date to save

for some utter strangeness from the christian ghetto, check out datetosave.com.

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what do you think, is this a good dating strategy for christians?

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ps. when i use the term "christian ghetto" i am not referring to the rough streets of south barrington, illinois. i am referring to the sub-culture of evangelical christianity that one encounters in christian bookstores where you can purchase christian t-shirts, christian music, christian candles, christian bookends, christian gum, and christian gossip magazines. it is the place where christians have ignored the call to be in the world: it is, rather, the evangelical attempt to create a separate world.

happy rain day!

in waynesburg, pa, the town where i was born and in which i lived until i was 12, they have a unique holiday. each july 29th they celebrate what is called 'rain day,' because it is said to rain on that day in waynesburg almost every year (110 of the last 134 years). basically, it is an excuse to shut down the town for a day and have a big celebration, complete with carnival rides, games, food, and entertainment (kind of silly to do all of this on a day that its supposed to rain, i know. that's how they roll in the keystone state, baby).

each year they bet someone a hat that it will rain in waynesburg on july 29th. they've had bets with many local celebrities, such as troy polamalu, myron cope, mr. rogers, franco harris and mario lemieux, as well as bigger names like will ferrell and jay leno, among others.

a quick look at the weather.com shows that they will be getting rain again today. so, congrats waynesburg. have a happy rain day!

panorama

"panaroma"

paper collaage on cardboard panel

gregory a. milinovich

i sold this collage last week over at my etsy site, and i just wanted to remind you (or inform you if you didn't know) that you can purchase several of my collages here. i have about 40 for sale right now, and will probably add some new ones soon. i'm not really in it for the money, so if you see something you like and you want to make me an offer for less than the price, i'm willing to negotiate. i love it when my collages find a good home!

summer is...

picking raspberries. yum.

save the bees

shannon and i watched an absolutely fascinating show last night on pbs called "silence of the bees," which is obviously a titular twist on a famous film, and appropriately so, as the film details a recent horror developing in nature: the loss of honeybees.


it was a slightly disturbing but genuinely eye-opening documentary about the drastic disappearance of honeybees not just in the usa but all around the world. nearly whole hives of adult bees just vanish. i think i heard that at one point in 2006, about a third of the honeybee hives in the usa had been lost. scientists have named the situation ccd: colony collapse disorder, and it has many of them significantly worried because without honeybees we have very few pollinators, and without pollinators we have no fruits and veggies and nuts. there are many theories as to the cause of ccd, but very few answers. most scientists and beekeepers have determined that a broad range of factors have led to this situation, including pesticides, malnourishment, and some series of pathogens. it appears that these factors have conspired together to severely cripple the bees' immune system (something like aids) so that they are unable to fight whatever illnesses enter the colony.

it is true i have a general disdain for bees in general, but i feel good because my loathing has never really been extended to honeybees, whom i've never really been threatened by. mostly i am terrified of the wasp/yellowjacket/hornet/bumblebee types, not to mention the africanized honeybees (aka: killer bees). still, i've never particularly cared for bees of any stripe, but i find myself feeling bad for them after watching "silence of the bees."

if you read the message boards on various sites dealing with this issue, you will find a great deal of fear and anxiety about ccd and what it signals for humanity, as well as myriads of conspiracy theories about the causes. just a casual perusal can leave one with a sense of hopelessness and despair, as if chicken little was a beekeeper. "the sky is falling," is one way of dealing with this information, to be sure, but it's not my approach.

as a Christian, i believe in God's redemptive powers and therefore i can face these environmental issues with a sense of confidence and reliance on God's power and God's love for creation. on the other hand - and i want to be very clear about this - i reject the all-too-common evangelical approach that involves a kind of ecological apathy, founded in a belief that God is only concerned with spirit, or that the destruction of earth and humanity will usher in the fulfillment of God's kingdom. while i have many questions about the future and what it will look like as it unfolds before us, i reject the kind of gnosticism that disregards matter and material. God created the bees. God created the flower and and pollination process. and God created the succulent peaches and the sweet bing cherries and the tart raspberries and so on. and God looked at all and called it good. and when we pray the prayer Jesus taught, we pray that God's way of life (thy will be done) would happen here on earth as it is in heaven. in other words, christians shouldn't be waiting for earth's destruction, but for its redemption. and we ought to recognize that we might just be called to be a part of that redemption. right now. that maybe, just maybe, God wants to use us in that process. and so i found God on pbs last night. reminding me to care for creation, and to do my part in maintaining the balance that allows us to enjoy its fruits.

i cannot save the bees, of course. or the glaciers or the rivers or the bald eagles or whatever. but i can recognize my part in all of this involves rejecting apathy and making difficult decisions in the face of the status quo, or laziness. my part in this involves rejecting the all-too-comfortable belief that we should just sit and watch the earth suffer at humanity's hands, and instead to be a part of the coming kingdom, that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. i can choose to open my eyes to the fact that loving God and neighbor (what Jesus called the greatest commandments) involves taking care of the environment so that there are enough resources for everyone.

the joy (and the job) of marriage

so this isn't very profound or anything for your saturday, and you may have already seen it, but i just have to share this video with you. i love this. i love the pure joy. i love the spirit of celebration. i love the surprise. there is something to be said for the wild freedom of uninhibited joy.



i wish more marriages started with such joy and abandon.

but of course, marriage isn't all rainbows and ponies. marriage can be a great joy, but it can also be a big job. as one who has the enormous privilege of working with many couples at the beginning of their marriage journey, i often struggle to balance these two. i want to encourage their unashamed, untainted love for one another, while helping them to see that it may not always feel this way, and equipping them for dealing with it when that happens. in my own marriage, i can experience both sides of the pendulum swing in one day! i heard this song on the country radio station last night that reminded me of how priorities change when you get married, and then again when you have children. yes our families are a huge responsibility, but they are also an unbelievably precious gift. this song reminds us of that (sorry if you don't like country music - get over it), and is a lesson in priorities, i think.



celebrate your relationships.
dance a little.
pray for those you love.
and have a great weekend.
gracepeace,
greg.

bouncy

when my kids spent the week with my parents last week, they played with a new toy that my parents purchased for them. it was a little tikes jump 'n slide, and my boys stinkin' loved it.

i recently had someone tell me that my blog was pretty good, but it was really just pictures/stories of my kids that they liked. well, here you go then. enjoy. they sure did!

christmas-in-july

anyone looking for a christmas-in-july present for yours truly might consider this little publication. just a thought. no. no one? sigh.

vbs

i have a confession to make: i do not particularly like vbs (that's vacation bible school for all of you who don't speak churchish). i try my best to put on my best face and conjure up some emotional energy, but the idea of dozens of sweaty children screaming and running around the church halls is daunting to me, at least. suffice to say that it is not my favorite part of church work.

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that being said, i do love the energy that the children bring each year, and the enthusiasm. it is a unique opportunity, from my perspective, to spend some quality time with our youngest people, offering them some ideas and pictures about what this Christian life is all about. this year, as in the past several, i am the vbs "floater," which means i walk around the facility and help out wherever needed. today i have been recruited to work in the missions area, which means i will be helping kids stuff these little turtles.we'll be sending them to honduras, eventually, so that children there can receive them. the hope today is that the children will begin to understand that there are people - children - who need to know that they are loved; who need to be prayed for; who need to be fed and taught and loved. these are the kind of seeds that we are trying to sow this week, hoping that some of these little kernels of truth find a good home in one of these sweaty, sugar-charged children.

***

yesterday, for example, they were taught that God is with us and so we do not need to be afraid. everytime they heard someone say, "God is with us," they were to respond with a boisterous, "FEAR NOT!" last night as we were in the car with four children (jack and cade and their cousins), they were doing this little call and response with ear-shattering enthusiasm. i think that's awesome. who's to say that they won't remember that at some moment when fear is threatening to get the best of them? who's to say that a shouted mantra won't come back to give quiet comfort and hope? who's to say that a stuffed turtle with a child's scribbled name on it won't spread love? who's to say that a week of sweaty screaming children won't just change some young lives?

***

and so i'm pulling on my crocodile dock t-shirt and getting ready for some turtle-stuffing. God is with us. FEAR NOT!

during our 6 hours in the car on saturday, this little monkey named jack sang the following lyric about 5,000 times:

i've got a soul, but i'm not a soldier, i've got a soul, but i'm not a soldier...

he got it from listening to this song, but he modified the lyrics a bit. nonetheless, i thought it was awesome, and wanted to share it with you. its not a bad mantra, really.

suspense

"suspense"

mixed media collage on canvas board

gregory a. milinovich

here's a collage i made last week. have a great weekend!

from blah to canteloupe

while home without kids earlier this week, i took advantage of the empty house and painted the master bathroom (which may be the world's smallest full bathroom - the sink is the size of a camping sink!). it is hard to tell in this picture, but the color was kind of a drab pale yellow. i believe it was called blah. shannon chose to replace "blah" with "canteloupe slice." if you know me, you know that i had no complaints about this.

here it is after the first coat, with the tape still on.

and here is the finished product. it isn't as orange as it looks up by the lights. you'll get a better idea if you look at the color of it immediately above the sink.

***

we all need repainted from time to time, huh? at least i do. old ideas grow stale and worn out, bitter like old paint, raising on the edges and flaky. my growth as a person, as a husband and father, as a Christian and as an artist and so forth requires that from time to time i get a bit of an overhaul. its not particularly comfortable as i would much rather just keep the familiar, but God keeps saying things like "new thing," and "behold, i am making all things new." really, God? really? do you have to say behold? and can't we keep this color for awhile? i was just getting used to it. i know its a bit, well, blah, but still. i've grown quite fond of it. but whether i'm up for it or not, it becomes painfully obvious that a fresh coat of a new color is necessary. and so i grow.

***

o maker of every color (and the ones we have yet to imagine):

repaint the bathroom of my heart. make me new again. forgive me for ruts and religious routines. color me fresh and alive. i want to reflect the whole prism of your light.

playlist

i just spent about 5 hours in my car, listening to my ipod on shuffle. its got 8,771 songs to choose from. these are some of the artists i heard on my trip:

johnny cash/bright eyes/greg laswell/pearl jam/queen/the myriad/over the rhine/the innocence mission/band of horses/patty griffin/steve earle/frank sinatra/bruce springsteen/david crowder/dwight yoakam/u2/ben harper/ben lee/harry connick jr./keane/jars of clay/grits/altar boys/nickel creek/yellowcard/willie nelson/mute math/asleep at the wheel/collective soul/something corporate/mxpx/pierce pettis/radiohead/taking back sunday/emmylou harris/joshua radin/wilco/ray charles/of montreal/great lake swimmers/gillian welch/bing crosby/julie miller/amos lee/page france/lost dogs/playdough/mat kearney/ray lamontagne

i heart my ipod. sigh.

ticket to providence

it is nearing noon, and i'm just now getting settled into my office at work, not because i overslept, but because i met Jesus this morning. he didn't look the way i usually picture him. he was about my height, but with a bigger belly and a sandy moustache that covered his upper lip. he was wearing some sort of boot-like-cast thing on his left foot. he said "man" alot when he talked, like a hippie. he told me how he needs to get back to rhode island, and how bad his foot hurts, and how he only has three dollars in his pocket. he told me a great deal about the last few months of his life, a convoluted and confusing stream of consciousness kind of story. i would never call Jesus a liar, but i wasn't quite convinced about every detail of his story. it started getting a little fishy around the part where someone stole $1000 from him at the pancake house. still, the lines on his face and the desperation in his eyes (not to mention the severe limp in his walk) told me all the story i needed to know. i got him a train ticket to newark and an amtrak ticket to providence, and then took him in my minivan to the train station. as we sat there in the parking lot full of commuters' cars, empty, Jesus sipped on his cup of coffee and we talked about things like how he likes that jennifer hudson song about the river, and about how his dad abused him. we discussed smokey robinson and God's love. after awhile, i offered to pray with him, and he agreed, adding that we should pray for michael jackson's family as they mourn his passing. so we did. we closed our eyes there in the front seat of my minivan and i asked God to help this man get to providence safely, to ease the pain in his foot, and to help him see again just how beloved he is. i also asked God to be with the jackson family, and Jesus became quite vocal during that part. he moaned several "yes lord"s and then we said amen. i shook his hand, he thanked me, and then i left him there at the train station. i drove off in my minivan, noticing his empty disposable coffee cup rolling around on the floor, and i was simply struck by the fact that a man with an aching foot, an aching heart, and an empty wallet would be so concerned about someone else's hurt.

so Jesus taught me a lesson today. i got him a ride home, but he gave me a valuable reminder that life isn't all about me and my trivial concerns. i'm too self-absorbed.

thank you, Jesus, for the reminder that there is more to life than my silly worries, or my even sillier schedule. i hope you made it to providence all right. catch you later.

considering the birdsongs by my window

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artwork: "gypsy bird" by samarra khaja

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considering the birdsongs by my window

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you sing so

boldly, within earshot,

shy little birds.

what gives you such courage,

such charismatic colorful carefreeness, to

lift your voices

so?

is it because you

do not worry

yourself with what's next or

what people think?

i consider the songs you sing,

with your strange high whistles

and morning blends of unashamed goodness.

do not worry.

i am blessed by your artful joy,

and am looking, today,

for a way to sing along.

*

-gregory a. milinovich

at the flea market with my head down

when you have kids you give up some luxuries. that's just part of the deal. it might be that you give up walking around the house naked, or your propensity for colorful language, etc. for me, though, one of things that i surrendered was my saturday morning at the flea market.

going to the flea market with children is just not cool. for whatever unknowable reason, they don't seem particularly interested in 70 year old photos of some russian family on holiday at what looks like yosemite. and they aren't as enamored as i am with sorting through crate after crate of barry manilow and englebert humperdinck albums in search of that brubeck or nick drake album. instead, we go off searching for "toys," which mostly means broken transformers. sigh. i miss my saturdays at the flea market.

however, due to some divine providence (and eager grandparents), i was provided with a child-less saturday this weekend, and i headed down to the golden nugget flea market in lambertville, nj. now you need to understand one thing about me: as a collage artist, part of the draw of a flea market to me is not just what is on the tables being sold, but what is under the table and all over the ground being forgotten. flea markets are my art supply stores. so as i perused the albums and antiques at the golden nugget saturday, i also kept my head down quite a bit, and i walked away with all of this at no cost:

a few months ago our kids had been given some kind of melissa & doug stamp set for kids, and it came in this little wooden box you see below. most people would have thrown it away. but not me. i took the open side of the box, which had some little shelves in it, and i painted it black, as you can see in the next picture. that painted box has been sitting around in my art room for a couple of months, just waiting for the right moment.

and finally, the right moment arrived. i came home with a smorgasboard of scattered sundries, all desperately begging me to tell their story. so i put them together in ways that interested me, made me chuckle and made me go 'hmmmm...,' and then glued them down and covered everything in a clear finish. and i got this:

"at the flea market with my head down"

mixed media assemblage in wood box

gregory a. milinovich

another piece of evidence in my case that there is art all around us; grace in the gravel and the garbage. another witness to my call to keep my eyes open (my name, gregory, means "watchman," or "observant") and notice the joy in the most unsuspected parts of the journey. the little bits of color of life. the strange relationships that emerge when two previously unrelated entities are put together. the redemption of rescue.

and so i give thanks to God for a sabbath-like saturday at the flea market.

saturday song: laughing with

i have liked regina spektor ever since i began to discover her last year. she is a bit on the eccentric side, as far as her music goes, and some people really can't stand to listen to her, but i really quite enjoy her creativity, and playfulness, as well as her ability to be poignant. the latter is the case with the song i want to share with you today. i found this over at eric park's blog, and you can read his excellent analysis of this song, as well as his own meditation on it for his life here. that link also includes the lyrics of the song, which are worth checking out if you have trouble understanding her in spots. give it a listen.



i'm curious what you think about this song. what do you think she's trying to say here? is this a song of hopelessness or hope? i challenge you to take a moment and reflect on this little piece of art regina spektor has created. and let us know what you think...

for the love of coffee

...

look, i love coffee about as much as anyone, but this is just a bit too much for me. i think. anyone ever tried it? let me know...

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in other random news...

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-the yankees are tied for first in the american league east. yay for pinstripes!

-amazon is selling radiohead's album "amnesiac" for $1.99 download today. great deal.

-shannon made blueberry pie yesterday. which means lots of yumminess in the next few days. it also meant an immediate post-desert bath for 2 purple kids last night.

-somehow, we are almost halfway through july already. where is the summer going, exactly?

-i took the kids to see ice age 3: dawn of the dinosaurs yesterday. it was what you would expect, but a good time was had by all.

-when jack wants to eat some dry cereal, say for a snack or something, he asks for it this way: "can i please have some dried-up cereal?" i love that.

-yesterday there was a scavengerous bird on the road, and jack called it a chicken vulture.

-this week i'll be painting our master bathroom in a color called 'cantaloupe slice.'

-i had some alone time last night, so i watched an old steeler game from last year: the divisional playoff round victory over the san diego chargers. yeah, i'm that guy who watches old games on his vcr. and yeah, i'm getting super excited about training camp. only 21 days!

-the word 'cantaloupe' could mean 'wolfsong.'

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now excuse me as i look into purchasing a murphy drip...

book: breath for the bones

i finally finished this book - luci shaw's breath for the bones: art, imagination, and spirit, reflections on creativity and faith- after slowly working my way through it for the last several months. the problem when it comes to a book like this, where each line is loaded with meaning, is that i want to read it carefully and closely, and conditions have to be 'right' for me to do that. and so i end up putting it off. i too often resist being inspired/moved, because i don't think its the right time (the kids are fighting, the lawn needs mowed, etc.).

but this is precisely what shaw is writing about it. if her book has a thesis (which it might not since it is composed of writings from workshops, journals, lectures, books, etc) it is that each one of us is called to notice beauty, to see God, and to create in response. she makes a great case against a kind of christian pragmatism or utilitarianism, arguing for the importance of beauty in our lives, using several sources along the way (chesterton, buechner, lewis, l'engle, eugene peterson, et.al.). the book is strongest, perhaps, where she uses personal stories/examples to illustrate her points.

so, i would definately recommend this book, particularly if you are an artist (poet, writer, painter, sculptor, designer, musician, etc.) and a Christian, and are looking to explore not only the connection between your faith and your creativity, but also the creative process itself. but if you are just looking for a casual read, this may not be the book for you. still, every christian who has ever said, "i'm just not that creative," should absolutely read at least parts of this book.

ps. if anyone wants to borrow my copy, let me know.

call and response

we had a great 4th of july weekend out in central pennsylvania with shannon's family, highlighted by the annual parade in osceola mills, which our boys have been looking forward to since last year due to the fact that the participants in the parade throw bucketloads of candy to the onlookers. they get more candy at this parade than at halloween. and so they love it. but the othe reason they love it is that all the firetrucks that are part of the parade (and believe me, if there are about 50 of them - every little village and hamlet and wannabe town in central pa. sends a nice shiny firetruck) leave town after lunch. and as they leave, they all turn on their sirens and make a big commotion. my kids love this. and i watched as they felt compelled not just to jump around or laugh or cover their ears or whatever, but to literally yell back to the sound, as if to join in the cataclysmic cacophony. they were filled with joy and intensity and the need to be a part of the noise, as you will see in the pics below.

oh, that we all would join in the celebrations of life with the same unabashed joy and intensity.

now playing: spiegel im spiegel

on my 5 minute drive to work, i often listen to wprb, public radio from princeton university. i love them because they play such an eclectic assemblage of music, and i love hearing new things. this morning was a classical show, and they were playing a piece that simply haunted me. so i looked it up and purchased it on itunes. and i've been listening to it all day. it is called 'spiegel im spiegel,' which in german means mirror in a mirror (or mirrors in a mirror), and is appropriately named as the triads seem to repeat in beautifully reflected ways, like looking at several angled mirrors at once. it is a pensive piece of music, with piano and cello, written by arvo part in 1978. i find it to be relaxing and beautiful and inspiring, and i hope you might, too. there are several versions of it on you tube (and several versions in various movies and tv shows, too), and this is one of them. it is 8 minutes long, but close your eyes and relax for a moment.

15 albums: teatro

in case you forgot, i'm still counting my 15 favorite albums of all time. willie nelson's teatro is one of the two i have left.

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that's right - i said willie nelson. but before some of you write this off as an album you wouldn't be interested in hearing; an album by an old country hick who sings in a pot-inflected voice about getting on the road again and not letting your babies grow up to be cowboys, just hold on a second. this album might surprise you. released in 1998, it features the expert producing of daniel lanois, who has also produced albums for bob dylan and u2, to name a few. with lanois at the helm, the album feels like the americana version of achtung, baby. and it not only features the amazingly laid-back latin-inspired guitar licks of willie, it also features backup vocals on nearly every track by the incomparable emmylou harris. the match is perfect, and the result is incredible. this is not your daddy's country music. and it certainly isn't your second cousin from alabama's country music. this is smart and sassy, genre-bending and, quite simply, great. the songs themselves are pretty classic willie, dealing for the most part with common themes of lost love and so on, but they feel like they've been baptized here, accompanied by the pulse of world-inspired percussion, a jazz piano, and willie's effortless-sounding guitar work. not only this, but the album feels like a complete package, each song fitting perfectly with the others, leaving you after 50 minutes with the feeling that you've just experienced something cohesive, something insprired, something important. if you are a big fan of willie nelson, you've no doubt heard this album, but if not, if you are a nominal fan, i urge you to pick it up. and if you are a willie-hater, or a country-hater, i challenge you to give it a try. you might be very surprised.

watch a great video of one of the songs from the album here.

happy 4th of july, 2009

happy independence day

costa rica, part 4 (toucans)

one of the things that struck me about costa rica was the sheer quantity and variety of green. but mostly the quantity. it was everywhere. layers and facets and shades and sheets and canopies of green. green and green and green. and, to be honest, this eruption of life from every part of the panorama was at once breathtakingly gorgeous and a bit overwhelming.

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but the lush landscape also served as a perfect canvas for dots of color that popped up like epiphanies. birds and lizards who painted the verdant vista in technicolor. and the best of that, for me, was the toucans who would pass through each day, landing on the branches above us, temporarily decorating our view like a tropical Christmas.

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hidden among the leaves would be this large bird, barely visible if i wasn't looking for it, but almost violently vibrant if i paid attention. the color would almost take my breath away.

and it reminds me of how i need to pay attention. i am currently in the midst of reading luci shaw's book 'breath for the bones,' and one of her chapters is about being attentive to the world around you and really seeing. and the toucans teach me the same lesson. i need to be aware. i need to be looking up - around - wherever. i need to free myself from the distractions of the irritating slowness of the car above me, or the inane ignorance from the television. i need to open up my eyes to the color of life, the extravagant, almost scandalous gifts of grace shrouded in each moment, hidden only because i am too blind to notice. but if i pay attention (and luci shaw says that the word 'pay' is significant - we pay in time and energy and discipline), i may just be blessed beyond knowing, and connected to my wildly imaginitive Creator. the very same Creator who, in a moment of what must have been almost ridiculous joy, designed the long curved beaks and festive colors of the toucans.

i want to pay attention.

film review: persepolis

i picked up this film a few weeks ago for a few bucks and decided to give it a look yesterday, as i am planning my 'reel life' curriculum for the fall. i was really surprised and moved by the film, and just thought i'd say a word about it here.

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persepolis is an animated film, and it won several awards, beginning in cannes, and you can read about all of that here, if you really want to. in short, it is the story of a young girl who is growing up in iran in the midst of the iranian revolution. as such, it seemed particularly poignant, even so much as showing a political protest in which one of the protesters was killed, eerily foreshadowing current events.

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but the movie isn't as much about the political problems in iran as it is about marjane's journey through childhood and adolescence and into womanhood. from her childhood she longs to be a 'prophet,' and to a certain extent fills that role as she stands up for what she believes is right and true in the face of government control and propaganda, but the main part of the conflict has to do with her own inability to really embrace that role, or find a venue for it. she wants to be a revolutionary, but is instead limited by her gender, and her forced move to europe. it raises questions for us about what we can/should do when government oversteps its bounds, but it more effectively raises questions about how we can be true to ourselves in whatever situation we find ourselves. marjane's grandmother serves as a kind of spiritual guide in the midst of her journey, constantly reminding her to be fully herself, a woman of character and integrity no matter what else happens.

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i would say this is a pretty good film. the animation is really different and visually stimulating. the writing is at once poignant and playful, bringing to light some of the interesting juxtapositions of marjane's life. the story powerfully illustrates the costs of war. but my problem with the film is its ending...it just sort of drops off, in my opinion. maybe this points to my own need for tidy wrappings and bows on stories, but i just felt really let down by the end of the story, not because it wasn't the ending i wanted, but because it didn't seem like an ending at all. still, it is a compelling story, and if you don't mind reading subtitles, it is worth a view (if for no other reason than to see the dream sequence where God and karl marx are encouraging marjane that her time is not yet up, and that she must keep fighting - good stuff). it isn't exactly light fare, so please don't run out and rent it for your friday night dinner party and then blame it on me, but consider viewing this 95 minute film as a way to challenge yourself about who you are and if it is who you have meant to be (or who you were meant to be).