99. January 5

Thank goodness for sunshine!

"Of course I cannot break through the wall by battering my head against it if I really have not the strength to knock it down, but I am not going to be reconciled to it simply because it is a stone wall and I have not the strength."

~ Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, Part 1, trans. Constance Garnett

Sorry for the rather bland pictures as of late... Better days, better pictures, coming soon. Promise.

52. November 19

I think Thursday has become the new Tuesday... In other words, icky.

Not a bad day, just a bit exhausting.

Today's Gratitude List

1. I am grateful I didn't have to face another rainy day. It was sunny today and warm enough to wear a skirt.
2. I am grateful for afternoon naps.
   
3. I am grateful for the postal service. How cool is that for under a dollar you can send a letter almost anywhere in the world?
4. I am grateful my geology lab exam is over.
5. I am grateful tomorrow is Friday.
6. I am grateful my Southern Literature paper is finally coming together, even if Spell Check refuses to properly function.
   
7. I am grateful I have plans to look forward to this weekend.
8. I am grateful I had braces a long time ago so now I have nice straight teeth.
9. I am grateful for this little gem of a video. And for Mom for forwarding me a link. 

And now, the picture and quote of the day.
Sometimes it takes me a while to get to this point, but trust me, I always will.

Sorry giant behemoth of an umbrella, you weren't needed today!

"God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars."

~ Elbert Hubbard 

Oh dear. This post is rather scattered, isn't it? Rain, gratitude, and scars. Somehow though, tender threads leave all these things connected in the workings of my mind.

47. November 14

In the mood to blog, and because this is my blog I think I will. Makes since, right? If you are just here for the promised picture and quote of the day, please scroll down past my ramblings. It's there, I promise.

These ramblings of mine aren't to say, look what a great life I have, but rather a way for me to recognize how good this world is and hopefully to help you see it too. Nor do I claim my writings are particularly interesting. To have these things written out, if only for my own sake, is enough. So, enjoy it or not, it's up to you. And here I go.

Last night, a handsome Mr. H took me to "prom" at a local tavern and music hall with a few of our friends. The crowd varied from teenager to senior citizen, all decked out and wearing everything from freaky to fabulous. The music was great, no schmaltzy love songs, no rap, just music you could really dance to. There were no cliques, no royalty, no limos... It was everything you wished your real prom was. Thank you, Mr. H and friends, for the best prom ever. And thanks to the lovely Mrs. R for photographing the night.

And then today... Today was an Indian summer day--so warm outside if you closed your eyes, you'd swear it was August. I lay on the grass and reveled in the sunshine, lazily reading and doing a little studying. I met two new friends, ate cereal for lunch, and a got a great start on two papers. The day isn't even over yet. And, Pandora loves me today.

In exactly one month, I will be with my dear familia again, though I will hate to leave this beautiful place.

Life can't possibly be this good forever... can it?
_ _ _

Four lists of three:

1. Things I Probably Should Care More Actively About (But Don't): Politics, germs, pollution
2. Blogs I have recently loved: NieNie Dialogues,  Oh Hello Friend: 101 in 1001 (and Other Friends' Lists on the sidebar), Clayton Austin Love Stories
3. Other website of recent amusement: Various blogs of friends and dear readers, Go Fug Yourself (Hilariously snarky commentary on celebrity fashion), Mystery Google 
4. Three of the four books (kind of five) I am currently reading: House of Leaves, Little Women, Jesus the Christ

Please, dear reader, what's on your four lists of three?
_ _ _


And now, I give you what you came for. 
Shoes off, lying on the grass, enjoying the blue...

"And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again."

 ~ Foo Fighters, "Everlong"

45. November 12

Four Items of No Real Connection

and a Picture That Is Kind of Bland and Unconnected to Any of the Four Items.

In other words, a Thursday.

1. Sunny Skies. Thank goodness it was blue sky day. I didn't want to have to face yet another rainy day. The rain just depresses me.
2. 1982. I found a penny today, face up, year 1982. A little later, I was pulling laundry out of the dryer and a penny tumbled out, year 1982. I thought that was a little odd, because I remember checking my pockets for change before doing the wash. The clothes weren't quite dry, so I put the clothes back in for another ten minutes. When I pulled them out again, I found yet another penny, year 1982. Strange? Yeah, just a little. I now have three pennies, 1982, just chilling on my windowsill.
   
3. Possible career considerations. And rejuvenation in academic pursuits. A rejuvenation in life in general. A feeling like, hey I have the potential to be more than I am! I've known this, I think we all know we could be more. But its not only that, its also that I have the power and the will to live up to this potential! Hooray! Its the strangest and most refreshing of wake up calls.
   
4. The apartment has a new fish. Name? Dimitri. He will be joining the fish already in residence, Damon II. Damon I suffered death. Voltaire also didn't last long. 

"We need to find out what it is we're afraid of, and go beyond. [...]

If you don't go out and do you'll remain forever fearful of the workings of the world."

~ Colette Dowling, The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence

(No Mother I'm not becoming a raging feminist...)

10. October 8

Oh it was a flawless autumn day today, my favorite sort of weather! Half of our campus, it seemed, was out on the quad soaking up the sunshine. I was out too, with a book on my lap, but I was busier reading the crowd than the text before me...

Cast of Characters Observed On the Quad:

• Two boys, two guitars
• One man, one child, one stroller, one very awful plaid shirt
• One young man who had the appearance of a poor Russian poet, his bicycle, and a group of friends with whom he was planning a weekend trip to Raleigh
• A handsome guy with curly hair and a nice smile who works at the library whom I can never work up the courage to talk to...
• A hippie who knows everybody, including the aforementioned handsome face
• Three groups involved in games of frisbee
• A couple involved in some passionate making out for most of the afternoon, much to the laughter of the Russian poets' friends
• A photographer whom I see all over the place with his serious camera and serious camera bag and a serious expression  (I wonder what he sees behind his lens?)

And now, I give you, the quad.

 

Quote of the day:

"If you feel like it, come with me. I will tell you a story. I'll show you something."

~ Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

(I just began this book today and I'm quite excited about it!)