The Better to 'Ear You With...

So I guess I should just be grateful I don't have ears like a wolf. But I'm not going to lie- I think right now I'd take 'em. Okay, complaint over and out. I have another cursed ear infection, and my hearing is way off. As is my inner balance.

Oh man, favorite Harry Potter quote:

"Pathetic," he told George. "Pathetic! With the whole world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"

So... my week? Hmmm... wake up late, get ready, take the bus to school, realize that I forgot something at home, take the bus back home and again to school, go to get a project bound, late to class, miss the extra credit, get an extra point taken off my test for being honest, go to work, scrutinize each sentence of an essay, take forever on that essay, go to work yet again, talk with a friend, miss the elevator stop because I want to talk more with the same friend, get a hug, laugh with roommates, realize there's only one week left, make my little brother laugh, makes me laugh, eat yummy food in class, post on my blog, and get some blessed sleep.

So I'd say, not too bad!

Random is Best

So I think I will always have to have a box of Cuties in my food supply. Those oranges are just so dang good that I don't even mind peeling them- and I hate peeling oranges. I have so much homework that it boggles my mind (seriously- sometimes I can't remember the sentence I just read). Among other things, we got a Christmas tree, and it is probably the most beautiful live tree I have ever seen. We're making rhino ornaments for it. I colored one of them red with a permanent marker. That's about as artistic as I get! Actually, I wanted to make the Texas flag, but, in yet another example of scrambled brains, I blanked out on what that looked like... until just now.

Work is dull, graduation seems forever away, and finals can't be over soon enough. But there's reason for hope! I have comfortable pajama pants, and I got my little brother (he's ten) excited about reading Harry Potter with me when I get down there for Christmas. I also finally got a pair of working headphones, courtesy of Andrew, and they are perfect.

I need... a quote for today. A quote that sums up today... ah! Found it.

"When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago."

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Thanksgiving...

60 people. One cultural hall. Way too much karaoke. Two uneaten pumpkin pies and containers of miniature croissants. And the best family ever. So that was my Thanksgiving. How was yours?

1:14 A.M.

It's way too late for this, but I actually took a nap today, when I should have been studying for a Spanish test. Ah well; turns out the lab closed early, and they didn't give anybody any notice, so I didn't take the test tonight anyways.

I keep thinking about what this blog is really for, and what I really want to say. I guess I don't really even have to have a purpose. It's just... hard for me to imagine why anybody would want to stop, take their time, and read these often silly blog posts. I'm not like my friend Katy, who has a talent of expressing humor and wit through words.

But whether or not people read this isn't what I want to my focus to be; because if it is, then I'm no longer writing to them. And while that is often the point, I don't want to sacrifice my voice, my style, or my passion by writing what I think others want to read. One of my favorite quotes about writing is by Sylvia Plath:

"Everything is life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."

When I have self-doubt, I don't write honestly and naturally. And I have self-doubt when I direct my writing to a specific audience, because I start to worry too much. And though I can't help but think this whole thing is counterintuitive, I guess I'll figure out the balance somewhere along the way. Maybe this is part of what distinguishes a good writer.

Water Always Wins...

So I decided that blogging is fun. That's interesting, since I always worry about whether I'm writing this for me, or for others. So I told my myself to forget about that, and just write. No matter what. If I've learned anything from England, it's that you should write because you have something to explore, to internalize, or to face. I mean, not always. Sometimes you just have a funny thought that no one but you gets... or so you think.

But anyways, three things made this weekend fantastic. One, the new Doctor Who special. It is EPIC! Second, improv comedy with my best friend Shayla. I'll never look at hunchbacks (or acronyms) like I used to! Not that I did much anyways. And three, the fact that I have friends who will actually sit and listen as I talk about how awesome John Milton was. Is. Whichever.

So here's a question: Is "tongue twister" a tongue twister?

Retrospective England

It seems like I post so rarely that it is hardly worth having a blog! Ah well- we do what we can. I am home from England, though I do miss being over there and the friends I made. But I don't really feel like a completely changed person. I experienced that more coming home from my mission. I did learn some things about myself over there that will be beneficial though. It was a fantastic trip, and I really loved just visiting all the amazing castles, abbeys, cathedrals, and ruins. The sheer age of some of the structures we saw is just incredible! I can now officially check visiting Stonehenge off of my bucket list, which is oddly a relief for me because I didn't actually die before I could see such a renown place. It's funny that I even have a bucket list of any kind, because I kind of hated that movie. Anyhow, have a fantastic week everyone!

Away to England...

I don't really know what to talk about! I am going to England on Monday for two months, which will be amazing. I hope to update photos and thoughts as I traipse about the UK. I am so excited! But I am going to miss my roommates so much. I can't say how much those girls have blessed my life. And I know no one is really going to read this, but that's okay. I don't exactly know what I want to focus my blog on. I think writing about literature is a fantastic idea! I will have to start writing book reviews, and any essays on classic novels. I just finished a British Novel class at BYU, and that was fantastic. The last book I read was Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I really like Thomas Hardy, but he was almost a cynic at times. The book is so intense, although it doesn't necessarily appear that it would be on a quick perusal. It is beautifully written, especially if you like natural settings and landscape details. But it's more than the language he uses for description and rhetoric. It's the driving emotion behind Tess' character. She is so real and human, yet at the same almost fairy like and ethereal. I think those who have gone through the same experience her character does will particularly connect with her spiritually and emotionally. She goes through this tragic journey; well, in some way all the characters do. But though I was almost speechless at the end, it seems that despite the things that go awfully wrong in the story, it never looses a sense of hope- but then, that all depends on how you interpret things. I'd recommend this book in a heartbeat; it's a definite part of classic British literature!