It’s tough when you are twelve. Nothing you liked to do when you were younger is interesting anymore, and you are not allowed to do anything else yet.

Frankie is dying to leave her town, longing to get out and do exciting adventurous things. Her brother is in the army, and she adores him for the adventurous life she is sure he is leading.

And when he comes home to introduce his new bride, that is only one more adventurous romantic thing that Frankie is dying to be a part of.

That’s the main thrust of the story’s action. But the relationships between the main characters (Frankie, Bernice, and John Henry) are more important than Frankie’s delusions.

Bernice is the black cook. Her life, revealed in little peeks, has been far from dull. She cares very much about Frankie and her little cousin John Henry. She is very sympathetic to Frankie and tries to help her every way she can. John Henry gets the short end of the deal in the end.

It’s funny, too, how they all end up acting like kids. That happens! Adults, like Bernice, get drawn into the logic of the children. If you spend that much time around kids, you do start to think like them.

Frankie is trying so hard to be the grown-up that she doesn’t know how to be yet.

Every day has some “stuff” in it. I mean, little thorns and snags of life. Things you would like to change, or wish you didn’t have to deal with.

Sometimes they are not so little. Sometimes they feel, to you, like monumental struggles–rapids on the river of history.

This is why I like the X-Men. Boy, have they got problems. They are gifted, sure. But their gift is a curse.

And even if it were a true gift, they aren’t sure how to deal with it. Because they are each absolutely unique in the universe, an undiscovered and uncharted force in nature’s fabric.

Like me.

And like you.

You and I don’t have the elemental force of weather at our command, like Storm. And it won’t kill people if we touch them, like Rogue. I don’t have claws that rip open my knuckles when I fight.

But I have my gifts. My powers, though not “super” are to be reckoned with.

I finally watched the XMEN movie last night. I love to see how these dramatic super heroes deal with their stuff and the stuff of those around them.

How does Rogue manage to be so sensitive to others, when she cannot ever reach out?

And how does Wolverine manage to be so brave in the face of all the pain he deal with?

How does Jean Grey stand up before congress and stay calm when pleading the cause of herself and her friends?

Theri problems are more exciting than mine, I have to say. But courage is courage. Self-control is self-control. Caring is caring. No matter who you are.

Xmen are so cool!

America has never had a military coup–That we know of.

This story is about a “what might have been.”

We see it in other countries all the time. Popular general-weak president.

The general sees fit to take over as president. After all, it seems to make a lot of sense.

I like this story because it had a lot of intrigue. You don’t know what is going to happen, how things are going to work out even at the very end. The power play between such powerful figures is fascinating to me.

Two kids went on the missionary trail-but with a camera.

They sold the rights of their trip to Trinity Broadcast Network, and there is a show on TV about how they did what they did. Travel The Road, they call it.

Actually, as I understand it, only the one guy was a Missionary. The cameraman wasn’t even a believer when they started. He apparently converted partway through the trip.

I think this would be a good show. I’d like to check it out!