Some Thoughts
I've been coming to see more and more lately that thoughts are good to have. And I know, DUH, zoon logon echon, thinking is what makes us human, of course it's good to be thinking. But what I mean is - I'm happier when my mind is busy. My brain has been really full lately, in a pretty good way, and it's been making me feel inspired and alive and all sorts of positive things.
So, a brain dump, because I want to get some of this stuff down for myself.
Santiago de Compostela. It's going to be a 20-week paper, spanning two quarters, two classes, and about five or six centuries. Geography and a famous family this quarter, something as yet undisclosed the next. I really wanted Scandinavia, but the documents being translated and pulled together and pumped out into academia right now concerning that estimable area do not yet reach back far enough for my purposes. So then I thought maybe England, but I really wouldn't be happy with that not being able to talk about the Tudors. So, vamos a Iberia! I do love Spain - the language, the rich history...and Santiago de Compostela has a great backstory (come on, the Apostle James rising from his grave and fighting alongside the Iberians against the Muslims? Priceless.), a gorgeous cathedral, and tons of activity surrounding it due to the famous pilgrimage. So I'm very pleased with this. I would be even more pleased if our library actually existed at the moment and I could go do some good research right away, but I suppose that would be asking too much.
Tearjerking movies. I watched a little movie called "The Quiet Room" today. It was made in 1996 and is pretty darn unknown, I gathered from its tiny little IMDB and Wikipedia pages. And I don't know why, because it is one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. And I know I'm a sap and cry easily at works of fiction, but I literally cried throughout at least an hour of this hour and a half film, and I don't quite understand why more attention hasn't been given to it. Our main character and narrator is a seven year old little girl who has made a sort of vow of silence in an attempt to get her parents over themselves and back to the way it used to be, when they could all cuddle and do family hugs and her mom and dad really kissed each other. So it's very stream of consciousness, and while I don't know if all the astounding remarks she makes are usual for a child's mind, it doesn't matter, because it's brilliant. The climactic scene is her hiding in her bed, silent and seemingly forgotten as her parents scream and hit each other in the hallway, and it just made me weep. It had a nominally happy ending, but the overall feeling I was left with was disappointment in humanity and awe and sadness and so many powerful emotions.
Cheese. I really like it, which is good, because I hate milk, so I need something else for calcium. And I don't like any of those odd smelly French cheeses. Just a block of good ol' cheddar is great for me. Now, all I need is a personal slicer. Because I don't like that pre-sliced stuff as much, but I'm way lazy. Ah, well.
Amazing people. My friend just came out today, basically by standing up at the start of class and telling us all that he is gay. He is a truly wonderful person, very smart and very genuine, and I am just so so pleased that he felt able now to share this with us - especially as we've only known each other for a few months (now, granted, the 24 of us in my class do see quite a bit of each other, but still). It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see proof of the trust and friendship in this group of people, and I'm so proud of him and happy for him.
Annoyances. Grammar. I like being correct about grammar and speech and vocabulary. Now, I try (with considerable success, I do hope) to not annoyingly correct people, because that's just not cool, and overall unnecessary - one of those things that can be done among certain friends, but not in everyday conversation with just anyone. However, when my Freshman Class Representatives send out a formal e-mail, I find it hard to believe that they are alright with poorly constructed sentences, wrong word usage, and overall rough spelling. That bothers me. Hit spell check. Or - there are two of you. Read it over, please. You are representing an entire year of college students.
Literature. I *really* need to go buy books. My readings for classes are interesting, to be sure, but I have a long list of novels and such that I really want to get. There is a small issue though, and that is money. Maybe next month, after tuition's paid, I can sit down with Amazon.com and splurge a little, because there are so many great books, and so little time!!!
So, a brain dump, because I want to get some of this stuff down for myself.
Santiago de Compostela. It's going to be a 20-week paper, spanning two quarters, two classes, and about five or six centuries. Geography and a famous family this quarter, something as yet undisclosed the next. I really wanted Scandinavia, but the documents being translated and pulled together and pumped out into academia right now concerning that estimable area do not yet reach back far enough for my purposes. So then I thought maybe England, but I really wouldn't be happy with that not being able to talk about the Tudors. So, vamos a Iberia! I do love Spain - the language, the rich history...and Santiago de Compostela has a great backstory (come on, the Apostle James rising from his grave and fighting alongside the Iberians against the Muslims? Priceless.), a gorgeous cathedral, and tons of activity surrounding it due to the famous pilgrimage. So I'm very pleased with this. I would be even more pleased if our library actually existed at the moment and I could go do some good research right away, but I suppose that would be asking too much.
Tearjerking movies. I watched a little movie called "The Quiet Room" today. It was made in 1996 and is pretty darn unknown, I gathered from its tiny little IMDB and Wikipedia pages. And I don't know why, because it is one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. And I know I'm a sap and cry easily at works of fiction, but I literally cried throughout at least an hour of this hour and a half film, and I don't quite understand why more attention hasn't been given to it. Our main character and narrator is a seven year old little girl who has made a sort of vow of silence in an attempt to get her parents over themselves and back to the way it used to be, when they could all cuddle and do family hugs and her mom and dad really kissed each other. So it's very stream of consciousness, and while I don't know if all the astounding remarks she makes are usual for a child's mind, it doesn't matter, because it's brilliant. The climactic scene is her hiding in her bed, silent and seemingly forgotten as her parents scream and hit each other in the hallway, and it just made me weep. It had a nominally happy ending, but the overall feeling I was left with was disappointment in humanity and awe and sadness and so many powerful emotions.
Cheese. I really like it, which is good, because I hate milk, so I need something else for calcium. And I don't like any of those odd smelly French cheeses. Just a block of good ol' cheddar is great for me. Now, all I need is a personal slicer. Because I don't like that pre-sliced stuff as much, but I'm way lazy. Ah, well.
Amazing people. My friend just came out today, basically by standing up at the start of class and telling us all that he is gay. He is a truly wonderful person, very smart and very genuine, and I am just so so pleased that he felt able now to share this with us - especially as we've only known each other for a few months (now, granted, the 24 of us in my class do see quite a bit of each other, but still). It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see proof of the trust and friendship in this group of people, and I'm so proud of him and happy for him.
Annoyances. Grammar. I like being correct about grammar and speech and vocabulary. Now, I try (with considerable success, I do hope) to not annoyingly correct people, because that's just not cool, and overall unnecessary - one of those things that can be done among certain friends, but not in everyday conversation with just anyone. However, when my Freshman Class Representatives send out a formal e-mail, I find it hard to believe that they are alright with poorly constructed sentences, wrong word usage, and overall rough spelling. That bothers me. Hit spell check. Or - there are two of you. Read it over, please. You are representing an entire year of college students.
Literature. I *really* need to go buy books. My readings for classes are interesting, to be sure, but I have a long list of novels and such that I really want to get. There is a small issue though, and that is money. Maybe next month, after tuition's paid, I can sit down with Amazon.com and splurge a little, because there are so many great books, and so little time!!!