Fall is Here ~

~:Fall:~

leaves // crispy apples // flannel everything // chilly evenings // warm tea mugs // pomegranate pie scented candles // pumpkins decorated with crafty stuff // cold rain // huge sweaters // candy corn // crisp breezes // vintage coats // thanksgiving // combat boots // roasted pumpkin seeds // caramel // pumpkin pie Pusheen Cat // fuzzy socks // Orion in the sky // reading books by the hearth // brown leather jackets // sunshine on leaves // watching Sherlock // fluffy pajamas // dark red lipstick // the smell of coffee // the first snow // studying // Owl City's "The Real World" // leaves fluttering to the ground // black cats // forest green // corduroy // sleeping with a dog // red cardigans // the warmth of hugs that isn't there at other times of year // plushy sweaters //

 *   What does Fall mean for you?   *

*☾ - A Rambly Post About Astronomy & The Solar Eclipse - ☽*

 (a.k.a. a very ramble-y, nonsensical post about space... and things. Prepare yourself)

If you've been hanging around this blog for awhile, two things are possible. 1. You have great tolerance for putting up with me (congratulations for that), and 2. you might have noticed that I am sort of obsessed with astronomy.
In fact, I consider myself an amateur astronomer.
My love for the night sky (and even the day sky) has always been around, but first began to show itself among my many interests when I took an astronomy course for high school (which seems like so long ago). I also saw Dr. Jason Lisle in person, around the time that he had just published "The Stargazer's Guide to the Night Sky" (a greeeeeaaat book btw if you are clueless about celestial objects/events and you want to get started somewhere), and I was rather depressed at the time that I didn't have enough money to buy the huge book (which was something around 20 dollars; a fortune for me back then). But a couple years later, in 2014 or so, my mom bought the book for me when I was doing the astronomy course! I was pretty happy, folks.
I learned a whooolllle lot with that book.

It was around this time that I really began to take an interest in astronomy.
Not only the aesthetic of it, but the wonder of it. I mean, have you seen this video? Outer space is amazing! Do you realize if you floated up into the sky, past the planets, past interstellar space, past our solar system, you would just keep going and going and going?
There's nothing out there.
And there's everything.

(one of my favorite star clusters)

 ☾ * ☽

Anyways. I said all of that to say, that on August 21st, 2017, I saw (what has been called) the Great American Solar Eclipse.
I saw the moon pass over the sun, people.
Did you hear me?
I saw the moon.
Pass over.
The sun.
And I can't. believe. it's over. It felt so surreal the whole time. It still feels surreal. Like a really amazing dream that cannot possibly be true.
But it is true.
It happened.

NOT MY IMAGE. (not sure who to credit. : / )

I had the safety solar glasses, of course. Hopefully they were 'safe' ones, as there were apparently a lot of controversy about fakes out there. All I can say is, my eyes seem ok, but hopefully I won't go blind in a few years. (even though it would be worth it, I think)

 ☾ * ☽

I made a pinhole viewer to watch the progression on the ground. And I saw crescents everywhere. Through the holes in a colander, through my pinholes, even through the shadows of the leaves on the ground!
And then.
I looked up through my glasses, and I saw the last smidgen of sun disappear. I also saw the diamond ring before it faded out.
(photo credit to whoever took the shot)
The outdoors around me went dark, and the nighttime creatures started to make their sounds.
Then, I looked up (without my glasses this time) and I saw the most beautiful thing I think I've ever seen. 

It was a big, dark circle, with a bright ring of light around it. But it wasn't a smooth ring. It had, like wisps. It was totally amazing. I don't want to break any copyright laws, but here's a photo of what it looked like. 
(and I can't credit the photo because I don't know who took the shot. #please don't sue me)
Guys, it was so surreal. I have never seen anything like it.
I saw stars! I saw sunsets all around the horizon! I saw a beautiful, bright planet (pretty sure it was Venus or Jupiter), all at 1:10  in the afternoon! 

By now in this post, I feel like I'm just saying the same things over and over again. If you didn't see the eclipse, you are probably really bored right now, and I probably sound like some nutty stargazing fanatic-who-doesn't-know-that-much-about-outer-space-and-science-but-likes-looking-at-stars-and-moons-and-suns-anyhow. (But you know what? That's what I am.) And that's ok.
All I can say is, God is amazing.

Millions of people saw what I saw. Can you believe that probably a lot of them still don't believe that God exists, or cares about them? In wonder if and how many people were affected on a religious level by this eclipse. It's interesting to think about.

☾ * ☽

As for myself, I feel more in touch with God (if that is possible. He has always been as 'in touch' with me as He's ever going to be, but you know), and His creation.
I feel more in touch with the universe.
I feel like the sun is my friend now. The moon has always been my friend (throwback to my old profile picture, anyone?), but now the sun is special to me too. I just can't observe it as well. But I can learn about it.

Photo Credit: ME

Speaking of cool and interesting things, I am lucky enough to have a great memory of the eclipse to look back on through the years, besides just pictures. A friend from St. Louis sent me a postcard with an eclipse stamp! This postage stamp is different because it is heat-sensitive. So when you put your finger over it, the moon appears! 
And look at the post mark: 21 Aug 2017, the day of the eclipse!!!!!!!!!!!! (look at me, using all of those exclamation points... #yourfangirlisshowing)
Definitely the coolest stamp I own out of all 2000 something that are in my collection. 
I'm so happy right now, people. And amazed. And inspired. And everything.

*sigh* 
I'm going to leave now. For I am sure that I'm boring you. 
Time to binge watch space videos on YouTube. 
Bye!  

☽* Amaris *☾  

p.s. Before I leave, let me just share a video. This is one of the best ones I have found. I just get excited all over again when I watch it. I love how this guy captures the cheers and excitement of the onlookers. 



That is all!

A Few Small Reviews

So I actually haven't been watching a lot of movies lately, but I wanted to share my opinions on a couple that I HAVE watched. :) Thus, a 'mini review' post. :)

Apollo 13 [1995]

3.5 out of 5 stars

I'm an incurable stargazer (or maybe I'm just called a spacey person? I don't know...) who loves pretty much anything related to outer space, so I enjoyed this movie pretty good. I've always been really intrigued with the history space travel and such, so when I heard of this movie, I made sure to remind my mom to get it when we went to the movie store. 

I can't ignore the fact that the movie was just a leeetle rough around the edges. None of us were really crazy about the amount of cuss words sprinkled throughout, and a couple of cringe-worthy sexual references dampened my experience just a little bit, but cut those few things out and you have a great, timeless movie.*nods decidedly* I liked it.

Moana [2016]

3 out of 5 stars

I think people are making too big of a deal out of this whole movie. But in spite of the fact that it isn't as good (in my opinion) as everyone is saying, I enjoyed it well enough during our family movie night. There was some unwelcome crude humor as well as some ridiculous 'magic spiritual water' moments, which I didn't like very much. However, we all agreed the soundtrack was 5 out of 5 stars (I dare you to tell me that Lin's voice isn't amazing). And Moana herself I liked pretty well.
(Honorable mention: the shiny crab was pretty hilarious.)

Hidden Figures [2017]

5 out of 5 stars

Another space-y movie, this follows the journeys of three African-American women in the 60's as they work for NASA in spite of various discrimination issues, and how they left their mark in the history of NASA. Another one of those "What Happened Behind the Scenes of the Story We All Know" stories, it was very inspiring with funny quips and, not to mention, I actually cried like three times. I saw this almost two months ago, but as far as I remember, there wasn't really any cringe-worthy sexy moments or too much cussing, except for maybe one or two 'd' words.

But anyways, I will definitely buy this one on DVD when it comes out.

I'm Not ashamed [2016]

4 out of 5 stars

I feel like most Christian movies fall into two separate groups: {1} The low-budget, cheesy Christian 'save-the-farm' kind of movie that tries to throw in some weird romance subplot to make it interesting (except it only succeeds in making it more cheesy), and {2} the over-hyped, "Where Have I Seen That Christian Actor Before"  movie with a dramatic story that warms your heart until you get to the climax and it unexpectedly breaks out into either violence or heart-wrenching tragedies.
Honestly, both kinds annoy me a bit. But this one, although heart-wrenching, was not cheesy, nor very violent. In other words, I enjoyed it quite well, and it was rather inspiring.

You walk away from this movie wanting to live for Jesus the best way you can. It's a great takeaway.

I have to mention that at a book fair the other day, I found the actual book about the shooting, Rachel's Tears, written by her parents. I'm halfway through, and so far it's really good. It was only $1. :)

Gifted Hands - The Ben Carson Story [2009]

5 out of 5 stars

I know, I know. The title sounds completely cheesy. And the DVD case looked cheesy when my mom randomly brought it home because 'It looked good'. I had every reason to believe that it was a cheesy movie. Except when we watched it, it was not.
 In fact, it was pretty good. REALLY good, in my opinion. It was inspiring, it kept me guessing, it kept me engaged, and it pointed me to God. It tells the intriguing story of Ben Carson, whom you may remember from the 2016 primaries who almost ran for president, but dropped out soon after the race began. 

Like I mentioned before, low-budget, cheesy Christian movies annoy me. But this was another movie that was not like that. It follows the story of Ben as a child, through his teenage years and how he came to be one of the greatest neurosurgeon in... I think the world? But yeah. I love 'biography' type movies, and this was a huge winner.

Last Days in the Desert [2016]

0 out of 5 stars

Bad, bad, bad. Also confusing. And just bad. I mean the story. It wasn't inappropriate bad, just bad story-wise. In fact, ridiculous. Waste of time and money. We watched all the way to the end in the hopes that the climax will tie something together and make sense. But no. someone died, someone left, and nothing happened. Nothing. No one even had names. I don't even remember why the movie was PG-13. But it doesn't matter. It was just bad.

Bad, bad, bad. 

Me no like. 

p.s. don't watch it.

#youoweme2hoursofmylife
Just bad. 

(Wow, Amaris. Calm down your hateful self.) 

Well, I hate to end this post with a negative note, so I'll just throw something random in here.... hm.
 Oh yes! I cut and styled my hair myself today! It turned out super cute. I am never going to the hair salon again... :)
Also, I've been helping one of my siblings out with WWI history, and I've become kind of obsessed lately. I mean, I've always enjoyed learning about wars (and just history in general), but up until now, WWII has been more my thing. Anyways, I guess it's time to take out War Horse and Testament of Youth from the dusty ol' shelf to watch again, since we're on the subject!
Oh, but they're both such SAD movies... I don't even know if I'm READY to watch them... But I guess I'll do it.
For history.

Bye.

#random