The Weekly Write-Up #48
Merry (Belated) Christmas! TWWU is Back!!!
It has been a LONG time since I published a newsletter, and I’m sorry about that! The last few weeks (months) have been really busy for me! Homework has increased, I started my first job, and I have been dealing with other life things! It has been nice to have a break from writing a newsletter each week, but I also really missed writing! So with that, I’m back with another newsletter!
In this newsletter…
Humans, angels, and demons clash in this epic saga!
Review of Journey to Bethlehem!
Is Apple’s Journal app worth using?
Adventures in Puerto Rico (Part 1)
Literary Picks
Wars of the Realm
A while back, I finished a Christian-fiction series called Wars of the Realm. While I had intended to review this weeks ago, that never happened, but I feel so strongly about this series that I haven’t forgotten my thoughts on the series. Wars of the Realm is an exciting, action-packed series that will have readers in deep thought and on the edge of their seats. This series is three books long and written by Chuck Black. It is about a young adult named Drew Carter, who is blinded in a science experiment. After regaining his sight, he finds that he is able to see into another realm—the realm of angels and demons. Throughout the series, he watches the events in the spiritual realm unfold and finds they directly relate to his life.
What I liked most about this series is how unique and fast-paced the plot is. While it sounds creepy and weird at first, it is actually a really great topic for a book series! This series created an environment that made me on the edge of my seat. I genuinely didn’t know what was going to happen next. The amount of description, action, and dialogue was perfect, creating a series that was not only fun to read, but also created vivid images and scenes. Overall, there is a lot to like about this book series.
I do have one critique about this book series, and it is a rather big one. I thought that the second book of this series was out of place and led to confusion and dissatisfaction on the part of the reader. The second book completely shifted focus of the plot and point of view from the first book. While it makes more sense as you keep reading the second book and read the third one, it was still a weird choice by the author. Personally, while I thought the second book was interesting, I was ready to find out what happened with the main plot! While that book was good, it just seemed out of place in reference to the overall plot.
Even though I do have that one critique, I overall really liked this book series! It was different from anything I have read before, but in a good way! It is by a Christian author so it is “clean,” but it deals with angels and demons, so it can be very dark at times! If you like fantasy series that are a little strange (like I do), then I would definitely recommend this book series! You can buy the first book here.
Watchlist Wonders
Journey to Bethlehem
This past week I had the opportunity to see Journey to Bethlehem, which is a movie that has had some mixed reviews. As you can probably guess from the title, this movie is about the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem where Mary is to give birth to the Son of God, Jesus. Throughout the movie, multiple conflicts arise: the relationship between Mary and Joseph, Herod’s hunt for the promised Messiah, etc. Overall, I liked this movie because I think it kept with the true events, while at the same time using creative license. Even though some of this creative license was effective, other uses weren’t as effective (more on that later).
First, I’m going to start off with the attributes of this movie that I liked! Right off the bat, I like the concept of making a movie about the birth of Jesus, and I also appreciated how this movie presented that (for the most part). I appreciated how the plot was kept fairly close to the true story found in the Bible, but also used creative license to expand upon the story. For example, the Bible doesn’t go into much detail about the relationship between Mary and Jospeh or Herod’s plot to kill Jesus, but this movie goes into lots of detail on both of these areas. Another aspect of this movie that I liked was the acting, as the actors all played their parts really well, which always makes the movie more enjoyable. A final pro is simply how clean and family-friendly this movie is. It attempts to hit all age groups, so the whole family can enjoy it together, which is something I appreciate in a movie like this.
While there were a lot of aspects of this movie that I liked, there were also some things I didn’t like. Most of my critiques have to do with the plot and the creative license. Before going to see this movie, I had heard of some people who were critiquing it. They complained that Mary was too disrespectful, Joseph was too flirty, or that the plot didn’t follow the story found in the Bible. While I don’t think it was as bad as many people said, there were some things that I thought were a little strange. Most were little things, but it almost seems like the movie creators were trying to fit the story from the 1st century into the 21st century. For example, small cultural inaccuracies, some of the jokes, the lyric/song choices, or the fact that the characters randomly started singing just seemed a little strange in this genre. Again, nothing was a huge deal, and I didn’t find anything blasphemous, but I felt like the creative license was used in some strange ways.
Overall, I liked this movie, but I would say that there were some choices that the movie-makers made that I didn’t like. Personally, I would rather have a movie that remains more set to the story line and uses less creative license, and I think that is what I was hoping for. I don’t think that is what the movie-makers were trying for, and if that was their goal, then I don’t have a problem with this movie. I wouldn’t say this is a movie that I absolutely love, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is a good movie for the family and worth watching if you want a Christian Christmas movie that you can all enjoy together!
Tech Thoughts
Journal
With iOS 17.2, Apple released the new Journal app, which was announced at WWDC23. Over the past few weeks, I have been using this app as my primary journal to see what it is like. This review includes my thoughts on the app, a comparison to Day One, and finally a suggestion on whether or not you should use this app (if you are the journaling type).
If you have researched this app at all, you have probably heard it described as “bare bones.” Many reviewers say there aren’t many features included with this app and that it is pretty basic. While there is definitely truth to this claim, there are also some great features in this app. By far, the best part of the Journal app is how integrated it is throughout the Apple system. We know that Apple loves to integrate their devices, apps, and software throughout their ecosystem, and this app is no exception. How this is executed in this app is really cool! Since it is integrated throughout the system, you can add photos, videos, locations, voice recordings, workouts, music, podcasts, and more to your journal entries. When you start a new entry, the app gives you a number of suggestions based on recent photos, workouts, etc. This makes it really easy to find something to write about. If you don’t enjoy writing, you can also just add these to your journal without writing anything. You could also record a voice memo if you don’t like writing. Two other features I like are filters and being able to lock the journal with Face ID. Besides the integration, the app is very bare bones. While it does have the basics, it doesn’t have as many features as apps such as Day One have. You don’t get multiple journals, advanced editing/format options, streaks, search, and other great features offered by other apps.
Speaking of which, how does this app compare to Day One? I would say there isn’t a ton of competition here. Day One clearly has more features, even if it doesn’t integrate throughout the system as well as the Apple app does. Another positive of the Apple Journal app is that it is completely free! There is no charge to download it, no subscription, no ads, or any other payment plan. At the same time, though, you don’t have to pay for Day One, unless you want pro features. Both apps have their pros and cons, but I would argue that overall Day One is the better journaling app.
While I like Apple’s journal app, I think there is so much more that Apple could do with it. Right now, it just feels very basic, and I would love to see them expand the features found in this app to make it a full-fledged journaling app, like Day One. Knowing Apple, I do expect them to roll out more features in the future. Until more features come though, I will likely continue to use Day One. Overall, I’m impressed with the new Apple Journal app, but I believe there is much more potential for this app.
Wild Card
4 Places, 4 Foods: Ponce, Puerto Rico
A few months ago, my family went to Puerto Rico for fall break. Why did we decide to go to Puerto Rico? Well, main reason is that flights to Puerto Rico were very cheap. We were in Puerto Rico for about a week and got to see a lot of the island. We spent our time in two areas of the island: first, a few days in Ponce and second, a few days in San Juan.
Places
Los Morillos Lighthouse and Surrounding Cliffs: This was probably my favorite part of this trip! These cliffs hung over the ocean and were truly breathtaking! I was blown away by the beauty and majesty of the waves slapping the rocks. It is a far drive away from everything else on the island, but it is completely worth it!
Hilton Ponce: This was the resort we stayed at, and it is worth including on here. Our resort was super nice and featured many anemities and activities, such as a pool area, pickleball court, mini golf, and access to the beach (although the beach there was a little gross and was just okay). Overall, the resort was super nice, and I would definitely recommend it if you are staying in Ponce.
Tour of Castillo Serrallés Mansion, Cruceta El Vigía, and Jardín Japonés: This is kind of a cheat code since you get to see three places on this tour, but all of them were really cool! First, you get to see the Castillo Serrallés mansion, which was beautiful. Next you get to see Cruceta El Vigía, which is a large cross that overlooks the entire city. Finally, you can explore a beautiful Japanese garden. Overall, this tour was really cool!
Bioluminescent Bay: This isn’t in Ponce, but I had to include this on here! If you visit Puerto Rico, you have to go to a bioluminescent bay! There are three throughout the island, and it is truly breathtaking! We didn’t even visit the “best” one, but it was still extremely cool!
Foods
My family makes a rule when we go on trips that we aren’t allowed to eat at chain restaurants that we have back home (Subway, Burger King, Dominos, etc). We force ourselves to eat local because we are there to experience the culture. Oftentimes, the food is better anyway! Since we do this, we end up finding many great restaurants such as these 4:
El Desvio Restaurant: We went here on our way back from the cliffs, and I had some of the best nachos I have ever eaten! This restaurant had great food, a good environment, and a translator (which is always nice)! I think I’m still full from those nachos….
Panorama 360: We didn’t actually eat here since we had just eaten someplace else, but we did get some drinks and enjoy the view. The view from this restaurant is truly breathtaking, and I‘m sure this would be a great place for a (romantic) dinner, especially at night!
Jalapeño's Cantina & Tacos: This was another local place that we enjoyed. Personally, I didn’t really love what I got, but I tried a bite of everyone else’s food, and it was really good! I guess I know for the future that I don’t particularly enjoy potatoes on tacos….Anyway, the environment in the restaurant was good, and the food was also pretty good!
Hilton Ponce: I didn’t plan on including our resort as one of the places where we got food, but we actually did eat a lot at our resort. The resort has a nice breakfast place, a restaurant by the pool, and some other restaurants throughout the resort. The food at these were actually really good and worth including!
I thought it was really cool to explore the rural side of Puerto Rico in the form of Ponce. It was drastically different from San Juan, which I will be talking about in a future newsletter!
Don’t forget!!! The referral challenge ends at 12pm (noon) December 31st! This is your last chance to get referrals before the challenge ends!
Glad to see this newsletter back up and running! Keep it up!
Have you seen Why The Nativity? Very well done and true to the Bible. Narrated by David Jeremiah.
Those pics are making me want to go back to Puerto Rico!