a ten-minute dream in the passenger seat

i can tell this is going to take some getting used to.

in other news, tolkien's biography (the humphrey carpenter one) is really intriguing. i guess i've always sorta had a thing for reading about other peoples' lives. i don't really know why, though.

at work today i think it was secretly declared verbally-shit-on-amy day by patrons of adler pool, because many of them were bitchy and giving me crap about policies and procedures and whatnot.

...anyway. more reading, tra la la. i hope to finish at least ten books this summer.

books i've read thus far:
- robinson crusoe
- zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
- harry potter 6

books i'd like to read:
- (finish) tolkien's bio
- siddhartha
- frankenstein
- ender's game
- zorro
- cien anos de soledad (if i can find my copy, that is)
- (finish) good omens
- (finish) chocolat
- dr jekyll and mr hyde
- (finish) unfinished tales
- life of pi
- animal farm
- a prayer for owen meany
- the tao of pooh & te of piglet
- the ascent of man
- you shall know our velocity
- in the time of the butterflies (en espanol? quien sabe?)

etc. maybe i will actually finish the list.

So, my job is looking ok . . . Despite the sheer tedium of the last couple of days (quite slow for the pool since no little kids are out of school yet) and being sent home early both days due to crappy weather, the hours are flexible and the people are nice. Two of the girls with whom I'm working are education majors, and will be seniors in college in fall. It makes me feel really young.

And since I am bored right now, I've been looking at Grinnell's course lists for this fall and next spring, and HOLY CRAP. There are, let's see, TWENTY-ONE classes I'd be interested in taking this fall alone. !!! I am so never going to graduate, or be able to pick a major . . . Maybe I'll just go to college for the rest of my life. And die with eight trillion dollars of debt.

Anyway . . . I started reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance today, and it's very intriguing so far. The first 60 pages or so are highly recommended. More updates to come as I progress farther into the book.

MUSIC
Becky = my hero. Congrats on that music scholarship!!

Concert last night was AMAZING. Totally worth the scary long drive.
The Rocket Summer = the shit
Relient K = Also the shit, and fun to jump around to
Maxeen = Good stuff as well

I wish I had pictures; fortunately Kate has a picture of us all with Bryce Avery, the man behind TRS. Yaaay for multi-instrumental, energetic, awesome dudes.

COLLEGE
U of I campus = very large
Me = Leaning toward Grinnell again. Visiting next Friday.

MISC.
Also, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is an excellent book.

March went by really, really fast.

So, it's officially 2006.

( Pictures from New Year's Eve )

( Thoughts on the upcoming year, complete with resolutions. )

Also, I have joined embodiment. I've kept a paper journal since the end of 6th grade, and I've been fairly faithful with them since then. But never before have I written in one every day. So we'll see if I can keep up with the community's idea.

ETA: Memoirs of a Geisha is excellent; I just finished it today. The writing style is transfixing, and the book addictive. Lots of metaphors = very vivid imagery. It's interesting that it was written so well from a woman's perspective by a man. I highly recommend.

So, being as it's almost New Year's, I decided to follow the "Get your resolution here" link I saw on my flist. And here is my resolution:

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Get high on sharpies. Get your resolution here

Teehee. Good thing I got all those new, colorful, clicky-Sharpies for Christmas!

Maybe sometime soon I will come up with a real resolution. For now, I need to select which book I'm going to read next from the 16 I got this Christmas. Included in those 16 are the following:



BOOOKS!!

( And now, for more holiday pictures )

So, tralala, it's December . . . And I feel like I should have something to say. But I don't, really. Except that Y Tu Mamá También es . . . well. Gratuitously sexual.

Granted, I can see some of the underlying social and cultural commentary. It's definitely there. Only, did they need that much sex to get the point across?

I suppose I shouldn't criticize, since I could never, ever make a film worth seeing (note our Snow Day Mystery from last year and the weird movie Sara, Nick, and I made sophomore year). But . . . Really.

Anyway . . . I really just want to read. Like, books books books books books! And no more chemistry labs. Because who really cares if I can perform a gravimetric analysis of an unknown compound? Or if I can calculate the heat of neutralization? The conceptual stuff in chemistry is cool, like finding out how things are made. I just don't like the math part.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooks. With plots. And no equations in them.
And cool clarinet solos, like the ones I sight read tonight by Spohr.

I want to be able to read a book and pick up on themes and metaphors on my own. I actually enjoyed Gatsby the second time around, but that's probably because the summer English assignment told us what to look for - I noticed more, understood more, and actually would agree that the novel has a point, now.

Maybe I'm not cut out to be an English major?

Hmmm.

Rargh.

I had a really good reflection on HBP going, and then it vanished. Like magic!

So, here we go again. ( Spoilers practically guaranteed. )

ETA: I am feeling quite cut off from my friends. Illness and the trip to Ohio obviously being the principle (principal?) reasons. Sigh. How did I manage to live with such little contact to other people freshman year?

ETA2: Upon rereading and reflection, I have come to the conclusion that this entry is overly critical, and can be blamed mostly on my icky mood. Icky mood caused by lack of contact with friends, sore throat, and lack of exercise in the past week. More rational thoughts on the book to come.

I don't feel so good. Stomach is being an icky bitch.

But! I finished Eragon, and I CANNOT WAIT FOR MORE!!! Christopher Paolini, who is like not even 20 yet, really needs to hurry up and finish the second book. I already adore him for his fantasy love and great writing, but I WANT THAT BOOK!

I have American Gods to keep me busy for a while, though. Also The Great Gatsby, which we're reading in English and I don't really like so far. Oh well.

Yesterday was IMEA, and being there made me very sad and sentimental for last year. Blah to that, I say! I need to get over it and start working really hard again so I can get into CYSO again next year.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a very appropriately-titled book, as far as I can tell.