Wow

I can't quite believe that I'm going back to school in a little over a month. This summer has gone by so fast. I'm both glad that it has, and wish that it hadn't been so quick.

This summer was both nice and very, very not fun. The weather, on one hand, was mostly nice!! (Well, except for days like today, which is MISERABLE.)

Speaking of unbelievable endings, I can't believe that Harry Potter is done. Over. GAH. IT WAS SO GOOD. I cried. I really did. Not a lot, but I definitely choked up. And the acting! Everyone was pretty good, or very good. And then there was Rickman. He was in a league of his own. Seriously.

 I ADORED just about everything McGonagall was in. I mean, how is that bit with the stone knights not epic? And her absolute glee at getting to use that spell was really wonderful.

Molly was epic, though I wish the whole climax of the battle had been less ponderous, if that makes sense.

Jury duty has finally ended, and it was perhaps the hardest thing I ever did to declare an eighteen-year old girl guilty of second degree murder, and not not responsible due to a mental illness.

So yeah. This summer, not exactly the most fun I've ever had.

In which I read A Study in Scarlet and lose my keys

So, my obsession with "Sherlock" sent me off to the library on Saturday afternoon in pursuit of  of A Study in Scarlet and the other Sherlock Holmes books, and I finished it in one sitting. Well... maybe two or three, but certainly over the course of the afternoon and evening. I must say, while I enjoyed it, it wasn't exactly as riveting as the TV series. I'm still trying to figure out what it is about some of the great classics, like Sherlock Holmes or some of Dickens' works that makes them so enduring and yet at the same time sometimes so DULL. I think it might be the writing style. I think it MUST be the writing because the STORIES are good, and I appreciate the skill of the writer, and yet I still sit there wondering why I'm not glued to them. Anyhow, Study in Scarlet was definitely a good read, though most of my pleasure did derive from bouncing up and down at things I recognized because they had made it into "A Study in Pink". Actually, on second thoughts, perhaps I DO have some idea as to why so many novels of a similar period exasperate me. Part of it is the extreme contortions that plots are forced through which may have had been slightly less contrived then, but are WILDLY impossible now under any circumstance. But then, Jane Austin does that sometimes too, and it has yet to be a problem. SOOOOO... maybe not.

Back to Sherlock. It was absolutely delightful to see how many of Sherlock's mannerisms are STRAIGHT from the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. Not going to lie, I did a fair bit of bouncing up and down and internal flailing. It's probably just as well that I did most of my reading in places other than the train... because I'm sure people would have been rather confused if I started squealing and bouncing up and down on the train... Really, he's very nearly straight out of the book. He's quite tall, ridiculously skinny, and does things like sit staring at the ceiling with his hands under his chin and the like. (Not to mention the three patch/pipe problems.) So yes, yes, maybe I'm more than just a little bit obsessed, but in my defense, the man is a genius, and brilliance is more than rather attractive, I find. (Of course, Sherlock in real life would be incredibly irritating, I'm sure, but he's NOT real, so I'm going to allow myself to admire him from a distance.)

Anyway, so there I was at the library, hunting down the Sherlock books, and apparently I was SO engrossed in my search that I put my keys down and forgot to pick them up. I'm not normally THAT scatterbrained. Fortunately, it's a library. There's a lost and found, and so I got them back.

Among the other random bits of randomness, I have recently realized that I have developed a fondness of Lavender lately. It reminds me of warm summer days at my grandmother's house in Oregon because she had a huge bush of it by her garage, and there were sprigs of it around the house.
I've got to say, Lavender and Roses would have to be my favorite flowers. Boring and traditional, I know but that would be me, all over. But in my defense, they smell very nice. :D If I ever have a house where I can have my own garden, I'm definitely planting roses, lavender and honeysuckle.

And now for one last bit of randomness, I WIN AGAIN! I just bought every single one of the books for one of my classes for forty dollars. Amazon is the best.

Next up, Reviews of Within Temptation's The Unforgiven, and Epica's Design Your Universe.

HA! Take THAT, homework!

I was just informed that I've made the Dean's list again! *dances in glee* I tried so hard to refrain from gloating, but I'm afraid I have failed miserably. And honestly, I can't think of a better place to gloat without bothering too many people than a personal blog which almost no one reads. :) This IS, after all, the fourth time in as many semesters that I have achieved a GPA of higher than 3.50  I win. Take THAT, Latin!

Other than that, I really have nothing interesting to report. This is pathetic. Is there a particular subject I should discuss in a future post? Suggestions, anyone?

Of Jury Duty, Doctor Who and Sherlock

Well, it's been a while, and since it's been SUCH a while, I actually have some mildly interesting things to talk about.

I'm on jury duty this month, which is really fascinating, though I can't actually say more than that. (Just heightens the interest and mystery, don'tcha think?) I'm not all together sure why I was dreading it so very much for months, because now, while I certainly wouldn't want to do it forever, I feel like it's something I'm good at. I'm good at listening dispassionately and forming opinions on what I hear and acting on those opinions in a reasonable manner, which is nice to know. It's a good piece of information to tuck away at the back of my brain for those moments when I feel like I'm not good at anything useful.

My brilliant plan for reading and reading and becoming quite history savvy is failing rather spectacularly as every time I pick up Sir Frank Stenton's Anglo Saxon England I inevitably lose interest and wander off... usually to the world of TARDISes and addresses such as 221B Baker Street... SIDETRACKED!! I'M GETTING SIDETRACKED!! I really am a horrible student sometimes... I'm also in the middle of at least five other books... none of I'm making much headway in... it's really quite dreadful!

I blame it all on Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes.  But I can't be too upset about it, as they continue to supply me with endless amounts of entertainment, and cheer me up without fail EVERY TIME I WATCH THEM.  So yes. Hooked. Darn the Brits and their BRILLIANT TV shows...

Well... that's about it... I do realize that's not horribly interesting. Sorry, folks!

Over and out.

*sigh*

Clearly I'm bad at this. I figured I should have one last wrap up before I disappear again. I got  my grades back last week, and they were as follows:

Ancient Astronomies = A
Beowulf = A
Roman Comedy = A-
Music Theory = A-
Voice Performance = A

You are looking at... or at least reading the words of... a soon-to-be Junior with a GPA of 3.85 for the semester and 3.77 overall. *preens* AHEM. Moving right along...



So NO clue how I managed an A- in Latin, I must have done MUCH better on the final than I thought, or everyone did much worse (since my professor grades on a curve), both rather scary and unlikely occurrences... but I don't suppose I'll know until I get the exam back... I also am rather surprised about the A in Beowulf, because I expected an A- or so, but I guess my final paper was better than I thought it was? Anyhow, HOWEVER it happened, I got the A's, and so I'm not going to complain! 


Also, one last dose of photos that I took over the last few weeks at college.

											Well, I really can't think of anything else to say, other than enjoy the rest of your Memorial days, and I'll update when anything interesting happens!

just one more day....

and then finals week... one more day... and... oh dear... The question is will I survive?

Thursday
I have WAY too many lines of Anglo-Saxon to finish between now and tomorrow morning. I DO want to finish the poem... but am highly skeptical of my actual ability to do so before then. I might be able to manage it between now (10 PM) and 2 AM... since I already finished my Latin... My wrist hurts from all the writing!

Second question. HOW AM I ALMOST A JUNIOR ALREADY? Where did my first two years of college go? And more importantly, how will I SURVIVE next semester?

Ankle update






Friday.
I'M DONE. I just need to make it though finals!!
I'm not going to do anything this afternoon but sleep, watch Dr. Who and ... well... ok... maybe work on my paper. The weather is gorgeous too.

I know I'm tired when...

1. I think scyld, ond, and Wiglafes are proper translations for shield, and, and Wiglaf's
2. I'm exhausted, even after going to bed at midnight (granted, I did wake up at seven which I'm not used to, but still...)
3. I stumble over my words when I KNOW what I'm saying.
4. I fall down the last two stairs and sprain my ankle because apparently I didn't realize I hadn't reached the bottom.

*SIGH* I just can't win.

On a slightly less ominous note, Astronomy is DONE, and I only have three days of classes until finals week...and then only a week till I'm home... I CAN survive... maybe.... possibly... I hope...

Normandy is fine and fair, so Normandy is where we'll go...

"This time of year the air I hear is rare and clear and warm..."  

~ "Normandy" from "Once Upon a Mattress"

Tuesday
Ok. So not in Normandy... and Norton isn't quite as gorgeous as the song describes, but the air has been clear and the light has been absolutely amazing.

In other news, oh DEAR. There are only three weeks until finals. THREE. *dies* That's three weeks to finish  roughly 1000 lines of Beowulf, write a 10-15 page paper, write a five page paper, have an astronomy exam, an astronomy presentation and another astronomy paper, have a music theory exam, have another music theory exam, memorize and perfect three of my four or five voice lesson songs for juries and for the voice recital, and the list goes on.

And I have to admit, as much as I can't wait for summer and a few months of not having to go to sleep late and wake up early and bludger my poor brain with more than I can possibly retain, and not have to struggle through astronomy I don't understand, or Latin that I'm not anywhere as good as I want to be at, or the hours of Beowulf translation or worry exactly what an open octave position is, I'll miss this.

It's my last semester of Anglo-Saxon, and I'll miss it very much, though I may take further classes in it as independent studies. Professor Schell may not come back, and I'll miss her dry sense of humor and the clarity she always brings to the muddle that is Latin in my head. And for all I complain, I actually do understand just about everything we've learned in Astronomy, and this is probably my last class in the subject, and I know there is so much more that I want to know in the field that I'll possibly never learn.

I almost wish I could stay in college for longer, despite exams and the endless homework. There are so many things that I want to learn, and there is no way I'll learn it all in the next two years.

Wednesday
  BAH. Just when I thought everything was evening out... everything piles up again! It's not really that bad, and there's been a whole bunch of good too, but still. Missing Beowulf class never puts me in a good mood, especially when the passage we translated was the Freawaru bit that I've been looking forward to for literally MONTHS. Not to mention that the presentation was on Beowulf and Sutton Hoo... so overall, not one of my better days. However, I did finish my music theory exam and plan on getting a LOT of Anglo-Saxon translating done today, as well as starting on my Astronomy homework, and that way, maybe I won't have to bring too much homework with me when I go home for Easter weekend...

Ok I'm off! Homework awaits!

I thought...

It was time for some new colors, it is spring after all. :D Not much else to report, other than I'm lounging about, because I'm done with my work for Thursday already, and am very, very slowly working on Anglo-Saxon translations... and by very slowly, I mean VERY slowly.

It's pouring out, which is rather dreary, but April showers bring May flowers... so I guess this is a good thing?

Today was my presentation on the Dating of Beowulf, and it went pretty well, though it lasted MUCH longer than it was supposed to, but what can I do? There was a lot of information to go through!

What else... yeah, nothing really!
:D

Take THAT, homework!!

Me: HA. I win. You can't get me, homework! 
Homework: Just wait for next semester when I will KILL YOU.
Me: EEP! *cowers*

This weekend I did more than two hundred pages of reading for my Beowulf presentation, wrote a five page paper from start to finish in less than four hours, translated over a hundred lines of Anglo-Saxon, and probably about fifty lines of Latin. I win. For now anyway.

I have also discovered that I do believe I would not mind researching/reading works about and writing papers on Beowulf for the rest of my life. Future job option? Perhaps, if I can do it without teaching...and it would mean I also have to figure out grad school...

Speaking of futures and such, this is my schedule next semester.

Monday
10:30-11:20 Chaucer
11:30-12:20 Latin Epistolography
Old Norse
2-4:50 Carolingian History
5-6 Chorale (if I take it)

Tuesday
HOMEWORK
7-9 World Music Ensemble (?)
sleep

Wednesday
10:30-11:20 Chaucer

11:30-12:20 Latin Epistolography
2-4 English Senior Seminar (Arthurian Lit.)
5-6 Chorale (?)

Thursday
SLEEP
DO HOMEWORK
SLEEP
DO HOMEWORK

Friday
10:30-11:20 Chaucer

11:30-12:20 Latin Epistolography

And in addition to that, I will have at least two days where I work (probably Tues, Thurs and/or Friday) and hopefully a voice lesson.
 
I may be insane. That's three three hundreds and a four hundred, plus an independent study. Three languages (Latin, Old Norse and Middle English (though I don't imagine ME will be that terrible)), and three reading/writing heavy courses. Gosh, that's a lot...

Further news
The Good: I got a single in Wellness.
The Bad news: It's Young, not Larcom.

ALAS.

BUT some other good news, I'll be on the same floor as my friend Emily, who will be taking three out of the five classes I'm taking next semester, so we can complain, gripe, work and celebrate together.


Random news
Well, I never thought I'd do it, but I've been listening to Sarah Brightman all day... I'm not entirely sure why, but hey, I'm enjoying it...mostly! I don't always like what she does with her voice, but there's no denying she is a good singer. And sometimes there's just that song that makes you go... "OH. WOW. So THAT'S why I'm listening to her!" (Her diction is really strange there, though...) She is just a little too... theatrical/over the top in most of her concerts, buuuuut if you're just listening, it's not that bad.

I DID get to draw this weekend in spite of the MASSIVE amounts of studiousness, so that was nice!

Ok. Must return to reading, translating, and otherwise preparing for upcoming classes.

From Winter Round to Spring

"'Round and 'round the seasons are turning,

Spring to summer, fall to winter,

and from winter round to spring,

round to spring,

round to spring..." 

Hullo dear friends, spring is beginning to spring, indeed! The sun is out, the daffodils are out, the fish are out in the pond (and so too, unfortunately is the pond scum), and the air is warm. The light has changed, it's brighter much later now, which is lovely, and that also means some new pictures!! 

from shortly after I came back from (not so) Spring Break.

'Tis Spring now, methinks!

my rose bush is apparently very confused about seasons...

my former roommate brought me a daffodil when I was sick! :D

Unfortunately I'm still a bit sick, but have been to the doctors today (my first time going to a new doctor completely by myself and filling a prescription...*gulp* which was an experience...)

Today (Saturday) was a GORGEOUS day, the sun was out, and it was a wonderfully balmy afternoon. Some friends and I studied together, outside, for some of it, and I've been reading books on Beowulf all day, which if I wasn't so strapped for time, would have been idyllic.

I'm giving a presentation on the dating of Beowulf, which is a bit intimidating, but hopefully will go well. So far, I've read The Audience of Beowulf by Dorothy Whitelock, and the bit in R.W. Chambers' Beowulf: An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn and am currently slogging my way through the part of the Introduction to Klaber's Beowulf that deals with dates. (Might I add, a bit proudly too, that I read all of that today!) Then I just have to read Tolkien's essay and the collection of essays on the dating of Beowulf edited by Colin Chase. All very interesting. And I understand most of it, except when they go into great detail about the linguistics of it all, in which case I feel rather dull and stupid for not understanding what they're saying.

I'm also starting to feel the beginnings of a horrible conviction that I should probably learn German before this is all said and done... (the horror comes from the fact that I'm dreadful at language, not because I don't like German, on the contrary, I like German very much.) I wish I was like some people I know, and could pick up languages like a sponge... cause I'd like to learn Finnish and Welsh too. XD Oh... and Gaelic...

Speaking of German, I'm learning a new song in German for voice lessons, and it's quite pretty! It is called "Lachen Und Weinen" and is by Schubert, whose work I have long admired and never sung. Here it is sung by Lucia Popp, a wonderful Soprano who I will sound NOTHING like, sadly.

Anyway, I must return to the land of Anglo-Saxon poetry. I am becoming more and more convinced about the whole early dating of Beowulf thing... That and Tolkien said so... XD that's mostly a joke...mostly...

Ta ta!

Still sick

Botheration. So yesterday I thought I might, might possibly be getting better. I coughed a bit during the day and had a bad sore throat in the morning, but naively, I assumed I was feeling better. Because... well, I was until half way through Anglo-Saxon this morning. And now I feel all wobbly legged and want to do nothing more than go back to bed. BUT Latin calls, and I already missed a class just last week... so missing again doesn't sound like a good idea. Plus I have to meet with our professor for our assessment, for lack of a better word, meeting, so skipping class sounds like a not-so-great idea. At least the class itself is less than an hour long, and the meeting should only be about fifteen minutes. Then I can come back, collapse, write my Astronomy paper and prepare for my Anglo-Saxon presentation on Wednesday.

The weather is absolutely gorgeous, and has been so since yesterday, which is a very nice change from the cold, the overcast skies and the snow we had before.


A few hours later...

I got back the results from my Latin midterm, and I did really quite well, which is a huge relief. I also found out that I'll be able to get my Natural Science credit from Ancient Astronomy, which is also really nice, because then I'll be done with nearly all of my core requirements, and will be able to focus on my major.

Now I just have to muster up enough energy to finish my Astronomy paper since the power point is FINALLY up, and work on my presentation for Anglo-Saxon on Wednesday (I'm presenting on the Finnsburg fragment and episode, so this should be interesting).

I think I'll take a nap first, then have tea, THEN do work... Sorry for the rather dull post!

 

...seriously? Not funny.

Dear Weather,
I've got two words for you. Spring. Break. Spring. Not winter. Spring.
~A very peeved traveler/college student

I'm on the bus, en rout back to college after spring break... and it's snowing. I kid you not. SNOWING. It would, wouldn't it. Penny, I swear it's a conspiracy. (For those of you very confused, my friend just came back from Canada, where it didn't snow at all, and the minute they arrive back in the States, it snows.) So yes. Ridiculous. And I'm rather hungry, and apparently they heard me because we're turning in for some FOOD. FOOD HUZZZZAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.

One stuffed spinach and cheese pizza roll...thing... later, I'm back. That was tasty. 

Yes, I was hungry, why do you ask? Anyhow, we're in Massachusetts, which means three hours TOPS until I'm in my room, and done traveling. Until Easter, at any rate. I hate, absolutely detest the trip up to school and back. I have never made the trip by public transportation and not had it be a hassle. And the sad part is, it really isn't that bad. 

At least campus will be pretty, unless by some other strange twist of fate, Norton completely missed out on this snow...ahh... apparently it's supposed to snow on Wednesday and Thursday too. alright weather. You're strange.

Ok. Done complaining. Let's see. In terms of interesting news, this week, over break I ate fantastic macaroni and cheese with Veronica and Jamie and a little place in the East Village that serves ONLY macaroni and cheese (and it was quite amazing), and sushi and chocolate eclairs with my dad and brother, and my mom made three of my favorite foods while I was home, stuffed cabbage with sour cream and noodles (that'd be my German roots), Japanese Curry (I have come to realize that Japanese food is SO my comfort food), and Chicken Tika. YUM. So tasty. And, of course, there was tea. Lots and lots of it.  I've said it before, and I will say it again. Tea is the best drink ever.  Yes, food is rather on my mind at the moment, even though I'm no longer hungry. Who can blame me. I just watched "Julie and Julia" again.

Speaking of movies, I saw "Avatar" and "Inception" this week, and both were really fantastic. I have to say, for movies of this sort, "The Matrix" completely trumped "Inception", in my opinion. I know people who think "Inception" was loads better, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people disagree with me, but even though I completely enjoyed the movie, and would happily watch it again, it wasn't as entirely satisfying as finishing the Matrix Trilogy was.

"Avatar" was also fantastic, and now, more than ever, I wish I had been able to see it in the theaters. It was amazing as it was on my smallish computer screen, but I can only imagine how great it was in theaters, or even better, in 3D. In terms of story, I know the basic idea has been done to death, but really, it works. So really, what's the problem? And it was done in such a beautiful way in such a beautiful world, that I fail to see why this should be an issue. Ok. I'm done being a movie critic. I stink at it. :D

Hmm... what else... Well, predictably, me being me, I got sick on Thursday, and so am going back to school with a lovely cough. Hopefully I'll be completely better soonish... sooner rather than later... given that I have a voice lesson this week that' I'd rather not miss.

I really didn't do a whole lot that's interesting to read about! AH. Not entirely true. It was Veronica's birthday on Saturday, and her party was lots of fun, involving cheese cake and charades. Which meant lots of laughing and all manner of ridiculous gestures and actions as we tried to get our teams to guess the answers. The category was movies, and some of the really good ones were Northanger Abbey, Prince Caspian (who knew that would be so hard to guess!), Vertigo, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and a few others that I don't actually remember.  It was really wonderful to see my NY people again, I really don't get to see them enough.

Well, I've rather run out of interesting things to say, and certainly have run out of interesting ways to say anything (and I'm an English major who wants to write. PATHETIC.) other than we're almost in Boston! Hooray!

Over and out.

Just one more day...

I really just have to survive tomorrow. But tonight is doing it's darndest to kill me first. I have done nearly a page of Anglo-Saxon, and still should do at the very least another half page. Then have to finish reviewing all the Menaechmi we've translated thus far (acts one and two), and after that instead of collapsing into bed, I need to do some review of grammar stuff. I can probably put off the REALLY quick review of noun/adjective and verb endings for tomorrow between Anglo-Saxon and Latin... but then, as I said. I have to make it through tonight.

Fortunately, due to the big mug of chai at 6:30, and the coffee ice cream at 10, I probably have enough caffeine in my system to keep me up and functioning until I can finally fall into bed... hopefully it won't keep me TOO awake...

Sadly, archery couldn't practice again, but in retrospect, this was probably a very good thing, because it gave me that much more time to work. And Rachel and I took a well deserved break to watch "How to Train Your Dragon" which was totally worth it, and made me feel much better.

In other news, it's raining, and the rain on the pond made a beautiful almost ringing sound. Like fairy bells disturbed by the rain. It's really peaceful out, which is nice, because I'm so stressed...


At least I think I did rather well on my Music Theory exam, so that is a definite plus.



Well, I must return to the land of gift givers and protectors of warriors.
Westu hal!

So close...

...to break...

There was bacon this morning. It MADE MY DAY,  and was nicely cooked too. It was absolutely wonderful.

But other than that, I can't believe it's only 1:30... it feels SO much later. I literally came back from my voice lesson at 10:30 and ate breakfast and then fell asleep. I've been SO tired lately, it's really frustrating. BUT at least break is almost here, and I just have to survive my music theory exam in half an hour, and then Anglo-Saxon tomorrow morning (that should be fine... once I get the homework DONE) and then the Latin exam after that *gulp*.

My voice lesson today went pretty well, and I think I'm making some really good progress. But it's still so hard to sing well at 9 in the morning... 

Anyhow, not a lot to report, and I'm too tired to invent something interesting.

Although, I have had some interesting Astronomy inspired ideas for a few of the places in one of my stories, so that's always nice.

Ok, off to finish preparing for my exam. And going to go eat. Food would probably be a good idea about now...

what a weekend

Wow. This weekend was intense. BUT SPRING BREAK IS COMING! I will survive... I just have to make it through my Music Theory oral exam tomorrow, the exam for the same class on Thursday, and my Latin exam on Friday... Sheesh that's a lot.

Anyhow, this is going to be a SUPER short post, mostly pictures.

digitally colored in about an hour. (Yes, it takes me WAY too long to do this.)

And then lastly, there had been some requests for hearing what my singing sounded like, and I warn you not to expect much, but here is one.

Well, I'm off to do some Latin, and then GO TO BED.