Ender's Game - Loneliness

[I'm writing this post in the "stream of consciousness" kind of style, as encouraged by Brian, because I've been wanting to write about these books but don't really have an organized way to present my thoughts. So enjoy my thought jumble.]

I recently heard that Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game was being made into a movie, and because I didn't want the movie to ruin the book, I bought the book and amazingly zipped through it in two days. I absolutely loved the book, so I picked up its sequel Speaker for the Dead which took me considerably more time to read through, but was, in my opinion, much richer in depth.

I don't expect to give away many spoilers here, but please feel free to stop reading this post if you plan on reading the books (which you should). But if you're going to cop out and just watch the movie in lieu of the books, continue reading. I doubt the movie will be able to capture the depth of emotion and insight into human nature as the books will. Also, stop being such a lazy human being.

Anyways, the central theme of the two novels, in my opinion, is loneliness. Most prominent in Ender's Game is the loneliness of genius, which Orson Scott Card magically makes us relate to (or maybe just me, because I know how it feels to be burdened with genius). Not only Ender is alone because of the jealousy and distrust from the other students and eventual physical separation, he is alone because no one has the intellectual capacity to understand him. While this situation is truly applicable only to a few in the world, the feeling that no one understands you runs deep within us. And what sucks even more for Ender is that while he is a truly a super-genius and wise beyond his years, he still experiences many of the emotional hurts as the child that he is.

Living in Fort Wayne, I don't usually feel lonely. I don't sit in my apartment and lament about how lonely I am. But when such a vivid picture of loneliness is painted, those hidden emotions within me start bubbling up. The night before I was going to drive up to Michigan to meet up with my friends for this awesome camping trip, I stayed up later than I should have finishing Ender's Game. I'm not going to spoil the scene here, but if you read the book, you'll know what scene I'm referring to (hint - it's when Ender wakes up).

"Then Ender began to cry and embraced [two of his friends] who were closest. 'I missed you,' he said. 'I wanted to see you so bad.' ...[Someone tells a joke] They all laughed at that. Laughed until tears streamed down their faces."

For some reason, this hit close to home. After the chapter ended, I just laid in bed and sobbed. Because that's exactly what I felt. I've been waiting to hang out with my college buddies, and I just couldn't wait to see my friends! I don't think a novel has ever made me cry before (no, not even ASOIAF), but this desire of relief from loneliness was all too real for me.

Ender's game is a great book. It's a page-turner, which makes it a quick and easy read, so I highly suggest reading it before the movie comes out. I had hoped to talk more about Speaker for the Dead in this post, but this post is already getting kind of long, so I'll save it for next time. Below is one of my favorite Christian rap song and is obviously relevant to the topic of loneliness.

Rejected Ideas for Iris' Wedding

Iris (my little sister) is getting married in exactly a week, and I'm totally pumped for her wedding. Since Iris and James have been engaged, I've been throwing them a bunch of ideas that I think would spice up the wedding. Most of them (actually all of them, thinking about it) have been rejected. But here's a list of the things I proposed to Iris.

[Note: If you are destined to be my future spouse. Please stop reading here. Thank you.]

Embarrassing Toast - In Review

I've been threatening Iris for months with telling all the embarrassing stories of our childhood for my toast. I still have a week of leverage to use this threat!

Wedding Gifts Commission - Rejected

I would graciously take on the responsibilities as the person in charge of collecting gifts, and as a token of gratitude for my service, Iris and James would "reward" me with 10% of the total gifts. Unfortunately, Iris and James have already found people who would do this task for free...

Pregnant Sumo - Rejected

Iris: Yes Sheila is coming!
Iris: she will be very pregnant
Iris: like sara
Caleb: for some entertainment
Caleb: there should be a pregnant sumo
Caleb: stomp...stomp...SMASH
Iris: you are so terrible...

Have Timmy be a Centerpiece - In Review

Who knows. Maybe Tim will agree to this!

Poop bouquet toss - Rejected

Picture this. Iris is turned around, and all the single ladies are crowded behind her in anticipation of the bouquet toss and the chance to be the next one to marry. Iris hands suddenly lift from in front of her, and all the girls scream in delight, until they realize that it's not a bouquet that has been tossed, but a pile of stinky poo! The screams of delight quickly become screams of horror, as all of the girls try to run to avoid the poo. Some girls, however, are not so lucky and are trapped in the middle of the panicking crowd. The original pile of poop separates in the air, greatly increasing its area of effect. Any attempt to flee is now futile. The poop rains down from above, spoiling the new, hundred dollar dresses on the unfortunate upset, once-hopeful girls. What a glorious scene it would be.

Daddy-daughter dance to dad's own singing - Rejected

Few of you probably know this, but despite being as close to tone-deaf as someone possibly can be, my dad loves to invent his own songs and sing them repeatedly until he gets tired or my mom tells him to stop. Iris and I have obviously memorized many of the numerous songs he likes to sing, and I thought that it would be fitting, hilarious, and emotionally moving to record my dad singing his silly songs and have Iris and him dance to it. Unfortunately, neither party agreed.

Nose Pore Cleaner Wedding Favor and Guestbook - Rejected

Recently, my mom has been on a mission to clear the dirty pores in my noes, so she bought those strips that stick to your nose and pull out all the gunk from your pores. Iris and I have both used them, as they're pretty fun to use and it's amazing the stuff that can get embedded in your nose. After Jenny and Steven's wedding, we were discussing how much we liked the stamp guestbook idea, and thought that maybe we could give each guest a nose pore cleaner, and then paste it onto some sheet and write their name next to it, kind of like Jenny and Steven's thing!

    

[This photo stolen from Jenny's Facebook]

Now try to imagine around 200 of these things
on a sheet of paper!

Kinda hard to believe that this girl is getting married in a week!

And her big brother is totally excited for her!

Napoleon Card Game Rules

Introduction

Napoleon is a fun, casual trick-based 5-player game with a hint of deception and considerable more depth than the similar and very-popular Euchre. I was taught this game by a college friend from the West Coast (Arthur!), and I only recently learned that Napoleon isn't an established game and may have actually been invented by him(or a friend). Because I had previously forgotten the rules when I wanted to teach it to some friends and couldn't find any documentation of Napoleon anywhere on the internet (other than the Euchre-like game that shares its name), I've decided to create the first ever official manual for Napoleon.

Overview

Napoleon is a 5-player trick-based alliance card game, with similar game play to Bridge, where teams change each round and are partially hidden for a portion of each round. Each round, players bid to be Napoleon, who declares the trump suit and a card to determine his temporarily secret teammate, the Secretary. All players that are not Napoleon and his Secretary are members of the 3-pronged Allies, fighting to prevent Napoleon and his Secretary from winning the previously bid number of tricks.

Setup

Napoleon is played with a standard 52-card deck and five players.

Each player is dealt 10 cards, and the remaining 2 cards, known as "the warchest", are dealt face-down in the center. Dealing responsibility is rotated clockwise.

Bidding Phase

In this phase, players bid on the number of tricks to win as Napoleon. Unlike bridge, bids do not include a trump suit, which is declared after the auction phase.

The previous round's Secretary begins bidding. For the first round of the game, the player to the left of the dealer begins bidding. Bidding can begin at any number of tricks but cannot exceed 10, which is the total number of tricks in a round. Bidding continues clockwise, where players can either make a higher bid or pass, until all players have passed or the bid has reached 10. Once a player has passed bidding, he cannot bid again that round.

The player with the winning bid is Napoleon for the round.

Napoleon's Declaration Phase

1) Napoleon picks up the two cards in the warchest into his hand, keeps his desired 10-card hand, and returns two cards to the warchest. Note that Napoleon does not need to keep either of the cards from the warchest and can choose to return one or both of the cards back to the warchest. The warchest is to remain face down for the remainder of the round.

2) Napoleon declares the trump suit or makes a "no trump" declaration.

Example: "Spades are trump."

3) Napoleon chooses a secret Secretary by declaring a card that is not in his hand as the "coup (as in coup d'état) card", and the player holding the coup card becomes Napoleon's Secretary. The coup card is often the highest trump that Napoleon does not hold. At this point in the round, only the Secretary knows the identity of all the players in the game. As in all other phases of the game, table talk is not permitted, and no lobbying for the position of Secretary is allowed.

Example: "The player with the King of Spades is my Secretary."

Tricks Phase

Napoleon leads (plays the first card) for the first trick. Following game play is identical to standard trick-based games (such as bridge), with the following exceptions.

Napoleon and Secretary vs. The Allies

Rounds are played 2 players against 3 players, where Napoleon and his Secretary are on one team and the three remaining players are on the opposing team, known as "The Allies". Napoleon and the Secretary win the round if their combined number of tricks won is greater than or equal to the number of tricks previously bid by Napoleon. Otherwise, the Allies win the round. In the beginning of the round, alliances are hidden, with only the Secretary having full knowledge of each player's identity.

Secretary Reveal and the Coup Card

At any one point in the round, if the coup card has not yet been played by the Secretary, Napoleon may say "Secretary, reveal yourself". By asking the Secretary to reveal himself, Napoleon is asking the Secretary to do the two following things:

1. Win this trick.
2. Use the coup card if necessary.

For the current trick, the Secretary has the additional advantage of the ability to play the coup card without following suit. In other words, the coup card can be played regardless of the previous cards played in the trick. If the coup card is the highest trump that Napoleon doesn't hold, playing the coup card guarantees the trick for Napoleon and the Secretary.

However, the Secretary is not required to play the coup card. If the Secretary believes he can win the trick without using the coup card, he can choose not to use it and save the card for future use. After the trick, the coup card returns to it's normal function, and Napoleon may not ask the Secretary to reveal himself again. The Secretary of the round will not be made obvious until the coup card appears in normal game play.

Note that when playing with no trump, the power of the coup card is greatly reduced. Also, it is possible for Napoleon to say "Secretary, reveal yourself" in a trick where the Secretary has already played a card. In this situation, there is nothing the Secretary can do, and the opportunity for special use of the coup card is lost.

Scoring

If Napoleon and the Secretary win the round, each player receives 2 points. If the Allies win, each of the three winning players receive 1 point.

The first of the five players to reach 10 points wins.

Continue playing rounds until a player reaches 10 points, starting with the bidding phase at the beginning of each round.

Becoming Discontent in 7 Easy Steps

Are you tired of being happy with your life? Sick of living an anxiety-life? Worry about your worrylessness no more! Here's 7 easy steps to living a perpetually discontent life, a process I personally perfected after a honeymoon-like week of hanging out with old friends July 4th week, where my yearning for deep community (and other less honorable desires) was rekindled and set ablaze. All the suppressed dissatisfaction with my life ate away at my heart, and I found myself coveting the lives of some of my old friends and dreaming of my own imaginary perfect future.

And so here, free of charge (for the first 30 days), is this 7-step EZ-Discontentment system. Enjoy.

1. Create a mental picture of your unattainable ideal life.
   
   
2. Compare yourself to other people, especially people that seem to be living a better life than you.
   
   
3. Think about all the possessions you don't have and all the experiences you're missing out on.
   
   
4. Puff yourself up and list the things you think you deserve but don't have at the moment.
   
   
5. Ignore the blessings in your life and the struggles of others.
   
   
6. Neglect your relationship with Jesus.
   
   
7. Repeat daily.

Sleep - A Divine Gift

As mentioned in a previous post, the single most difficult obstacle in my whole ACL surgery experience has been my inability to sleep well. The soreness of my knees has made it difficult to fall asleep and painful stiffness wakes me up multiple times a night. The first couple of weeks after the surgery, I woke up around once every two or three hours, sometimes laying awake for an hour or more just begging God to put me to sleep and pleading with my body to go to sleep. The last few weeks have been much better for me, as I only wake up completely once or twice throughout the night, though my tossing-and-turning-filled sleep still hasn't been great. In the last five weeks, I have only slept once continuously for more than 6 hours, and that was after a ridiculously tiring day on my camping trip last week. 

I've always taken a good night's sleep for granted. A trait inherited from my father and perfected in college, I've always had the ability to fall asleep easily anywhere at any time despite noise, light, or other distractions. Thus, I've never understood the struggle of those who have trouble sleeping and secretly considered most claims of insomnia to be gross exaggerations and general falsehoods, never expecting to experience it personally. Difficulty walking and hurting knees were expected after surgery, but I had no idea that disrupted sleep would torment me the most.

Below is a passage of The Life of Elijah, an awesomely dense book PB and I started reading together years ago and I still haven't finished. When I first read the passage weeks before my surgery, I found it very odd that AW Pink would spend a relatively large chunk of  a chapter talking about the seemingly misplaced topic of sleep. In my recent struggles with sleep, I've found deep meaning in Pink's digression on the subject, realizing that I was blinded to God's grace and taking His gift of sleep for granted, and it was only in my affliction that I gained sight of how important sleep is. 

I know it's a fairly long excerpt, but I highly encourage you to read it all carefully, reflecting on the state of your own heart and giving thanks to God for his mercies in your life. 

"[Elijah] 'slept under a juniper tree,' v.5. But the force of that is apt to be lost upon us, in this God-dishonouring day, when there are few left who realize that 'He giveth His beloved sleep,' Psa. 127.2. It was something better than 'nature taking its course': it was the Lord refreshing the weary prophet.

How often is it now lost sight of that the Lord cares for the bodies of His saints as well as for their souls. This is more or less recognized and owned by believers in the matter of food and clothing, health and strength, but it is widely ignored by many concerning the point we are here treating of. Sleep is as imperative for our physical well-being as is food and drink, and the one is as much the gift of our heavenly Father as is the other. We cannot put ourselves to sleep by any effort of will, as those who suffer with insomnia quickly discover. Nor does the exercise and manual labour of itself ensure sleep: have you ever lain down almost exhausted and then found you were 'too tired to sleep'? Sleep is a Divine gift, but the nightly recurrence of it blinds us to the fact.  

Alas, how little are we affected by the Lord's goodness and grace unto us. The unfailing recurrence of His mercies both temporally and spiritually inclines us to take them as a matter of course. So dull of understanding are we, so cold our hearts Godward, it is to be feared that most of the time we fail to realize whose loving hand it is which is ministering to us. Is not this the reason why we do not begin really to value our health until it is taken from us, and not until we spend night after night tossing upon a bed of pain do we perceive the worth of regular sleep with which we were formerly favoured? And such vile creatures are we that, when illness and insomnia come upon us, instead of improving and repenting of our former ingratitude, and humbly confessing the same to God, we murmur and complain at the hardness of our present lot and wonder what we have done to deserve such treatment. O let those of us who are still blessed with good health and regular sleep fail not daily to return thanks for such privileges and earnestly seek grace to use the strength from them to the glory of God."

- The Life of Elijah by AW Pink 

Previous Posts

ACL Post-Surgery Week 2
ACL Post-Surgery Week 1
My ACL Reconstruction
My Torn ACL

Shattered Pride

July 4th Week 2013 - Good Times with Old Friends

This last week, I went camping with old college friends at Pictured Rocks in the UP of Michigan and then hung out in Ann Arbor before college friends' wedding. It was great to spend so much time with old friends!

Friends are for...

• Feeding you a soft drink while you drive.

• Helping set up camp.

• Finishing leftover food.

• Manually steering your paddleboat's broken rudder.

• Fending off bugs in the middle of the forest with a towel (Thanks, Arthur!)

• Playing Nertz in the library.

• Reliving old times with you. 

• Carrying your fold-up chair for you because you're a cripple. (Thanks, Will!)

• Ironing your shirt for you. (Thanks, Maggie!)

• Dressing up together.

• Lending you a belt that you forgot to wear to a wedding. (Thanks, Jack!)