1. Padawan Learner – Becoming a Novice in religious life

    1 May, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    Although the official letter has not come yet, I am excited about being accepted as a novice with the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. It is not an easy process and takes a lot of hard work, patience, and testing similar to becoming a Padawan assigned to a Jedi.

    First there is an important time of testing such as Anakin went through with the Jedi Council when they are examining him, and considering if he would be a good fit and was emotionally stable enough to enter.

    Candidates / Postulants have a similar journey of psychiatric examinations, writing, interviews, and trial periods. After a year or two of living in the formation house (like the younglings in the Jedi Temple learning in groups with Master Yoda) the next testing begins. There is more writing, goal setting, interviews, and going to see the formation team which is kind of like going to speak with the Jedi Council only you get to sit down and there isn’t a sunset view of Coruscant out the windows. After that the Council deliberates and votes.

    The result in this case seems to be that I will be accepted into the novitiate, which means I will be going to the collaborative novitiate in St. Louis with a group of other novices. I have been a Padawan on my own in a way so far, so it will be great to meet some others!

    Someday I might make it to temporary profession which is sort of like Jedi–the trials are much more intense–and hopefully eventually to final profession which is like Jedi Master and takes about as much time. It will be many years before I would even be up for that, and a long road ahead, but this was an important next step and one that I am quite excited about.

    Have questions about what a novice is? Wondering if I will wear the one braid? Post comments below!

    Category Religious, Vocation | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 6 Comments

  2. Visualizing the Erfyl Sequel Characters

    23 April, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    When I am writing, after awhile I have quite a distinct look in my head for characters, and tend to go around and “fantasy cast” people who could do a good job in a film version. I like to open them up in my reference folders every now and then, especially when writing scenes between three or more to see what the room might look like and add to the texture of the scene.

    Since I am now almost halfway writing the draft of Erfyl‘s sequel—Ambar—here is a look at characters you will be familiar with as well as the new ones introduced.

    Erfyl
    Indiana Evans

    What drew me to her was the sweet venerability she is capable of showing, as evidenced in H2O: Just Add Water. I wanted the character to be as feminine as possible, in order to avoid the sort of male superhero in a skirt mentality that pervades a lot of genre fiction. She also has the right general look about her with golden blonde hair, a soft feel and full mouth that I had envisioned the character to look like.

    Stephen
    Richard Armitage

    Although he does not look exactly like I see Stephen’s build, what he does have is a definite stage presence. When he walks on screen you know it! From the first time I saw him in Robin Hood to his portrayal in North and South, I was impressed by the absolute confidence he shows without being overbearing or irritating about it. Stephen does have a darker look than his brother, although not quite to the extreme Armitage has.

    Gina
    Angel Coulby

    When I thought of Gina’s bubbly warmth I immediately thought of Angel. Watch some of her Merlin behind the scenes videos and you’ll see what I mean! Although I see Gina as having a bit darker skin, she definitely has the “cute” look of Angel, rather than something more elegant like Zoe as Ohura in Star Trek. She was probably the first visual I had for any of the characters. The minute I started writing her, Angel popped into my head and remained there, although Gina has definite differences.

    Felix
    Angus McLaren

    I actually chose him because he resembles a much younger David Wenham, who would be my first choice. They both give off an aura of attractiveness without it being the macho type, and also do not appear to be weak at the same time. It is a rare balance which is important to the character of Felix. He also has a bit of a nasty streak to him which comes out under pressure, and he needed to be extra handsome to make up for it!

    Museum Curator “The Old Man”
    Tony Amendola

    I’ve seen him in multiple stage productions, and more screen portrayals than I can keep track of. I think what brought the character and actor together in my head was his role of Bra’tac on Stargate. I didn’t want the curator to be anything like a classic wizard (sorry Dumbledore/Gandalf!) or the overtly elegant sophisticated type. He needed to be down to earth, yet with a haunting otherworld quality to him—eyes that you looked into and saw years of wisdom building within, yet still having the capacity to joke and smile.

    Vanessa
    Sarah Michelle Gellar

    Although she appears briefly in the first book, we find out more about her in the sequel and she takes on a more active role. I wanted someone short, yet fiery, and able to toss out one liners with a wry cutting humour. Vanessa is unlike Buffy in many ways—she isn’t human for one thing, has no friends, hates talking, never goes out to have fun, is a work-a-holic, and enjoys keeping people in the dark and being as cryptic as possible. She also fights with ninja stars when pressed to it, and has more of a flowing dance movement that is closer to River in Firefly than Buffy.

    Ambar
    Jake Gyllenhaal

    He is introduced in the second book and without giving too much away, he is the same race as Vanessa. His character is quite the enigma—you never know which side he’ll decide to be on. The one that is certain is that whichever side he’s on tends to be victorious. Erfyl has a terrible time trying to decide whether to fight him or recruit him. While Dastan has a similar fighting technique, Ambar is much more cheerful and open about his emotions. He also does not have the sense of family bonding, which is the reason he and Vanessa basically ignore each other.

    Guthwyne
    Katie McGrath

    Speaking of enigmatic characters—book two sees the appearance of Guthwyne, the first of the Diras. Until now they have been a sort of faceless enemy, and that’s about to change. As the original power, she chooses to take a semi-human form more often than the others because of her close relationship with Ambar’s race. As for whether she will be Erfyl’s friend or foe you’ll have to read the book to find out! I chose Katie McGrath for her portrayal of Morgana’s story arc. She is able to go from the open-hearted innocent, yet opinionated ward of Uther to a cold bitter adversary. She has a distinctive voice that sets her apart from most actors, and gives the feeling that she doesn’t belong with humans. Her beautiful glowing skin and expressions add to the faerie quality that the Diras possess.

    Agree with the choices? Or did you imagine someone else? Post a comment below!

    Category Fiction, Writing | Tags: , | 2 Comments

  3. Why Fluffy in Harry Potter is like Doubting Thomas in the Gospels

    15 April, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    For students at Hogwarts during Harry Potter’s first year who heard a rumour that there was a three-headed dog on the forbidden floor, there were three ways to find out if it were true.

    First: Go up and open the door to see if Fluffy is there
    This is the experiential tactile way of finding out if a rumour is true. A lot of people need that sort of proof. It’s a good thing in a way—it shows that someone wants to be sure of something before perpetuating a possible fallacy.

    Second: Use reason and intellect to discover if Fluffy is behind the door
    I’m sure there is a spell equivalent to Homenum Revelio for canines. Thinking carefully and researching could enable a student to find out if there is a dog without actually taking the risk of stepping inside.

    Third: Ask Hermione directly if there is a three-headed dog and trust her answer
    This is the equivalent of faith—if there is someone you really trust, they can be asked if the rumour is true and you will believe them. Of course she’d probably add that there was no way she would go with you to see Fluffy again…after all what’s worse than being expelled?

    When examining the narrative of Thomas requesting to see actual proof of Jesus resurrection, we can see that he is a fan of the first sort of discovering the truth. There is nothing wrong with that, after all if Harry, Hermione, and Ron had not actually seen Fluffy the Dark Lord might have gained power right in the first book!

    Jesus himself had to offer tactile proof to the rest of the disciples—eating fish, showing his wounds, and more before they believed him. Thomas was not frightened—he knew what he needed to believe what was true, and asked to see it.

    Which category are you? I know I’m probably a combination of the first and second, and have trouble with the third.

     

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | 4 Comments

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