"Crime is Pride"

Think: all men make mistakes

But a good man yields when he

Knows his course is wrong,

And repairs the evil:  The only

Crime is pride.

This quotation from an excerpt from Antigone, by the classical Geek playwright Sophocles, implies that it is perfectly okay to make mistakes. In fact, all people make mistakes, but it is admitting those mistakes that we show who we are as people. Pride is the only ugly thing, the only sin. A man who does not admit to his mistakes but acts as if he is perfect is nowhere near the man who makes mistakes, but who admits them and forgives those whom he has hurt.

This is so true. I have met many people who are very arrogant and who refuse to admit their mistakes. These people are very unappealing. They think too highly of themselves and their ego gets in the way of everything else. But people who are loving, forgiving, and humble--and who admit to their mistakes-- are much more likeable as people, as friends, as co-workers, as bosses, as managers, etc. The people who are truly good and kind are the ones who will coexist happily with the rest of the world. These are the people who have earned their respect because they are respectful of others. These people are honest and humble and kind, not boastful or egotistical or insolent. It is these people who live by the golden rule: they treat others as they themselves would like to be treated. If you are respectful towards others, you will earn their respect and they will treat you as you with dignity.

No one is perfect. God made us this way. He gave us free will. Each one of us was given human dignity, and we are to treat others with dignity as well. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins.

God wants us to feel good about ourselves and be proud of what we have accomplished, but our accomplishments are not of our own doing. We have accomplished what we have accomplished because of God and his grace. No one is perfect--only God is perfect, and this is the way it has always been and will forever be. Each of us was born with original sin. So when we make mistakes, we ask Him for forgiveness because God knows we are only human, but if we are sorry for our sins and ask pardon for our mistakes, we become better people.

(Word Count: 418)

Curb Appeal

We are currently working towards improving the curb appeal of the front of our house/the front porch. Our house is a rust- and white-colored brick that is meant to look like it was once painted white and the paint is chipping off. The rest of our house is cheap white vinyl siding. (We will have to deal with that later.)

The windows are oak so you cannot see cute white window panes or mullions. The windows just look dark and black, and all you can see is the black screens. The windows also do not have shutters. We already removed the cheap white plastic porch railing, and it already looks 100 times better than it did before, but it is still not great.

We went with a green wood stain for the shutters my dad made out of cedar. In addition, we bought a porch swing that we are about to paint/stain and install, and we also bought planters to put on the front porch to put flowers in. Hopefully the house will have a bit more curb appeal after we do these things.

Weird Idea for Backyard

I know this sounds absolutely crazy or strange or odd or weird or ridiculous or whatever, but I would like to have my dad built an outhouse or composting toilet in our backyard. We have a cabin in the woods, but if you want to spend the night in it, you have to walk out and up the pathway to the house and go inside to use the restrooms. This is very inconvienient. It would also be nice to have one because my mom spends a lot of time outside gardening, so it is inconvient for her to drop everything she is doing to go inside the house to go to the bathroom. Also, I have to admit that I love little European stone cottages, and this is my excuse to build something out of stone since we cannot reface our brick house and cheap, white, vinyl siding.

Here's my theory: People use Port-a-Potty's when they are at outdoor events and construction workers use them when builing houses or buildings, etc. The thing I have against Port-a-Poty's is that they are ugly and blue and blastic. The other thing is that outhouses are now illegal, I think. Except my grandma still has one at her house, but she lives in the middle of nowhere and it's been there since the house was built, probably in the mid to late 1800s.

 So why not have a Port-a-Potty that is built of stone? The only reason they are normally built of cheap blue plastic is because it is cheap and light weight, and most of all, "portable" (hence the name, "Port-a-Potty"). But I would not want ours to be portable. I want the function of a Port-a-Potty, which is basically a composting toilet, but I want it to be attractive. I want it to look like a little European stone cottage, only smaller. It would look nice, it would be legal, and it would be functional. We could really use one outside because of the cabin. That way I will be satisfied because I will have something cute and made of stone and it will perhaps make our place look more european. It would also be really unique. NO ONE else would have one.

Or a composting toilet would be fine as well. But you get the point. Something that is not an outhouse, but more like a really sophisticated and attractive Port-a-Potty or something like that.
Actually, come to think of it, it is kind of like those outdoor public restrooms at public parks. Those must be composting toilets, because they do not flush, and they are not Port-a-Potty's.

Here are some photos of the stone I like and the European/English stone cottage look that I like:







 So you get the idea. There are hundreds of other photos that I could probably find and post for you to see, but I will just post these for now, even though they are not the very best ever.

(Word Count: 499)

The other thing I want to talk about today is dining rooms. We have a formal living room in the entrance of our house, but right now we are using it as a music room and just a place to sit down in quiet or to seat guests who come over to our house. But personally, I am torn between keeping it as a living room or turning it into an incredible dining room.

It is a very large room, with tall colonial windows that reach almost to the wood floors we recently put in. The room has a very old look about it, somewhat colonial. There is a piano and a Beethoven statue by the windows. There are also a lot of my dad's paintings on display in addition to a secretary and a small white painted antique desk that my dad refurbished.

If I went with making it a dining room, I think I would want to keep the antique look about it and find a table that goes with the time period. I am thinking a Jacobean table, or maybe even Italian Renaissance or Gothic. The only problem is that these tables are either very rare or extremely expensive. I also want a really long table that seats LOTS of guests, like in castles. Here are some of my ideas:

For Your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only

Keep me from sharing your letters to me,

Words you wrote just for me

Not for anyone else to see.

Write something lame. Say something dull, dumb, or mundane.

Be trite, and I might resist

The urge to splurge with your verbal gifts.

Send me your letters, still,

But make them boring, if you will.

I cannot help myself, otherwise,

From treating your letters like a prize.

I never thought you’d mind at all

If I shared your words on my Facebook wall.

I only wanted the world to see

the wonderful things you write to me.

You don’t just say “I walked the dog;” you tell me first about the fog,

The shine of rain-wet city streets,

The funny people that you meet.

Were those words so very private?

Speak to me, still, of chores and weather,

And I’ll try to be better at hiding each letter

Like pearls in a treasure chest.

Maine Coon Needs a Home

Our family seems to be having way more trouble with animals than the average person lately. Not only is our thirteen-year-old dog Bailey dying as I am typing this, but we have an extra cat in the house that needs to go, too (except not by means of death, of course).

My mom had originally bought him at the pound because she saw him sitting in his cage that was too small for him and saw that he was not happy. He was confined to a cage that he could barely move in. He had been there for three months, and it seemed nobody had any interest in bringing him home as their pet. He was a mean looking cat, but he was half-price, and Mom sort of took pity on him, I guess. (Apparently, he also reminded my mom of our previous dog, Bailey's brother, Blaise.) Granted, she did this against my dad's will and my will. We did not even know she did it until she came to pick me up from school and I saw a vicious-looking cat staring at me from the back seat of the car.

Back to the point, though. We are now trying to get rid of him. He is not friendly, he does not like other cats (or dogs, for that matter). He does not like much attention to speak of. He either hides out all day by himself, or he is in the kitchen opening cupboard doors looking for canned catfood. (I forgot to mention this cat was three years old when my mom brought him home from the pound, and he had been neutered, implying that he had an owner who either died or abandoned him. But one thing we do know is that this cat was spoiled and was served Fancy Feast for every meal of the day.)

He simply needs to go. He sheds all the time, my family is most likely allergic to him, and he scratches and claws at furniture and fights with our other cat all the time. (Well, according to my mom, it is completely the fault of our other cat. Supposedly, he is the one who initiates all the fights.) Either way, he must go. He needs a new home (although I'm sure that after reading this post, no one will want him). But either way, if you are looking for a beautiful maine coon cat who likes to keep to himself and does not want to live with other animals, he may be a great match for you. He is very quiet, and he meows like a baby and like a girl, which does not fit with his overall looks. He looks mean, but he is really very sweet. He is simply stressed out living around a cat who is constantly trying to fight with him. So if you know of anyone looking for a maine coon, just let me know.

(Word Count: 494)

Our Dog Bailey

Just when I thought our thirteen-year-old female collie dog would live forever, she had another one of her episodes two nights ago and it is still going on today. Her breathing is rapid and irregular, as is her heart beat. She continues to have a rattling cough that will not go away. She did not eat anything at all yesterday, except for the bite or two of Mongolian beef and steamed rice that I somehow managed to get her to swallow. When she finally does drink water, she seems extremeley thirsty, but it is harted to get her started in the first place. She has no appetite. She will not eat her food unless you hold it up for her the entire duration of her meal. She cannot walk anymore, as of last night. She did not leave the house once yesterday, let alone even the small room she was in, to get up and go to the bathroom and/or to eat. When we did get her outside, my dad had to carrie her like a baby and when he sat her down on the grass, she fell. We tried this multiple times, and each time she would fall. She could not even squat to go to the bathroom. Her back legs just kept giving out. I eventually convinced my dad to carry her in and put her on the sofa (something he would NEVER do if this dog were not dying). It seemed to put her at ease ever so slightly, but she still was having trouble breathing. Not to mention, she peed on the sofa. Dad did not even seem that mad. I was in shock. Normally, my dad would be so angry I that would not have words to describe it. But not this time. He remained calm.

As bedtime approached, my dad said she had to go sleep out in the garage because our dog Bailey is afraid of storms and will keep my dad up all night otherwise. Bailey has always walked up to the mailbox every morning with my dad to get the mail, even when she seems like she's at death's door. But today, when I asked him if she did, he said no. This was it. The day that she stops walking up to the mailbox with dad every morning. The day she can no longer get up and walk by herself. The day she can no longer control her bodily functions. The day she officially loses her appetite. This is it. Today or tomorrow, we will have to bring her to the vet to be put down. Her quality of life is no good anymore. To be honest, it hasn't been for awhile. But I think we have been selfish trying to keep her around for so long since her brother did not too long ago. He was put down on my sister's golden birthday, July 19th. So we could either put her down today, or we could wait until tomorrow, the 19th of April, and ironically, my mom's birthday. I guess at least it would be fair this way for my sister, and at least it will not be my mom's golden birthday. We'll see. I hope she's still alive when I come home from school today.

(Word Count: 550)