100 For Justice

*waves* Greetings, all! I have a Something to tell you about.

My friend, Noelle, proprietor of the blog Seeing Beauty, has launched a project she calls

100 For Justice

Noelle is undertaking the daunting task of running 100 miles this September and October; hoping that others will join her in this act of support for a worthy organization: International Justice Mission.


Perhaps you've heard of IJM. It is an organization working in several counties (including India, Cambodia, and the Philippines) collaborating with the local police forces to enforce justice. They expose hidden evils, rescue the abused, and uphold the rights of the voiceless. IJM's work is multi-fold:

- They perform undercover operations, investigating cases of injustice
- They actively free the enslaved and trafficked and arrest their oppressors
- They take the persecutors to court and legally prosecute them.
- They train and equip local police forces to be more effective.
- They provide aftercare, job training, and counseling for the former victims

The International Justice Mission battles to protect those who have been unjustly arrested, defends those whose property has been illegally seized, rescues the trafficked, and frees the slaves.


http://www.ijm.org/ < please click, if you are interested.

Also, I recommend a video telling the story of a former slave. She is Suhanna, captured and enslaved twice before being rescued by IJM. Here is the video, but I advice caution: it contains sad realities of trafficking that are not for youngsters' eyes and ears, if y'know what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nytkBRQ0qZI&feature=youtube_gdata

Noelle has a passion to combat this. As she runs 100 for justice, giving up her time and strength, please consider if you can give up a few dollars.

for justice,

-whisper

Risk

"I try all things; I achieve what I can." - Moby Dick

That simple line inspires and thrills me. Behind it lurks a daring and a desire to accomplish more, harder, and riskier things. I wish there were more worthwhile risks in my life - that I had great opportunities to take steps against the social norm and to stand strong as a Christian.

Problem is, I don't know of many such opportunities. >_> Do you have any spare Worthy Risks sitting about? Because I could use one. Or two.

I've been trying to live life to the fullest and to try new things. But I have no high goals to achieve! Sure, I've been composing a bucket list, including (but by no means limited to):

- visit the loch ness
- go skydiving
- learn morse code
- adopt a girl from china
- attend an owl city concert
- publish a book

It looks all well and grand on paper. But what am I to do with my life, right here, right now? Days ride by on schoolwork and meals and empty words. We live, we eat, we dance, we go to libraries, we make pumpkin pie, we post clever FB statuses, we dive, we read classics. To what purpose? To what point?

We play life so safe and scheduled. Where are our challenges? Where are our quests and feats of valor? Where are our mistakes and our epic fails? Where are our triumphs and stories? Where have all the adventures gone?


“Let me do all the good I can, for all the people I can, as often as I can, for I shall not pass this way again.” - John Wesley

“It's probably true that a person who makes it through life without making any enemies never stood up for anything important.” - Start Here

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.” - Mark Twain


I want a risk.

The Dragon's Tooth -or- N. D. Wilson Writes Again -or- Welcome to Ashtown

I couldn't decide on a fitting title for this post. I answered the dilemma of choice in my typical fashion - choosing 'em all.

But enough of that. Have you heard of the 100 Cupboards Trilogy?

They are worthy of all ranting. I should have done this long ago! I should have hollered their praises and pounded my fist upon their blessed pages and shouted down your ear about them! (metaphorically speaking, of course; as I am far too polite an individual to really shout in your ear. Unless its about something important. Like Twix candy bars. Or this series.)

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDtmwprjW49RLLYUxkeTCXuRM18VPLHBLE5sQWxxpsHOcMzRxNnogM6zoIq-UxRfZBB1BPVNflzlHJEp2fdcO2J3_lJtVCAK_XhLWCG12fvDNH1MtlsqLs8jxKIT_BviuNYbCJaBlIc3d/s1600/100+cupboards+trilogy.JPG

These books are... Epic. Stunning. Amazing.

Fantastic in every sense of the word.

The 100 Cupboards trilogy is one of my favorite favoritefuls series (you know it's good if it includes a book called Dandelion Fire); third only to the Wingfeather Saga and the Chronicles of Narnia. And, happily, they're rather clean; there were a few minor weirdnesses and perhaps two or three swear words throughout the trilogy, but aside from that I they were clean, like so many bars of soap. Personally, methought that the series' goods far outweighed the bads.

They tell the story of a kid named Henry who wakes up one night because plaster has fallen on his head. He looks up and sees two door knobs poking out of his bedroom wall. After chipping away all the plaster, he finds behind his wall 99 cupboards of varying shape, size, and color. Inside one door he can smell wood and rain and when he sticks his hand through he feels moss and worms. Through the glass door of another, he can see a yellow post office (and starts receiving some very odd letters). And then there's the cold, sucking black door that hides nightmarish creatures. And the ship... and the haunted ballroom... *shivers with delight* Fantastic books about Henry's exploration of the cupboard worlds and his war against the evils of Endor.

The books have an amazing premise, and they succeed where so many promising books fail: they actually execute the idea well. A revolutionary concept, I know. >_> The author, N. D. Wilson, is brilliant - he is a master of description and character and worldbuilding.

As if all this isn't incentive enough to read it, rumor has it that the movie is coming out sometime this year. And don't you just love that wise feeling you experience when a new movie is coming out and all your friends are talking about it and trying to describe it to you but you can cut them off smugly and say, "Oh, I already know what it's about. I read the book." *smirk* Heehee. I savor the satisfaction of knowing everything about a movie before everyone else does. Ah, the bookish joys of being the one to explain the Eragon and the I Am Number Four and The Series of Unfortunate Events trailers to one's bewildered and excited acquaintances! (Come to think of it, I never saw any of those movies. o.o I heard they were all lame. And for the record, so far as my humble opinion goes, I Am Number Four is a profoundly dumb book.)

SO. With that established. Hop on your bike right now and pedal like mad to the library and snatch 100 Cupboards off the shelf (it is adviseable to bowl over any kids in your way in the process, but you didn't hear it from me). Stuff it furtively in your book bag and flee for your life with it! (checking it out is optional.)

No! Wait! Stop! Halt! Desist! Hold everything! Before you do that, we must come back to the original point of this point:

The Dragon Tooth.

N. D. Wilson writes again.

Welcome to Ashtown.

As you may have guessed and/or heard by now, Wilson is starting a new series, the first book of which is coming out August 23rd - in 14.0002 days. The series is called The Ashtown Burials, and book one is The Dragon Tooth.

Best of all, there is a trailer - a book trailer - a professional trailer - an epic trailer - a trailer that makes me shiver with delight every time I watch it.

Watch. You must.

http://vimeo.com/27156974 <- I can't get the video window to show up here, so just follow the link. And if this link is acting weird, as it did for me...

http://www.hornspoon.com/2011/08/dragons-tooth-book-trailer.html <- ... then try this one, linking to the blog of my noble friend Cson. The video is in his post.


Welcome to Ashtown,
-whisper