The Realm of the Pachyderm

By Following the Savior's Example, We Can Improve Our Lives

Charlotte had come to a hard time in her life. She was filled with discontent. Everything seemed wrong: her friends were commonplace [1]; her home unattractive; her own personality unlovely, as she was well aware. The problem was too much for Charlotte [2].

To obtain help, Charlotte went to Margret Ames, a lady who was leading the kind of life that Charlotte wanted to lead. Charlotte poured out the story of her heartache over her frustrated, unhappy life. Margret, after a gentle word of sympathy, said, "You can change all that if you really have the will to do it."

To being the new life, Mrs. Ames suggested to Charlotte that she live for 24 hours as if Christ were right beside her, seeing everything she did. "Then come to me again, and we'll talk it over. Will you do that?"

Somewhat doubtful, Charlotte answered, "Yes, Mrs. Ames."

It was late afternoon when Charlotte went home. She knew that she was expected to help get the supper onto the table. She went to the drawer and took out a wrinkled table cloth [3]. When she spread it on the table, she noticed several soiled spots. And her she had her first thought of change.

"If Christ were going to eat with us, I wouldn't put on a soiled cloth," she said to herself.

She got a fresh cloth. And with the same thought, she brought in a small bowl of flowers from the yard [4]. She put the butter on a fresh plate instead of on the soiled one [5]. She cut the bread with care [6].

"Company tonight?" asked her father.

"Just you, Daddy," smiled Charlotte [7].

Her mother, worn and hot, sat down saying, "I don't know what's got into her to fix up so just for us. I suppose she's expecting someone to drop in before we're done."

"I don't know of anyone I'd rather fix things up for than our own folks, [8]" she said.

The family simply stared for a minute [9]. That wasn't like Charlotte.

In the living room after dinner, Charlotte slipped a magazine out from the bottom of the pile and began to read [10]. She had brought the magazine home herself, and she kept it hidden [11]. After a few minutes, she put it down.

"I wouldn't be reading this if Christ were sitting where he could read with me," she thought. She carried it out and put it in the wastepaper bag [12].

The next day, Charlotte went to work again. She disliked her job very much.

"Christ beside me," she thought as she walked into the store. She said good morning smilingly to all she met. She was even able to solve problems with rude customers as she reminded herself of how she would act if Christ were beside her [13]. That evening she returned to Margret Ames' home to discuss the experiment.

"I tried it, Mrs. Ames, just as well as I could, and--well, it made everything different. I think I can see what you mean. Of course, it didn't change the things that are bothering me. I'm still poor [14], and can't go to school [15], and I live in an ugly house..."

"Ah, my dear! But you only started the seed-sowing 24 hours ago. Can you keep on as you've begun? You have the key word. It is Christ. Fretting doesn't change very much; but Christ does. Just remember to keep your daily walk very close to him."

"I'm going to do it," said Charlotte.

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[1] Beware, children, of being the commonplace friend. You will make the lives of your outstanding friends like Charlotte irrevocably miserable. You may even cause these model citizens to commit suicide because of your mediocrity.

[2] Poor Charlotte. Who knew watered-down teenage angst was so insurmountable? Throw a pebble into that girl's shoe, she'd call it quits and walk into a lake.

[3] Who keeps a wrinkled table cloth in a drawer? What kind of heinous family is this? And why didn't she think to get a fresh table cloth in the first place!?

[4] She thought it was a nice gesture--until her livid mother stormed in and raged at her for uprooting the family's only source of income: the prize-winning African violets that only bloom once a year.

[5] It's nice to know that some families keep a soiled plate around for the express purpose of putting butter on it.

[6] As opposed to the slaughter via machete she usually inflicted on the bread.

[7] Can you smile a sentence at someone? I didn't know it was physically possible, but hey, this is Outstanding Friend Charlotte we're talking about here...

[8] Grammatically incorrect AND creepy! Way to go, Charlotte!

[9] "WHO IS THIS MADWOMAN IN OUR DAUGHTER'S BODY?! THIS MENACE MUST BE STOPPED AT ONCE!"

[10] She resorts to reading at night because her commonplace friends just don't cut the mustard when it comes to partying. It's hard to tell who's more of a loser in this equation...

[11] Wow, she's hiding questionable reading material--right in the middle of her living room. Very slick.

[12] Geez, Charlotte, what kind of a magazine is this?!

[13] She resorted to actual customer service rather than threatening shoppers with a loaded Glock she keeps behind the counter at all times. "Buy some shoes and stop whining!"

[14] When did she mention poverty? I don't recall seeing this on the original list of woes.

[15] What is this, the Great Depression? Since when does she live in the Dust Bowl? Way to go, Mom and Dad. Your kid can't even go to school to be with her commonplace friends.

Basically, this story blew my mind when I was in YW an eon ago, and it continues to astound me still.

"Remember, it's the little things in life that will help us achieve our goals...like not being like Charlotte, for example."

1. An organized bookshelf tends to lead to an organized bedroom.
2. Chanter practice for the sake of chanter practice is nowhere near as satisfying as chanter practice for the sake of hearing yourself make music.
3. Some movies, regardless of the talent possessed by any member of the cast, are just that bad. Two excellent examples of this are "Till the Clouds Roll By" and "U Me Aur Hum".
   
4. Sushi is delicious. Not fishy at all, as a matter of fact.
5. Going back to your old high school after two years is WEIRD.
6. You will never get a man to fall in love with you unless you straighten your hair [hahaha].
7. The more dangerous the sport, the more fun you will have when you play it.
8. The best pie is the kind purchased 30 minutes before the store closes.
9. When visiting playgrounds covered with heinous graffiti, it's nice to know that the children are too young to read.
10. I'm pretty much useless on the telephone.
11. The words "race" and "gender" are not interchangeable when discussing future companions.
    
12. Glee never gets old.
13. Reactions to Adam losing American Idol are currently the funniest videos on the Internet.
14. "Grrrl" is officially in the dictionary.
15. My hair looks like I spent an hour on it when I really only threw it together in about five minutes.
16. Habanero jelly is THE BOMB.COM.
17. Some customers choose employees at F.Y.E. as their only human contact of the day.
18. I do NOT miss being 16 years old.
19. Rory Gilmore is extremely unintelligent when it comes to social interaction.
20. I'm having a really good summer.

Night, all!

P.S. Ok, I definitely passed judgment on "U Me Aur Hum" too quickly. This movie is amazing! It just pulled a Baz Luhrmann does "Australia" one on me. The first quarter pretty much blew, but the rest is fantastic!

P.P.S. I want to keep a running list of all the Bollywood/Hindi movies I've seen just so I can feel cultured. Let's see...

• Krrish
• Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
  
• Om Shanti Om
• Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...
• Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
• Black
• Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
• U Me Aur Hum
• Devdas

Wow, I thought it was more than that. Ah, well, alright. I'm starting Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna now, so that should be fun :]

The bulk of my Bollywood intake this summer has come via Youtube. While I'm eternally grateful for access to these movies FO' FREE, I've definitely been missing the clarity of picture and sound that accompanies the DVD experience. That being the case, I decided that it was time to take a trip to one of the local Hindi movie stores to rent me some take-home Indian visual goodness.

Fortunately, this desire to strike out into the unknown reaches of Laurel coincided nicely with a visit from Mizz Gypsy. We set out at about 2:30 with high spirits, plenty of catching up to do, and "fool-proof" directions from Google Maps. We were doing fabulously--until we got hung up with the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Once we'd turned around, we got back on track--until we couldn't find Morris Drive. Once we got on Morris, we found out that we couldn't get on Lafayette due to a LOCKED GATE. We turned around, took a right, and landed on Lafayette.

4:00 o'clock rolls around and we're STILL driving up and down Route 1 or whatever trying to find ANYTHING that looks Indian. We've spent almost two hours on this venture and we can't find the address! Finally, we saw a sign that said Eastern Bazaar. Figuring that was as close as we were going to get, we pulled in. It appeared in the form of a quaint Indian supermarket. Crossing our fingers, we went inside with the tremulous hope that a video store would also be inside--

EUREKA! A video store in the corner! We rush to the back of the store, excited that we finally finally FINALLY found this place--until we saw the sign on the door:

So, after two or so weeks of searching, I found a job. Massive amounts of celebration, right? Initially. I was hired at F.Y.E. as a Sales Associate. Because of my total elation at the prospect of gainful employment, I didn't ask for vocational particulars.

Alright, I know my last post was somewhat on the downery side, so I'm here to rectify my mopey mistake by updating everyone about how my life has taken a very happy turn for the better.

As I sit here posting, with my parents watching Gilmore Girls in the background [to wash out the taste of Bride Wars], I realize that the American cinema is in a dire spot. There are plenty of grand television shows still on the air, yet movies are definitely on the downswing. That being said, I'm SO glad I've turned my attention to the Hindi cinema, allowing me to revel in Bollywood and movies not [predominantly] in English. That being said...

Black. This was a wonderful film based on the life of Helen Keller. Now, before I get jumped all over for not watching The Miracle Worker, I've heard that it's an excellent movie. HOWEVER, we're focusing on this wonderful gem starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Muhkerjee. More or less, it's the story of Michelle McNally, a deaf and blind girl with exasperated parents who are this close to sending her to an asylum. Enter Mr. Sahai, a sign language teacher who specializes in working the deafblind. The movie chronicles their journey to not only communication and literacy, but an emergence from the darkness that threatened to crush Michelle entirely.

All in all, a fantastic movie.

Now, onto what's making my life great right now. On Friday, I had a job interview with Vector Marketing. Have I heard that VM, the advertising agency for Cutco cutlery, is a big scam? Yes. However, VM has only been accused of ripping off SALESPEOPLE, not receptionists. That being said, I applied for a receptionist position at the new office in Pasadena. Anyway, the interview went pretty well and I'll know whether or not I'm being offered the position tomorrow.

From here, one of two things could happen. If I receive a phone call, I could receive a 9-5 Monday through Friday job answering phones and such. If I should be left out to dry, then no worries! I have an interview set up with FYE for a cashier position just in case. In Laman's terms, I've got a couple of nibbles on the job line!

What else, what else, what else? Well, on Saturday, I got up at 5:30 to help my dad make pancakes for my stake's Youth Conference. It was mad fun...until I realized that I'd fallen asleep at three. I got home at about 11 and proceeded to sleep until four. I've been all kinds of off-kilter ever since. But, on the plus side, there's been excellent food floating around the past couple of days due to Bonstance's birthday and Mother's Day. Thanks, women.

OH OH OH, irony time! A couple of weeks ago, my dear friend Delusions asked me to babysit her children--on June 25th. Thinking that I couldn't possibly have anything planned so far ahead in the future, I wholeheartedly agreed. Fastforward to 20 minutes ago. I'm looking around Facebook when I see that one of my friends is going to see Owl City this summer. As a rather excitable fan of Owl City, I quickly found out where this blessed event would happen. What a miracle! It was going down at Sonar, a very easily accesible venue for my location. Feeling very pleased at the prospect of buying a $12 ticket, I checked the date--

June 25th. What are the odds? Oh well, I'll ask my friend to take tons of pictures.

Now, on that note, I take my leave. Have a great week!

Well, folks, I've been home for roughly two weeks. Before I came home, I imagined that I'd already have secured a job and would be considering how to best save for a set of bagpipes.

KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI

I'd heard about the first one a while ago from a few of my friends pre-Bollywood obsession. After seeing it, I have to say that I wasn't a big fan. Sure, it had both Shahrukh Khan AND Hrithik Roshan [with the added bonuses of Amitabh Bachchan, Kajol, AND Kareena Kapoor], along with a bundle of fun moments/dance numbers. But, as I was afraid of from the beginning, the story didn't resonate with me. Perhaps it's my Western upbringing, but this whole deal with "Lose your parents and you lose EVERYTHING!" just doesn't add up in my mind. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but if we ever somehow fell out, I don't think I'd spend every day choking back tears while avoiding huge pictures of them on my wall. Again, I know parental respect is way more emphasized in Eastern culture, which is probably why I didn't really get the movie, but all the same. Both the parents and the children were waaay too intense for my liking.

The second one proved to be a MUCH more positive experience. Grandma recommended this one, so I decided to give it a shot. After the fact, I learned that hordes of other people had seen it too--and for good reason. This movie is awesome. Admittedly, I was getting tired of the whole "Oh, hey, we're in college" thing in the beginning, but once it got to the romantic complications of the story, I was totally hooked. In my opinion, it was a perfect blend of East and West [except for a few moments when the Westernness of it all was just a little overwhelming]. Plus, we're talking SRK and Kajol in the 90's! Awesome stuff, my friends.

As I've probably mentioned, up next is either Lagaan or Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge again. Wooo.

Oh, something non-Bollywood related for a moment would be nice. I did back-to-back institute this week. On Tuesday, I went to my mom's class in Glen Burnie. We played Gatorball afterwards, which is pretty beast if you haven't tried it. Tonight took me to the mysteriously exotic land of College Park, where I hung out with Chrissy and some of my friends from last year. If I can somehow sustain gas money, I could be making this doubleplay a regular feature of my week.

On that note, it's almost three and I should be in bed. Have a lovely week everyone!

So, I found Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam last night on Youtube. I'd been wanting to watch it because a) Aishwarya Rai is the leading lady and b) Grandma found this awesome song called "Nimboodah", which happened to be in this particular flick.

As per usual when I watch these movies, I was wonderfully surprised. Sure, Salman Khan does overract somewhat when he's cranking out the tears, but that aside, I'm never quite ready for how much my heart gets wrenched around by these things! Honestly, if Hollywood were to produce anything like this, it would be complete and utter cheese [no pun intended]. But, for some inexplicable reason--well, maybe the dancing--these movies make me such an emotional mess! I get so attached to these characters and I'm willing to sit through three hours of mad hot Hindi mush just to see what happens. I love Bollywood!

Ok, so, the plot. Nandini [Aishwarya] is the daughter of a famous singer. Said singer has attracted the attention of a young musician named Sameer [Salman] who wants to learn the art of singing from the heart. Initially, Nandini hates Sameer because it's Diwali and she has to give up her festively decorated bedroom so that this roustabout guest will have a place to sleep. However, as is inevitable, they fall in love despite his bedroom stealing designs. Then, tragedy strikes, for when the time comes for Sameer to ask for Nandini's hand in marriage, her parents find out that they've been doing scandalous things like looking at each other and smiling for the past eight months. With that, he's thrown from the house and forced to swear to never see Nandini again.

Enter Vanraj [Ajay Devgan]. Actually, he'd seen Nandini earlier in the movie, but that's beside the point. Vanraj is the quiet sort of awkward lawyer type who wants to marry Nandini. Their parents check their horoscopes, see that they match, and set up the wedding immediately. Nandini, still completely hung up over Sameer, dazedly marries Vanraj. After a while of being married to a zombie, Vanraj eventually gets it that she's in love with someone else. Because he loves her so much, he decides to take her to Italy to be reunited with Sameer.

Will Nandini find Sameer? Can Vanraj let the woman of his dreams get away? Can two Indians who barely speak English make their way around the Italian [actually Hungarian] countryside without getting horribly and irrevocably lost? WATCH THE MOVIE AND FIND OUT, FOR PETE'S SAKE!

No, really, it's an awesome movie. I loved it. Next up on my list is probably Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham because I like to do everything Grandma does. Well, it'll either be that or Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge again because I'm a sucker for 90's Shahruhk Khan. Mmm, SRK, you stud.

OH, and I saw my high school's production of Annie last night. Let's just say that it made me very nostalgic for "The Golden Age" of Arundel Theatre that I consider the class of '07 to be the tail-end of. Ah, well, it was fun all the same.

Happy Saturday!