Julie Andrews

If you haven't noticed, it has been 50 years this year since the release of the film The Sound of Music.
First of all, this movie is my absolute favorite movie of all time. I am completely in love with everything about this film. It makes me so very happy, so very, very happy, every time I see even a thirty-second clip or a single note of any one of the songs. I adore it.
Of course, it is one of take those movies that I can't take credit for watching. If not for my mother, I wouldn't have seen it. I saw it when I was about nine or so, and naturally didn't understand the history of it at all, but was enamored by the music and, of course, Julie Andrews' inexplicably enchanting charm.
So, in the wake of the 20/20 special The Untold Story of The Sound of Music that aired last week on ABC, I decided I had to do a blog post about one of my idols.
I don't know what I can possibly say about Julie Andrews that hasn't been said before now? Realistically, I am not the only person regarding her as a role model for life. There are millions of people who love Julie Andrews. For me, she is such an inspiration, a model of class and tact and beauty.
Julie Andrews was born in 1935 in England (so of course her accent is amazing) and hasn't stopped since then. She was an incredible singer, who starred in many musicals including The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. I first saw her in The Princess Diaries (with baby Anne Hathaway before she was stunning and wonderful and everything amazing.)
I have a thing for girly, sparkly, princess-y things, so Julie's role in The Princess Diaries was almost more appealing to me than Mia's character of clumsy-tomboy-turned-glam-princess. I love class. I love it when a person is classy and tactful, well-spoken and graceful.
Julie Andrews is all of these. She is on my list of people to meet in my life, although somehow I doubt it will happen, but you never know.
As for The Sound of Music, it is by far my all-time favorite move. I fell in love with it from the very beginning, and have watched it a million times. I own the sing-along version. I love the innocence of the story line. Today's movies aren't nearly that clean. I am daily exposed to inappropriate, crude humor that I basically despise. I hate how worldly everyone is. I hate how everything is filled with the tropes of today's corrupt world. I'm not preaching here, just expressing how much I hate a lot of the current "humor". There isn't nearly as much innocence as I would like.
I'm not saying I don't like my cell phone, because I do. Believe me, I do. But sometimes, like last weekend when Aidan came over to help with yard work and such, and we ran around the building in circles and chased each other in pursuit of a tiny piece of my old bed frame...it's times like these, that make me wish there wasn't so much technology in the world. I long for the simplicity of times like those depicted in The Sound of Music. If I could have six siblings close in age and a singing nun for a governess, I so would. I would do it in a heartbeat. I would also fall in love with a German telegram delivery boy who turned out to be a Nazi and sing while dancing in a glass gazebo during a thunderstorm, and then get soaked and climb into said governess' bedroom. I would do it.
The thing is, Julie Andrews shines as Maria. She is captivating, and I could not help but fall in love with her and the movie. Recently, I have been watching interviews with Julie Andrews and find that she is always put together, always comes across as genuine and kind, always proper, but never haughty. She's a wonderful human being.
An idol should be someone you can look up to, admire, and strive to be like. I feel completely comfortable in calling Julie Andrews my idol. She is someone I'm more than happy to tell people that I want to be like.
If I have half as much class and talent as Julie Andrews at any point in my life, I will consider myself very lucky.

Lutheranism

I found myself perusing the Blog Topic Generator again, just for fun, and stumbled across this gem of a topic in the "Religion" section.
Lutheranism.
Really, how could I not seize this opportunity?

I am, by definition, Lutheran. I was baptized at Lutheran Church of the Atonement when I was seven, and I was Confirmed at St.Stephen Lutheran Church last fall. I have gone to camp at both Lutherock and Camp Agape, been a member of the Western Cluster Board of The Lutheran Youth Organization of North Carolina, I annually attend the LYO Assembly each February, and, next summer, my dad and I are both going to the National Lutheran Youth Gathering in Detroit. I love Lutheran rapper Agape, and recently met him, as you can see in one of the photos above. I love Lenoir-Rhyne University (which is the only Evangelical Lutheran Church of America-affiliated university in North Carolina) and annually go there for Lutheran Youth Day in Septemeber. I have a tendency to become irritated if I do not get to sit in whatever spot I consider mine (because I sat there last time, so it is my spot.) and I am very much a creature of habit who is rather attached to the cranberry hymnals. I sometimes end sentences with the words, "This is most certainly true," and when I hear, "(Insert anything here) be with you," I invariably respond, "And also with you." If asked, I can spout off a Martin Luther quote. If asked to choose a favorite year, I would say 1517. I have, more than once, explained the Martin Luther quote on the back of my tee-shirt to the lady in line behind me at the store when she comments on the "Martin Luther King, Jr. quote" by calmly saying, "No, this is Martin Luther. He was a sixteenth century reformist, not a twentieth century activitst." (I usually get a blank look, but that's okay.)
I am a Lutheran.
Words like 'bishop', 'synod', and 'liturgy' are commonplace for me, a fact of which I am reminded each time I say them and am asked what on earth they mean. The usual mealtime prayer is "Come Lord Jesus." A call of, "The Lord Be With You" is sufficient to quiet everyone down in seconds. Liturgical colors are wildly important, and I even know a song that explains them. Covered dish dinners are the highlight of my life, and I have a Lutheran Handbook that explains exactly what you should do should you ever be faced with being burned at the stake. I wear my white robe at least once a month, and I find myself in other denominational churches wondering when we're going to stand up. I literally know entire songs that are only about standing up and sitting down. I loved Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen a lot more when I realized they, too, were Lutheran. Bach is my favorite composer...just because he was Lutheran. (Lou Gehrig, Steve Jobs, Felicity Huffman, Kris Kristofferson, David Hasselhoff, Steve Zahn, Lyle Lovett, and William H. Macy also make the Lutheran List.)
Yes, I am Lutheran.
I love Lutheranism. I love the ceremony of it, the little jokes that most Lutherans understand, and I love the simple fact that I know what it means to be Lutheran. I love owning the Lutheran Handbook, the Lutheran Book of Prayer, and Luther's Small Catechism. I love the fact that Lutheranism is part of my identity, part of who I am. I love that my church feels like home to me. I love the eccentricities and familiarity of the Lutheran church. I love that Lutheranism is a part of me. But even more than that, when you strip it all away, I love that I am a child of God.
Always, Cassie

The One Place In The World

I sat down at my kitchen table this morning intending to write a blog post. But as I settled down to do so, with my tablet open and my fingers poised and ready to type in the title box of my new post section, I found myself at a loss. After a few minutes of mentally flipping through files in my head, I came up empty and decided to hit up Google. (Naturally)
I searched, "What should I blog about?" (Google  is, after all, the kind of guy you have to be straighforward with from the start.) and clicked on the first link, a Blog topic generator. I flipped through the categories, and settled on "World". The first few topics it generated weren't for me. Things like, "The Languages of Europe" and other random things I do not know enough to blog about. However, the third or fourth result caught my attention. It said, "The one place in the world that you want to live." And immediately, I knew that this was a topic I could definitely spin into a blog post. For a long time, I have expressed a strong desire to live in, you

 guessed by the photos, New York City. When I express this to people, I find myself receiving mixed reviews on the matter. Some wholeheartedly agree with me. Some vehemently oppose the idea. Some are confused. Some are scornful. All of those responses are okay. Here's the thing: how you feel about me moving to New York City someday really doesn't affect my desire to move there. Shocking, right?
Even so, some people want an explanation. For me, there are so many things that appeal to me about New York that I really don't mind explaining it. So here are my reasons.
First of all, have you looked at these pictures? They are absolutely breathtaking. I'm not really into the beauty of the area in which I live. I mean, yes, the parkway is beauiful, but...news flash: I've grown up around the parkway. It has been equally beautiful my entire life. I

 enjoy a venture along the Viaduct as much as the next person, especially when it's foggy or the autumn colors are at their peak, and I do rather like a trip to Linville Caverns every  now and then, but honestly, those places are a part of life for me. They are something I've grown up with, not something new and beautiful and exciting. New York seems to be a gorgeous place. (I'm not stupid, I know it's also dirty and criminally active and crowded.)
Another reason I want to move to New York City lies with The Alternative Travel Project. If you haven't heard of it, which you probably haven't, it is a movement founded by actress Stana Katic in 2010 to promote going car free for just one day in an effor to minimize carbon footprint and impact both yours and the earth's health. ATP promotes alternative means of travel, be it by bicycle, by rollerskates, by skateboard, by subway or metro car or by foot. I wholeheartedly support the effort, but if you live in Lenoir, you might understand my struggle. Going car free in Lenoir is next to impossible. There are very few places withing walking distance and a lot of those places are not the ones tha are vital for life here. I cannot walk to school, because it sits right on Highway 321. I cannot walk to the library, because it is too far away. I cannot walk to any grocery store, nor to any store where I might buy clothing. I cannot walk to work. I cannot walk to church from where I live currently. Lenoir, North Carolina does not have subways or metros. I rest my case. 
I'm told that New York is a filthy place where people are mean and hateful, where crime rates are sky-high and every corner is terrorizing. I thought about these stereotypes and began to wonder how much of that is based solely on the crime dramas set in New York City. So I took it upon myself to do some research into the real-life crime rates.
Turns out, these are the statistics for 2014 in simple numbers:
Murders: 333
Rapes: 1,352
Robberies: 16, 539
Felony Assaults: 20, 207
Burglaries: 16, 765
Grand Larcenies: 43, 862

And here are the simple numer stats from the year 1990 (PRE-9/11, mind you.)
Murders: 2,262
Rapes: 3,162
Robberies: 100,280
Felony Assault: 44,122
Burglaries: 122,055
Grand Larcenies: 108, 487

Percent of change from 1990 to 2014 in each of those categories looks something like this: 
Murder: Down 85.3%
Rape: down 56.7%
Robbery: Down 83.5%
Felony Assault: Down 54.2%
Burglary: Down 86.3%
Grand Larceny: Down 59.6%

So this is for those of you who say New York City has gotten more dangerous. News flash: in the last fifteen years, which include post-September 11 crime, New York city has gotten substantially safer. 

Aside from all the numbers and statistics, New York City is a beautiful place. It appeals to me because it is busy and alive, it's vibrant and bursting with energy. There are restaurants and places to shop, parks, museums, history, culture. I find myself thinking that in a small town, I would be immeasurably bored as an adult. I cannot imagine that I would get bored in a place like New York. It's risky, you say, because despite my statistics, there are still  1,352 rapes in New York City per year. I have to ask, are you aware of how many sex offenders live in Lenoir, North Carolina? 520 of North Carolina's 613 registered sex offenders live in Caldwell County. Yeah. That's 85% of the sex offenders. In Caldwell County, the ratio of residents to sex offenders is 220:1. In Manhattan, that ratio is 324,379:1. Which city sounds safer?

My point here is not that everyone should move to New York or that there's no chance of my becoming a victim of violent crime there. That would be incredibly naive. All I'm saying is that maybe, before you lecture me on the crime rates in New York City, you should consider the crime rates of where we live today. The fact is, I am more likely to become a victim of sexual assault in Lenoir, North Carolina than I am in New York City. It's a somewhat stunning revelation, but the data is here to back it up. 

I've never been to New York. There is a possibility that, when I get there, I will hate it. But somehow, I don't think so. I crave stories, as a writer. New York, for me, is a mess of people who span a massive range of cultures and backgrounds. The people of New York City make up a culturally diverse melting pot, full of stories and amazing experiences that I haven't even considered yet. And maybe this is just me being a teenage dreamer, but I want to experience New York in all it's glory; all its beauty, all its darkness, its pain, its dirt, its crime, its passion. I want it all. Just to say I've had it. 
Always, Cassie

The Anonymous Complimenter

The vast majority of you are aware of where I attend high school. (If you weren't aware, it's called the Caldwell Career Center Middle College, and it lies in the above building.)
Last week, after first period, I was on my way to Spanish after taking the long way around from downstairs to walk with Tayler. I was about to enter the building when Sydney called to me from behind and I turned around to face her.
"You're on the Twitter thing, did you see?"
I had no clue what she was talking about, but I took her phone when she handed it to me, and I looked down at the screen, where Twitter was pulled up. The username was "@CCCMC_Truth" and I had been mentioned in a Tweet that read, "@Castle_Fanatic's hair is on point! Love the haircut beautiful! #cccmctruth"
I had heard about the "Dis List" twitter pages that had popped up around the county's district high schools, and even heard some murmurings of starting one of the Twitter pages intended for derogatory comments at my school. But instead of a mean, hateful list of comments aimed at specific students, my high school rose up and created a page for complimenting the students, run by two anonymous members of our student body. Word about CCCMC Truth spread quickly-by lunchtime, everyone knew about the page and speculation about whom had started it was rampant. Everyone had an opinion about who was behind the page, and Tweets from the user were surfacing at a rapid rate, nice comments aimed at at specific students. Here are some examples.

"@sammy_denise_9 is a really pretty woman. She is very smart as well. I am glad to be in school with her."
"@matryoshka_sey believe me when I say, you are adorable! Your attitude is amazing! Love you darling!"
@_senoritasmith your teaching technique is amazing! Keep it up!"
"The sarcasm of @TehemHolton is the best thing ever!"
"#cccmctruth Mrs.Johnson is an all-around wonderful and outstanding person, she is looking out for everyone. Sending so much love to her."
"#cccmctruth Besides having the best dirty and Star Wars jokes, George Hickein is a really awesome friend."
"If you haven't heard Nick Grozier sing, you haven't lived. He sounds like an angel...sorta."

As the school found itself swept up by the kindness and care of some anonymous members of our number, I found myself sitting back in reflection on the whole situation. While everyone was desperate to know who it was, and people were being "accused" left and right (myself included), it occured to me that this event was probably one of the best representations of the good in people. Teenagers are infamous for being cruel beings, and high school is known as a battlefield. I do admit, my situation at CCCMC is a little different because we are all hand picked for being the brightest of our age. Even so, there's still an element of teenage angst and the troubles that plague all teens. We aren't exempt from that, and are often judgmental, petty, hateful, mean, and self-entitled. We are materialistic and we are angry. We laugh at the expense of others and poke fun at our peers far more often than we should. We are selfish and we allow ourselves to be so absorbed in what we want that we often don't notice the needs of those around us.
But, amongst all of the worldly temptations and opportunities that the 21st-century world provides for bullying, two anonymous students at CCCMC rose above the norm. In complimenting people instead of tearing them down, bringing up the spirits of people without claiming credit for themselves, the entire school was abuzz with the hot topic of the day, and these two people were hidden somewhere in the crowd, among the people whose day's they had brightened. The fact that, in this selfish world, they refused to reveal themselves and didn't want the credit for their admirable actions.
That, to me, is the highlight of humanity, for teenagers to overcome the prerequisite of being cruel and harmful people, in favor of being genuinely kind to others.
Always, Cassie

Maleficent

Disney's 2014 re-telling of he classc fairytale known as "Sleeping Beauty", titled Maleficent was released in May 2014. Not long after the film's release, a group of friends and I went to see it in theaters. Even then, I was struck by how well-done the film was.

I was skeptical at first, I must admit. I wasn't sure if re-telling a classic fairy tale was such a good idea, to be honest. Plus, I'm not Angelina Jolie's biggest fan, as I feel she gets more time on magazines in line at Wal-Mart than she does quality screen time. (Sorry, not sorry.) 

However, we went to see the movie and I found it to be absolutely wonderful. Upon farther reflection, I came to atribute its success to the fact that it wasn't just a remake of Sleeping Beauty. They took a story that everyone knows, and twisted it around by telling it from a different point of view. 

Warning: Reading farher will result in spoilers. 

Another thing I loved about Maleficent was the way the story ends. When Aurora (played by Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning's little sister) is in her deep sleep, the fairies find a prince to kiss her. However, his "true love's kiss" isn't effective in awakening Auror. The prospects seem bleak, but then Maleficent came over to speak to Aurora. Maleficent had come to love Aurora, and regreted cursing the baby. She apologizes to the sleeping princess, and kisses her forehead.
Then she wakes up.
Disney seems to be catching up. Between Frozen's sisterly love theme and Maleficent's motherly love theme, I'm starting to think maybe Disney is realizing that romantic love isn't exactly everything, and that every princesss doesn't need a man to save her.
It makes me like Disney even more.
Always, Cassie

The Bible Boldness Experiment, Day 5

If I had to pick a favorite youth group event, it would probably be the one I attended tonight. Parents' Night Out is always a total delight, even though I don't know the kids very well and most of them aren't super comfortable with me. I adore little ones, and I love spending time with them.
When I went to Parents' Night Out tonight,I expected the kids to be curious about the verse on my face, but I also expected them not to ask, because they don't know me well. (If you didn't know this, I attend St.Stephen Lutheran as my home church, but we don't exactly have a youth group, so I go to youth at First Presbyterian.)
After dinner, the kids were eating ice cream sandwiches and a couple of them were asking about Austin, my brother, having not known him either. So Rose accomadated them, saying, "That's Miss Cassie's brother. Do you know who Cassie is?" When they all shook their heads, she pointed me out with the words, "That's Cassie, with the writing on her face." It was a perfectly placed outlet for the kids to ask about the writing.
"What does it say?" Aubrey inquired.
"It's a Bible verse," I replied. "Phillipians 4:13, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." They all nodded, openly accepting of this concept in a way that was typical of a child, but also stunningly Christian.
Quinn (I don't pick favorite children, but if I did...) wanted to know why I had to write on my face. I explained to him that I didn't have to, that I wanted to.
Again, he stunned me with his acceptance of a concept that so many adults do not understand.
I think, a lot of the time, we get so caught up in our busy lives that we forget to be like Quinn and Aubrey. We forget the simple acceptance and wonder that children so freely express. I think that's why I inevitably come away from Parents' Night Out with a serenity in my heart. God is so evident in these little children!
If I could wish anything for myself, it would be to have the open acceptance and wonder that they do.
Always, Cassie

The Bible Boldness Experiment, Day 4

Today's segment of The Bible Boldness Experiment featured Hebrews 13:6, "So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I shall not fear man."
Most people have become accustomed to my having writing on my face by now, so the level of reactions I've been getting has tapered off a bit. However, I catch people looking, taking a second glance, even asking me to turn so that they can read the entire verse. It's not a pleasant reaction every single time, but most people aren't rude about it. If they don't like it, they most often simply nod and carry on. If they do like it, they will generally smile or say an encouraging word.
This verse makes me think about what men do. Not exactly men, as in males, but humans in general. The sort of pain we as humans cause to other humans is atrocious, isn't it? I recall, in fifth grade, we watched a video one of the first days of school, about bullying. In the video, there was a little boy who was relentlessly bullied, and there were very few people who even wanted to stick up for him, let alone actually did something. No one ever stood up for him, no one ever tried to keep him from being bullied. They all just stood by and watched. In the end of the video, the bullies were trying to force the boy to eat a chocolate bar that had dirt all over it. They were chasing him, and he was trying to avoid them. He tripped and fell, and his fall took him tumbling into a busy street, where he was presumably hit by a car. The video ended with a shot of his tennis shoe lying in the road.
This video sticks out in my mind even though I would've been ten when I watched it. I remember thinking that it was strange that he was bullied. I wondered why they were mean to him. There was no obvious reason; he wasn't handicapped, he wasn't of a minority race, he wasn't dressed in ragged clothing. He seemed to me like an ordinary little boy.
What never occurred to me at the time was the thought of where God was in this little boy's life. When I chose this verse for today, that thought did occur to me. What did the little boy in the video know about Jesus?
It's easy for us to say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear man.
But in the heat of a moment when someone is picking at our most well-hidden scabs, the wounds that we don't want anyone to see, it's a lot harder to brush off what man is saying. We as Christians have been taught our own self-worth. We have that blessing in our lives, where many do not. But that doesn't mean that there aren't times when we, too, feel alone and abandoned.
In sixth grade, I had to ride a bus where I was referred to as a "rich little white b**** who couldn't get her shoes dirty" because my parents insisted that the bus pick me up at my house instead of allowing me to walk to the top of my streets to catch the bus at 7:30 in the morning.
Bullying is senseless. It's often words that, looking back, aren't even true. But they hurt. They sting and they burn and they create scars that sometimes take years to heal.
As Christians, we should be the ones who do take a stand against a bully, even if we aren't the ones being bullied. Sometimes, that is one of the hardest things to do. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes that bully is a friend, someone who has always been nice to you but who is now being quite the opposite to someone else.
We have a responsibility to be the hands and feet of Jesus. That's why we are here, right? So when you see someone being bullied, shouldn't you be the one to step up and say something? Be the change, and do not fear man.
Always, Cassie