What's New in April 2025
New character posts, essays, and Enneagram content
April sped past me. The older I get, the faster time moves. I remember when a month seemed like forever. Now it passes in the blink of an eye.
Here are my latest posts! Enjoy!
MOVIE REVIEWS:
Around the World in 80 Days (2022)
This uneven miniseries has a fun idea behind it, but drags in places, and doesn’t balance out the seriousness of its subtle politicking with humor. While the cast is good, it just never grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go. Phileas Fogg (David Tennant) has been in a slump for thirty years. He has become so entrenched in his routine, he has never deviated from it. One boring morning seated in his club, sharing his usual breakfast with his usual friends, he hears about how navigating the world is now possible because of modernization and says he bets it could be done in eighty days… [read more]
Interview with the Vampire, Season 1 (2022)
AMC has taken Anne Rice’s novel and transplanted it into the 1920s New Orleans. Though not faithful to the source material, the writers have done a surprisingly good job of changing most of the details while remaining true to the spirit of the original. It’s been a long time since journalist Daniel Mollogy (Eric Bogosian) heard from the vampire, but now his old friend summons him to take notes for a book about his life. Louis (Jacob Anderson) has everything going for him as a Negro in the deep south. A successful business where people pay good money to drink, gamble, and… [read more]
SELF-GROWTH FOR ENNEARAM 6s:
Am I a 6 or a 2? The Common Mistype
One of my online friends is a 2 who mistyped as a 6 for a long time; if you ask her about it, she will laugh and say her image-ego felt drawn to 6s because she sees them as the “real” 2s. The givers who have no ulterior motive and meet people’s real needs. I felt flattered, but 6s are not entirely altruistic. Suzanne Stabile, an Enneagram teacher and a famous 2, has also said that most of the 2s she meets at conventions are mistyped 6s… [more]
Our Path to Self-Growth: Self-Awareness
Someone asked me recently if my understanding of my own type has changed over the last year or so, and I had to think about it (ha, ha, on brand for a head type, no?). I don’t think my understanding of 6 has changed, since I have pretty much been aware of “what is 6” and “how does it operate” for a long time now… but I think I have changed, enough that people in my every day life have commented on it, told me that I seem more at ease with myself, more peaceful, less frustrated and worried, less reactive, etc. It’s nice to hear those things… [read more]
Let’s talk about Anne Elliot from Jane Austen’s Persuasion. A girl so bound by super-ego, she winds up doing things she doesn’t want to, to avoid her inner reprimands. Anne gives up the man she loves after a friend convinces her to do so; she stays home to look after her sister’s kids so the self-centered, whiny sister can go out to dinner with their friends; she takes care of her selfish family members; she stays and nurses at a sick girl’s bedside… [read more]
Learn to Trust Your Misgivings, Not Your Anxiety
One of the hardest things for a 6 to do is to learn to tell the difference between their gut hunches and instincts (which are often insightful and correct), and the anxiousness of their own mind (which creates a mental haze of loud thought-confusion). If they can tap into this side of themselves, it will enable them to distinguish between a true threat that should be heeded and one that does not exist… [read more]
Last summer, I bought a truck, and had all kinds of anxieties about it (about being in debt, how to get it here from another state, etc.) but at the same time, I was aware of them and often choosing not to indulge them. It felt almost disembodied, where an anxious thought would come over me, and I would just look at it for a while, and then go “This is an irrational fear.” … [read more]
BLOG POSTS:
Thoughts on House of David (And on Writing Biblical Fiction Well)
I love a good adaptation of a Bible story. How about you? One of my favorites is The Prince of Egypt, which in every way is a gorgeous musical animated project. But I also hold a soft spot in my heart for Ben-Hur, The 10 Commandments, The Chosen, and others. I also love to write it, and am in the process of an extensive re-imagining of my novel I, Claudia, about Pilate’s wife… because now, I am a much better writer… [read more]
The Neglected Queen: Katharine of Aragon
Katharine of Aragon is my spiritual inspiration. Since she’s been dead over four hundred years, we’ve never met, but every once in a while, someone comes along so devout, I can’t help taking notice and for me, that person is Katharine, first wife of Henry VIII, known for his six wives and the infamous rhyme “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived! … [read more]
Ever since the first issue of Captain America came out showing the hero punching Hitler in the jaw, sci-fi and WWII have been linked. From Doctor Who saving a Blitz-torn London from Daleks to the exploits of Indiana Jones, many heroes have been face to face with history’s most evil force. My two favorite encounters are those in Sanctuary and Doctor Who, but there are many, many more… [read more]
Legend of the Seeker: Sorcerer & Confessor
Fantasy stories have always appealed to me, because it speaks to my deep inner desire for “magic.” Our hearts crave stories of heroism and magic because we know that we are meant for something greater. And there is no more heroic or magical journey than that of Richard Cyper in the wonderful television series Legend of the Seeker, inspired by Terry Goodkind’s novels… [read more]
Fragile as Porcelain: Memoirs of a Geisha
Dolls are non-sentient beings, created for beauty, pleasure, and play. Some of them sit upon shelves, or behind glass, while others live according to the whims of their owners. Some little girls show their dolls kindness; others do not. But the doll has no choice over its fate, its treatment, what it wears, where it sits, or what it acts out. It is helpless. The journey at the heart of Memoirs of a Geisha is the quest to become a porcelain doll; a beautiful thing, admired, gazed upon, which gives pleasure to others, but who abandons self enough to be perfect… [more]
CHARACTER TYPING POSTS:
Wolf Hall: Thomas Cromwell [INTJ 9w8]
Cromwell is always ten steps ahead of everyone else in the room; even as he watches Anne Boleyn maneuver her way into Henry’s good graces, he has an eye on Jane Seymour as a potential replacement for when it all goes wrong. He can easily see multiple sides of an issue and point them out to others, while ultimately hinting at a stronger subconscious truth. Even how he answers people is cautious of his response, and how they could twist it against him down the road… [read more]
House of David: David [ISFP 9w1]
David is very self-assured in his moral absolutes, and he makes decisions based both on what he feels is right and what he believes God wants for him to do. He does not hesitate to express his feelings or to go against people with whom he disagrees, because it does not occur to him that this could be dangerous. For example, when King Saul asks him which man his daughter should choose, David says none of them; she should marry me, because of his developing feelings for her… [read more]
The Big Country: James McKay [INTJ 9w1]
McKay gets the lay of the land quickly once he arrives on the major’s ranch, and he draws specific personal insights from the situation no one else has drawn or has the guts to say to people’s faces. He rapidly realizes that paying back the Hannasseys for abusing him the day before is an excuse for the major to abuse them; it’s not about him, it’s about them. He sees the major and old man Hannassey as similar. He also realizes instantly that the ranch foreman, Leech, is in love with Pat (“You’re gambling, Leech. You’re gambling that if we fight, we can beat me. And you’re gambling that if you beat me, Miss Terrill will admire you for it.”)… [read more]
Wolf Hall: Jane Boleyn [ISTP 8w9]
Jane has a very critical nature, inclined to point out flaws in other people’s thinking as situations arise. She does not hesitate to prod other people, condemn their stupidity, or respond with a sharp tongue. Jane is excellent at analyzing others and discerning their natural flaws and weaknesses, then exploiting them both for her own amusement and other’s ends… [read more]
Sleuth: Milo Tindle [ENTP 7w8]
Milo doesn’t have a very realistic perception of what his life is going to be like with another man’s wife, and it catches him off guard when Wyke asks him a lot of questions about his lifestyle, background, and financial situation. He just thought Wyke could divorce her, so they could get married, and live off his income from his hair salons. But when Wyke sells him on the idea of defrauding the insurance company and making off with a load of jewels worth a couple hundred thousand pounds, Milo sees the potential in that offer and climbs on board… [more]
CONCLUSION
Thanks for staying a part of my mailing list! Have a wonderful May, and I’ll see you next month!
Charity