are of definite interest to the fam.  My brother and SIL stood around giggling with me at some of the more out there product offerings, so it's not like they hold the scripture covered lolly pops as sacred or anything.)  They've all been amazingly good about not pressuring me to attend church.  I don't want to repay that with even the appearance of ridiculing their beliefs.

Underneath all the eye rolling, I'm kind of disturbed by what stores like this represent.  Christian merchandising is a multi-million dollar enterprise, and to me it just feels really cynical and oily.  I can't shake the idea that the people who make and sell most of this stuff do it only because they know they can sell anything if they can find a way to make it "Christian."  And a whole group of people who are too young in age, too new in their faith, or just gullible are gobbling it up as fast as they can crank out some new piece of crap.

I know that there are New Age stores doing much the same thing.  It's not restricted to the Christian market.  And maybe I'm letting my prejudices show here.  But it just seems so much more overwhelming in the Christian community.  Did you know that churches, especially mega churches (Texas is the land of the mega church, so I have some unfortunate experience of this), have gift shops now.  You can get mugs or tshirts or bottled water with the church's name and logo on them.  And signed copies of the minister's latest book.

The prices on all this stuff are outrageous, too.  My parents joined a Bible study at church, and although there are three Bibles on the bookshelf in the living room right now, none of them are the translation they needed, and they have a couple of expensive study Bibles still packed somewhere, but who knows where they are?  So Mom went to a different Christian store last week and bought two more Bibles, one for each of them.  She lucked out and the store had some on clearance.  She got two copies at 50% off.  She still paid $50 for the pair.  That means each Bible was originally priced at $50.  That's a lotta moolah for a book that's been in print for hundreds of years and could be downloaded as a free ebook from Amazon.  (That's not a judgement on how they choose to spend their money.  That's outrage at greedy publishers and store owners who choose to ask that kind of money.)

I know I made fun of all of this yesterday, but it just makes me sick when I see people being taken advantage of in the name of faith.  I know there are other things my parents could have done with that $50, but they felt they had to spend that money to participate fully in their faith.  The lady in line ahead of me at the store last night bought $90 worth of stuff.  I honestly have no idea what she bought, I was busy goofing off with my brother and SIL at that point and just happened to hear the cashier give her the total.  But she definitely looked like she could have put that $90 elsewhere.  Like maybe shampoo.  (Not that I have a lot of room to talk.  I woke up this morning looking like Helena Bonham Carter at the Golden Globes.)  Again, I'm not judging anyone's choice in how they spend their money.  I'm mad at the church culture that pressures people to have these books to participate in their religion, and the stores and publishers that set the prices so high, knowing that there are people who will pay their prices no matter what.

Are those supposed to be dreads or what?

My visit to a foreign land

Today I went out to dinner with my parents and brother and sister-in-law.  But before we went to the restaurant, my SIL had coupons that were about to expire for a local Christian store.  I didn't burst into flames upon crossing the threshold of the store, so I decided to look around a bit and report what I saw.

First of all, let me just say, there is a lot of Christian crap out there.  There were a million books, including Christian weight loss and Sarah Palin's latest.  My dad picked up a copy of George W's book, and I was a very good girl.  I didn't once stick my finger down my throat and make gagging noises, even though I wanted to.

There were CDs and DVDs.  There were wall hangings and statues and tchotchkes of all kinds.  They had cards, which wasn't surprising, but they also had boxes of children's valentines.  They had gift bags with Christ-centered messages on them.  Children's toys.  I spotted a box of Bible Scrabble.  I'm not sure what the difference between that and regular Scrabble is.  Maybe the dirty words don't count, or the "no proper nouns" rule is waved and you get to use names from the Bible, like Habakkuk or Abednego.

What was most odd to me were the items that were trying to ape secular crazes.  Like Faith Bands- a Biblical version of silly bandz.  This dog tag amused me.  It says, "thelight", but the font used makes it look an awful lot like Twilight merchandising.

And this was quite possibly the weirdest item I spotted: 

It's the Solar Powered Praise Flower!  (The ones they sold had words like Love or Hope printed on the base, along with a scripture reference.)  These flowers sit on your desk or windowsill and just sort of... sway.  Bounce.  Cute, but kind of weird.  And other than the reference to the Bible verse, I'm not sure what makes it a Praise Flower as opposed to just a plain old flower.

So, that was my trip to the Christian bookstore.  Nothing caught fire, and I entertained myself by laughing (quietly, I hope) at all the odd things that people will buy if you slap a cross on it.

Things That Make Me Happy

There has been a dearth of happy in the world in the last week.  It certainly hasn't been sunshine and rainbows for me.  To me this means only one thing.  It's time to do another Things That Make Me Happy post.

1. Pancakes for dinner.  Especially if they're apple pancakes!
2. My library already has a hold list going for the audio version of The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen.  Woo hoo!  I love Sarah Addison Allen, and I can't wait for her next book.
3. Farkle is on it's way out!  I won't share any of the gory details, but I will say I'm relieved to see progress.
4. Sunday Morning!  It's quiet, and I have the house all to myself.  I forward to these hours every week.  I'm dealing with the change in living situation fairly well, I think, but I desperately need these few hours by myself every week.
5. Trouble.  He's a little twerp, but I love him like crazy.

Do you ever just feel like a nap?

I took a 3 hour nap one morning this week.  (When your life is one big sick day, you can do those sorts of things.)  It would be lovely to do it again today.  I had a hard time sleeping last night, and when that happens I know I'm going to hurt the next day.  And I do.

But here's the thing-- even those of us whose lives are one big sick day have to leave the house and do stuff occasionally.  On Monday I went to the doctor, and she filled out a bunch of paperwork to get some of my meds for free (hopefully) from the manufacturers.  Everything is all signed and ready to go; I just have to go somewhere to fax it.  We've had snow and bad weather for most of this week, plus I was recovering from Monday, so today is the first day we've had a chance to do it.

I just had a brainwave.  What if, instead of dragging myself out of the house every time I need to fax something (which is fairly regularly), I just BOUGHT A FAX MACHINE.  Between all my medical crap, and Dad's retirement crap, and Mom's Mary Kay crap, I think we can justify the expense.  I tell you what.  I may be a little slow on the uptake these days (shut up), but when inspiration strikes, it really strikes!

Anyway, back to the original topic of this post.  What was it again?  Um, I talked about napping....  I forget what my point was.  (I do this often, which is why there are many posts marked "draft" compared to what's actually posted.)

I'm going to the grocery store with Mom in a little bit.  I want to poke around and put things in the cart that I want.  Just asking for a particular brand of whatever isn't good enough.  Mom and Dad like to talk about when I was little, and I'd constantly say, "I do it myselpst!"  (That's "myself" for those who don't read 2 yr old.)  There's been surprisingly little change in that department in the last 34 years.  I hurt, and I'd really rather stay home in bed.  But the weather is supposed to turn foul again tomorrow, and this may be my last chance to go out for a few days.  And I want to do it myselpst.

I'm off to research fax machines now.  And then later, after I've had my excursion, I think I'll take a nap.

It's a Sign

This video cheered me up immensely.

 Also, the doctor's appointment went well.  Antibiotics, but no lancing for now.  I've named my abscess Farkle.  Anything that big really ought to have it's own name.

Off My Game

I'm feeling weepy and out of whack today.  Too much news, too much misery, not enough sleep.  Troubbie the Wonder Cat woke me up at quarter to six this morning wanting to be fed.  (Yes, he's still alive.)  I have a doctor's appointment this morning, and I have something I'm scared to show her.  Think it's an abscess that will need to be lanced, possibly requiring minor surgery and costing a million dollars.  The book I've been reading, The Awakening by L.J. Smith, is angsty and depressing.  Only 50 pages or so to left, and I don't want to go there today.

So what should I read?  I'm seriously considering breaking my self-imposed book buying moratorium and downloading a book for the Kindle.  What do you suggest?  Something happy happy, please.

The Accidental Altar

I was unpacking a box of tchotchkes a couple of weeks ago, and I ended up arranging my favorites on the only empty flat surface in my entire room-- my dresser.  It wasn't until a few days later that I realized that it's got the vibe of an altar.

Starting at the top left, there is a picture of my brother and sister-in-law.  (I fuzzed out their faces because I don't have their permission to post a picture of them on the internet.  As far as I know, they don't even know I have this blog.)  In the middle is Flower Annie, my Wee Peeple doll, made by the wonderful Kandra Niagra.  Isn't she beautiful?  I love Wee Peeple dolls.  They have such personality and energy.

Next to Annie is a drawing I made when I was about 10.  We'd just moved to Texas for the first time, and it was the Sesquicentennial.  (150 years of Texas statehood.)  I was the new Yankee girl, but they liked it so much that it was framed and posted in the hall at my middle school for years.  I'm not sure how my parents got a hold of it, but they put it on the wall in the yellow guest bedroom in Massachusetts (which was briefly my bedroom).  I think because the frame is yellow, so it matched the room.

Coming around the corner, there is a little pixie box I've had since I was a little girl.  It's sitting in a wooden bowl that my dad carved.  I'm not sure why it's sitting in the bowl, but when I took it out it didn't look right to me, so back in it went.  Next to the pixie box is a large shell I got once on a trip to the beach in Galveston.  The beach is kind of a special place to me.  (I'm a Scorpio.  That's a water sign, so I guess that makes sense.)    I always feel more relaxed at the beach.  Like I can exhale.  All my muscles unknot and I sleep better.  If I ever win the lottery I'm buying a house on the beach.

In front of the pixie box there's a crystal that I love.  When I did have an official altar I used it to represent the energy of the God.  There's also a pretty little shell that I found once walking on the beach.  In the bottom right corner is a little dish given to me by a friend.  She used to read cards at the Texas Renaissance Festival, and she used the dish as a tip jar.  I know you can't tell from the picture, but it has suns and moons and stars all around the edge.  In the dish is the fortune I got in my fortune cookie when we had Chinese food New Year's Eve.  It says, "A new romance is in the future."  I'd say that's pretty accurate, since a romance novel that I'd pre-ordered downloaded to my Kindle on January 1st.

Next to the bowl is a plastic canvas coaster I made for my parents.  Their living room in Massachusetts was painted barn red and tan, with black accents.  I made about a dozen of them in different quilt block designs, and I made that one, with a black cat on it, to represent my cat, Trouble.  Mom and Dad love him to bits, and Mom calls him her grandson, so I thought they'd like it.  I stole that one in Massachusetts so that I had something to put my sweating drinks on in my bedroom.  Somehow it never got put back with the rest of the coasters when we packed.

In the center, in front of Flower Annie, is a little frame that used to sit on my grandfather's nightstand.  On the left side there's a picture of my mom as a little girl in her Girl Scout uniform.  (You can't really see it because of the glare.)  We looked so much alike at that age, that I asked my granddad once when that picture was taken, because I didn't remember doing it.  I thought it was me.  There used to be a little picture of her brother, my Uncle George, tucked in there, too, but it slipped out.  It's probably still in the box the frame was packed in for the move.  I need to look around for it, because I don't want to lose it.  On the other side is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather.  I can see that picture from my bed, and it makes me happy to be able to look at them.

In front of the frame is my mascot, Super Becky.  When I was a freshman in college I went into a Hallmark store around Halloween, and I spotted these cute little miniatures.  My roommate and best friend is a huge fan of dragons, and I found a puppy in a dragon costume for her.  For me I found a bunny in a super hero costume, with a capital B on his chest.  I immediately knew his name was Super Becky.  (Don't ask me why Super Becky is male.  It makes no sense.  But it is what it is.)  I don't know how I managed to hang on to Super Becky for almost 20 years now without losing him.  As you can see, he's pretty small.  But I have.

Moving on to the left, there's a pretty little porcelain box that I got as a favor at a birthday party when I was in elementary school.  It's got a butterfly on top and my name written in liquid gold on the front.  I always thought it was the coolest thing.  Next to that there is an old-style Weeble Wobble.  I was at my grandparents house one day, and I decided to give it to Grandmom.  She was so touched that I gave her one of my toys that she kept it forever after on display in her china cabinet with all her other treasures.  I never had the heart to tell her that my 5 year-old self decided that he was the grumpy one, and I didn't want him any more.  It kind of makes me laugh now.  I still think of him as the grumpy one!

The stack of stones in the bottom left corner is something that my brother collected.  I'm not sure why I kept them (I found them on the bookshelf in my room in Massachusetts), but they seem to fit there.  Behind the stones is a little angel that Mom used to put out as a Christmas decoration in my room every year.  I loved to play with her.  One year I kept her, and she lived on a shelf in my apartment in Houston.

Behind the angel is another item that was always on display at my grandmother's house.  I think I mentioned a while back that she was a professional church soloist in Philadelphia.  As you may be able to tell from the little photo that lived on my grandfather's nightstand, Grandmom was also a sizable woman.  This figure looked so much like her that her coworkers gave it to her as a gift when she retired.  I love having this little piece of my grandmother on my dresser.

And the last figure is pretty well obscured by glare, but she is the little statue I used to represent Goddess on my altar.  Here is a site that has a picture of the collection she came from.  The name of the figure is Devotion, and she's just about exactly in the center of the page.  You may notice that the whole collection is a bit, um, Georgia O'Keefe, but I like them.  You can't see it, but there's another little shell at her feet.

And that is my accidental altar.  Little bits and pieces of family and history and places that are important to me.