tuesday in the life.
today’s official schedule (because you care):
8.00 finish assignment for peer tutoring
10.50 peer tutoring class
1.30 working in the writing center
3.30 read cane, desperately try to finish before the study group at 6.30, eat something
6.30 senior comprehensive exam study group
8.30 study for midterm
11.00 bed, hope for the insomnia to end
and there you have it, folks. all times approximate, given my proclivity to have schedules completely derail for no apparent reason.
hemingway.
on the back of hemingway’s novel the sun also rises, there is a blurb from the new york times describing the author’s prose as “athletic”.
because that’s not vague. his writing can bench 210, apparently.
you have to read slow to get all the nuances of hemingway’s abrupt writing. as my professor said today, you can’t do shots of hemingway, you have to go slow and sip it, like whiskey.
he also then recommended that drinking whiskey might also help the reading of the book as well.
here are my favorites so far:
“The road to hell is paved with unbought stuffed dogs.”
“I mistrust all frank and simple people, especially when their stories hold together…”
“I was sorry for him, but it was not a thing you could do anything about, because right away you ran up against the two stubbornnesses: South America could fix it and he did not like Paris. He got the first idea out of a book, and I supposed the second came out of a book too.”
“It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing.”
* on a side note, this reminds me of the time when i watched ‘notting hill’ with my friend kristin, who promptly pulled out her spybook to write down any of the delicious quotes that would come about. i still do it.
about this morning.
How He Loves Us was played in church today, and i have to be honest – this song just took me out. our church plays a slightly different version than the original, and i can’t even say that i’m the biggest fan of all of the lyrics (most notably, heaven and earth and the “sloppy wet kiss” as an image just weirds me out), but i don’t even care, because i didn’t hear much past the first verse, which just took me down. i don’t care about what i didn’t like about it, it was deafened by the overwhelming thing god wanted to tell me.
it doesn’t happen to me that often. my internal monologue has a BIG. LOUD. MOUTH.
but, this part just stayed with me. all day.
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of the sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
in fact, the last time i heard god so vividly speak to me was 10 years ago, by a river in rockford illinois, on an idle tuesday. and he only said one sentence. and it distinctly changed my life, in those small subtle ways that seem to be so poignant, even as much (or more so) than the “life-changing events”.
the still, small voice.
but i remember it.
when other people would say things about god talking to them, or being overwhelmed by the goodness of god, i don’t relate. i would nod my head in faith that that is what i believed. i love god, surely. i believe in him, yes. i have a daily relationship with him, but it’s looked differently than what many others speak about.
after a long struggling time i learned that i could depend on what i experience, and learn that it was okay. i sort of stopped comparing. sort of.
but i don’t experience that kind of “god talking to me” usually, in such formality. i have to reach for it; cultivate it; have an ongoing dialogue in my car, driving, quietly. that’s my life with god. he must know me well enough to talk to me how i need him to.
but, once every ten years or so…
he is calling for me.
it was just one more sentence, and i don’t even know what it means right now. there’s a lot going on. but it’s bowling me over right about now, to the point that if i utter the words, i just can’t stop crying. he’s coming for me.
so, that’s what happened today.
a day in the life.
over lunch the boy and i made a quick outline of my schedule for the week.
or i should say, i was telling him the things i needed to get done, in order, so that i could think it through. [i am a verbal processor]. at some point, he brought out the notebook he keeps in his pocket and made me write it down.
i often want to know what a day in the life of people looks like. i’m not entirely sure why, but part of meeting people means ascertaining their personality, which makes me want to see how they spend their days – how the minutes and hours of activities add up.
anyway. ever wonder what my week looks like these days? i know you did! 😉 so each day, i’m giving you the schedule. we’ll start with monday. because the beginning is a very good place to start; thank you, mr. the-pooh.
monday:
8.30 history of english language (abbreviated: HEL.L) study group for midterm
9.25 chaucer (class)
10.40 do precis (small assignment) for peer tutoring class. lunch.
12.15 history of english language midterm.
1.40 american literature II (class)
3.00 study: read hemingway, chaucer
5.30 spin class at the y
7.00 dinner, study: finish precis, read hemingway, chaucer, study for midterm
* minus all the getting up, doing hair, talking to boyfriend, getting ready stuff.
really!?!
thank you, seth meyers from SNL, for giving creedence to the wordphrase phword that i overuse the most – really??
in today’s edition of REALLY!?! i quote USA Today:
Apparently, Obama’s decision to go sleeveless again is stirring up a debate. The tribute to Stevie Wonder was the second time in as many days that the first lady bared her arms.”
really, american public and internet patrons? REALLY? the very attractive and young first lady wears extremely tasteful and event-appropriate clothes with (GASP!) NO. SLEEVES. AT. ALL, and we should comment on it at all, let alone spark a debate? really?!?
i could go on, but…really?
get off the internet, people, and stop caring about the state of sleeves. especially when we have more important things to care about, like, say, ANYTHING ELSE.
* side note: i know the obama white house is all about exposure to the arts, etc. which i am all for, but do you also think that secretly they are like “now we are in charge, we get to have free concerts of all our favorite music. bitchin’!” i think they are. me? indie rock white house all the way.
plans for the weekend.
Power down. Log off. Unplug. Have mercy on your thumbs. Browse the world wide something else. Send some not-so-instant messages. Undo hit cancel. Be together. Make face time.”
(via)
that, and a whole lot of reading. sounds good.
letting go.
i have a hard time doing it. people, places, lives i wish i had, habits, memories, people i call friends who probably really aren’t…
why?
(crayola.
artwork done by arranging hundreds of thousands of hand-cast crayons by Christian Faur. pretty amazing.
( link via)
and we were all VERY impressed, until Christian accidentally left his art in the backseat of his parent’s car on that july afternoon, and it oozed into one big blob on the upholstery.
and then he was grounded.
monday morning ughpdate, in short.
must have slept on my neck wrong last night, because i woke up with a crick (this is the right word, yes? only to people from texas? anyone?) in it, which has gotten progressively worse and is now radiating down to include my right shoulder in all the fun.
i blame this primarily on the fact that i vocally announced, to no one in particular this morning, oh, and also to facebook, that i was determined to be productive today.
it does not escape me that any time i say such things, i end up with back problems, car issues, rat infestations — you name it. in short, any and all things that prevent my being productive.
this is ridiculous.
and now i have to stop typing because my shoulder is seizing up like it has stage fright or something.
typing this paper should be awesomely fun tonight.
sara, darling. 