Now Playing: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers soundtrack by Howard Shore.
Instead of working on my paper for L613, I've been reading people's blogs. It would appear that everyone else has had time to blog around Thanksgiving, too, which is actually pretty amazing, though reading about the things that TU people are doing makes me miss them more! Quelling criminal behavior, buying new doors, and raising one-year-old daughters--fun stuff.
Philip, Stephen, and I are sitting together in the living room right now. All three of us are on our laptops. I've put my portfolio for W513 and syllabus for L501 in good shape, I think, for their due dates. The L501 syllabus is due next Thursday, and though it probably still has plenty of problems, it's at least more organized than it was before. The portfolio needs to be printed off and bound as a chapbook, but I can't do that until the last poem has been workshopped...
... which leaves that L613 paper. Ugh. I've come to dread the process of writing that paper more and more, the end result being that it's going to be harder to write than it really should be. I'm almost at the point at which I can sit down and work out a proper thesis statement and outline, but I forgot to look at one of my resources before I left Bloomington, so that will have to be done on Tuesday. And then it's paper-writing hibernation for me for the next two weeks!
27 November 2010
25 November 2010
Now Playing: Laura practicing Mozart on the piano.
In honor of the fact that Pastor D is in the hospital in Belfast right now, I'm remembering today three years ago. It was my twenty-first birthday, the first birthday I'd ever spent away from home, and I was worshiping at Trinity RP with Claire W. That was one of the few Sabbath days that Pastor D preached at Trinity while I was in Northern Ireland--this preacher who Pastor H in Bloomington called "one of the greatest preachers in the English language alive today."
That day at Trinity three years ago, the children's address was about birthdays. Pastor D started off asking the children if they ever got excited about their birthdays and then, turning to the congregation, he said, "And there's someone from America with us right now whose birthday is today. She's sitting right back there...." I'll never forget the feeling of total shock that went through me--and the surprise as throughout the morning after the worship service, member after member of the church came up to me to wish me happy birthday.
Most of the time when people appreciate the church community, it's because of some tragedy that's happened, but that day I was so humbled by and thankful for the care of my family in Christ. Not trying to be fuzzy and sentimental here, but God really does bless us through His people. Yes, we're a group of sinners; nevertheless, Christ shines through.
In honor of the fact that Pastor D is in the hospital in Belfast right now, I'm remembering today three years ago. It was my twenty-first birthday, the first birthday I'd ever spent away from home, and I was worshiping at Trinity RP with Claire W. That was one of the few Sabbath days that Pastor D preached at Trinity while I was in Northern Ireland--this preacher who Pastor H in Bloomington called "one of the greatest preachers in the English language alive today."
That day at Trinity three years ago, the children's address was about birthdays. Pastor D started off asking the children if they ever got excited about their birthdays and then, turning to the congregation, he said, "And there's someone from America with us right now whose birthday is today. She's sitting right back there...." I'll never forget the feeling of total shock that went through me--and the surprise as throughout the morning after the worship service, member after member of the church came up to me to wish me happy birthday.
Most of the time when people appreciate the church community, it's because of some tragedy that's happened, but that day I was so humbled by and thankful for the care of my family in Christ. Not trying to be fuzzy and sentimental here, but God really does bless us through His people. Yes, we're a group of sinners; nevertheless, Christ shines through.
15 November 2010
Now Playing: Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, "Allegro."
Arched windows. Dark green awnings
hover over tables, coffee, cigarettes,
acids gritty as newspaper. Maple leaves, red
Hearts and Aces, clatter on the sidewalk.
A bus creaks past, large woman
with a walker, eases to a stop,
inhales half-a-dozen students, sighs,
squeals away. Across the city, chimes
punctuate morning. Echoes gossip. Wall
grey as a wool coat reveals windows
reflecting sky like skin, reflecting tree’s
yellow leaves reverberating under sunshine.
Yellow leaves reverberating under
this this this this this this this
light cavorting, trampling, waltzing, flaying
chloroplasts feather-thin. Pigments explode
as beaten tree unfurls choropleth
topography of summer, ridged, dusty.
Light pummels leaves, leaves flock,
annual loneliness twittering slip jig
in nine-eight time, flutter, sneeze.
This flock alighted under Cygnus. Scared
by Orion, it whirls in concentrics, contour
map across skies winging into severity.
Now Playing: Lots and none at all.
I've been working all day.... Medieval literature for about four hours, digital humanities for about two-and-a-half hours, and poetry soon. The day has been overcast, but now the sun is setting and making the trees ruddy as copper against a grey sky.
The last few weeks have been rough, admittedly. There have definitely been nights when I've been lying awake, sleepless, trying to pin my mind down for long enough to sing through the Psalms as a way to fall asleep.
On the other hand, it's been really wonderful to watch friendships develop here. This past Friday evening I went to the IU Opera's production of Die Fledermaus with Russell and Mary. I've been spending Friday afternoons at the Hs' house, helping Anne with her reading and playing endless games of Clue and Settlers of Catan with her. Nothing like a giggling seven-year-old to lighten the mood!
I've been working all day.... Medieval literature for about four hours, digital humanities for about two-and-a-half hours, and poetry soon. The day has been overcast, but now the sun is setting and making the trees ruddy as copper against a grey sky.
The last few weeks have been rough, admittedly. There have definitely been nights when I've been lying awake, sleepless, trying to pin my mind down for long enough to sing through the Psalms as a way to fall asleep.
On the other hand, it's been really wonderful to watch friendships develop here. This past Friday evening I went to the IU Opera's production of Die Fledermaus with Russell and Mary. I've been spending Friday afternoons at the Hs' house, helping Anne with her reading and playing endless games of Clue and Settlers of Catan with her. Nothing like a giggling seven-year-old to lighten the mood!
08 November 2010
Inside a house inside a small green square inside
great black seas inside these longitudes,
a slim gold watch on a bench, ticking.
You’re going through the rooms writing
lists of things to do, hoovering, scrubbing, cooking
potatoes for Daddy when he comes home
wondering when it ends, wondering when
she’ll knead the dough again, wondering
how to scrub the stove-soot she would scrub,
wondering when the plants are watered,
how to mend his shirts, wondering if she’ll step
through her scrawl. I’m sitting here inside
winter woods inside brown valleys inside
evening, wondering when the turn
from indigo to morning white
will come, wondering when these gilt
skeletons against the sky will leaf again.
28 October 2010
Now Playing: Tenth Avenue North, "You Are More."
I've been listening to a lot of these guys this week. A lot of them and Bach, which seems like a very odd combination, but I love the complexity of Bach and crave the encouragement of TAN, so let juxtaposition thrive!
Highlights of this week: Looking at the 1550 edition of Piers Plowman in the Lilly yesterday. Visiting the homes of two of my professors. Getting to know my friend Mary, a first-year in English and a Victorianist, much better. Encoding the book I'm working on for Digital Humanities while watching part of The Two Towers extended edition with Laura and Lisa. Sitting out a tornado warning in Starbucks with Mary and Beth on Tuesday morning.
Tonight we turned the heat on for the first time. Today felt like December: flat clouds, strong north wind, bitterly cold after weeks of moderate temperatures and constant sunshine. I'm shivering uncontrollably, even sitting here in the house! Not a good sign for the winter ahead.
I've been listening to a lot of these guys this week. A lot of them and Bach, which seems like a very odd combination, but I love the complexity of Bach and crave the encouragement of TAN, so let juxtaposition thrive!
Highlights of this week: Looking at the 1550 edition of Piers Plowman in the Lilly yesterday. Visiting the homes of two of my professors. Getting to know my friend Mary, a first-year in English and a Victorianist, much better. Encoding the book I'm working on for Digital Humanities while watching part of The Two Towers extended edition with Laura and Lisa. Sitting out a tornado warning in Starbucks with Mary and Beth on Tuesday morning.
Tonight we turned the heat on for the first time. Today felt like December: flat clouds, strong north wind, bitterly cold after weeks of moderate temperatures and constant sunshine. I'm shivering uncontrollably, even sitting here in the house! Not a good sign for the winter ahead.
25 October 2010
I came across this today in the process of working on my L501 project. It's the first page of the Old English poem Genesis from a manuscript in the Oxford University library (Bodleian, to be precise, Junius 11). It's illustrated, not just with fantastic stylized images like the one on this page but with full-scale images to accompany the Biblical stories.
These images are incredible--think cartoon-like sequences of finely-drawn figures narrating events such as the episode with Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. The pictures have a quality all their own, quite unlike the typical stylized bird-and-beast interlace in other Anglo-Saxon art. We looked at the image for the Abraham and Isaac story in my Bible in English Literature course at Queen's, where we picked apart the symbolism (for instance, Abraham carries a sword, which is right at the centre of the picture, foreshadowing the cross).
I just find this so incredible. It's easy to stereotype the Anglo-Saxons as superstitions medievals, ignorant about basic Christianity. Certainly their attitude toward Scripture was pre-Reformation (by several centuries!), but their love of the Bible is evident, I think, in works of art like these, even if I don't necessarily agree with the use to which these images were put or the theology behind them.
19 October 2010
Now Playing: Pride and Prejudice soundtrack.
Elizabeth and Laura left this morning. We had a delightful time together this week, which included
Now the world is back to normal again. I had class this morning, read excerpts from Foxe's Book of Martyrs for my medieval lit class (including the fascinating accounts of Anne Askew's interrogation, where she makes the most smart-aleck-y comments ever), and tried to sort out what classes to take next term. I ate tea with Lisa and then spent a solid two hours encoding for L501, listening to Indie music from Philip. The savory smell of chocolate-pumpkin muffins wafts upstairs from the kitchen where Lindsay is baking.
Elizabeth and Laura left this morning. We had a delightful time together this week, which included
- Walking to the Farmers' Market on Saturday morning, eating honey sticks, and buying the most delicious red bell pepper ever from an Amish woman
- Visiting Caveat Emptor, the used bookstore downtown, where I bought a version of Pound's Cantos
- Walking again in the afternoon down the Rails-to-Trails path, ceilinged and carpeted with yellow leaves
- Coming downstairs Sabbath morning to find Lisa making French toast in the kitchen--flashback to Sabbath mornings at the McCollums' house!
- Spending two five-hour stretches in church, with a nap in between
- Having my hair cut Monday afternoon by Elizabeth
- Spending about an hour in the children's section in the Monroe County Public Library with Elizabeth and Laura, sitting on the floor reading Eloise and giggling uncontrollably
- Frying up some absolutely fantastic lime-cilantro chicken fajitas with Elizabeth on Monday night for Lisa, Laura, and Lindsay, complemented by Laura-my-sister's homemade tortillas
- Chilling with Laura and Elizabeth Monday night (i.e., giggling for long stretches of time about nothing in particular)
Now the world is back to normal again. I had class this morning, read excerpts from Foxe's Book of Martyrs for my medieval lit class (including the fascinating accounts of Anne Askew's interrogation, where she makes the most smart-aleck-y comments ever), and tried to sort out what classes to take next term. I ate tea with Lisa and then spent a solid two hours encoding for L501, listening to Indie music from Philip. The savory smell of chocolate-pumpkin muffins wafts upstairs from the kitchen where Lindsay is baking.
16 October 2010
11 October 2010
07 October 2010
05 October 2010
Now Playing: Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack, "Amon Hen."
As on most Tuesday mornings, this morning I biked over to the coffeeshop by campus to meet Mary and Beth at nine o'clock. We always meet to discuss the weekend's readings for the medieval lit class. Unlike most mornings, though, this morning I got to use my sweet North Face jacket! A thin layer of frost actually lay on the windscreens of cars and the roofs of houses as I worked my way over to campus.
Mary, Beth, and I had an intense discussion about The Sultan of Babylon today--a Middle English Charlemagne romance with lots of feasts in it, so we talked about the feasts for about two hours while we drank coffee, until it was time for class.
I'm enjoying medieval romances much more than I thought I would. Not really sure why. They're like popcorn, or a box of chocolates: you never know what's going to happen next, and weird things keep bouncing to the surface. Magical girdles, fourteen-foot giants' babies, fried snakes, trees with white flowers, and of course plenty of bloody mortal combats.
After class I biked home and spent the afternoon alone in the house. I ate lunch, read our next romance, The Siege of Milan, drank tea, and practiced my flute for an hour. Then--wonder of wonders, wonder worthy of a romance all its own!--I rang Anna, and she actually answered the phone! We've been playing phone tag for over a month now.
So I went for a long walk for an hour-and-a-half while I talked to her. Maples blazed against the late afternoon sky. I walked through a neighborhood full of young maples, many of them crimson, and then I walked down into some woods behind one of the apartment complexes, where I sat under a sweetgum tree in a clearing--in a clearing on a crunchy carpet of yellow leaves, with a yellow ceiling. Walked down to a dry creek on deep drifts of yellow leaves, and then back up through a hillside full of Johnson grass and asters.
After I said good-bye to Anna, Lisa, Laura, and I went over to campus to pick Lindsay up from class, and then the four of us went for our housemates' night out: to the mall.
The food court was our first stop, Chick-Fil-A, to be precise. While we ate Lindsay told us about a "robot study" she participated in today. We devoured our lemonade and waffle fries and then shopped for awhile: American Eagle, Payless, Target. Lisa and I both bought jeans, and we left Target richer by a welcome mat and a bag of animal crackers.
At home the girls settled down to watch two episodes of Friends. I slogged through writing a poem while listening to FOTR. My candle burns on my desk. Lisa and Lindsay are both working now, too, and I can hear Laura talking on the phone downstairs.
As on most Tuesday mornings, this morning I biked over to the coffeeshop by campus to meet Mary and Beth at nine o'clock. We always meet to discuss the weekend's readings for the medieval lit class. Unlike most mornings, though, this morning I got to use my sweet North Face jacket! A thin layer of frost actually lay on the windscreens of cars and the roofs of houses as I worked my way over to campus.
Mary, Beth, and I had an intense discussion about The Sultan of Babylon today--a Middle English Charlemagne romance with lots of feasts in it, so we talked about the feasts for about two hours while we drank coffee, until it was time for class.
I'm enjoying medieval romances much more than I thought I would. Not really sure why. They're like popcorn, or a box of chocolates: you never know what's going to happen next, and weird things keep bouncing to the surface. Magical girdles, fourteen-foot giants' babies, fried snakes, trees with white flowers, and of course plenty of bloody mortal combats.
After class I biked home and spent the afternoon alone in the house. I ate lunch, read our next romance, The Siege of Milan, drank tea, and practiced my flute for an hour. Then--wonder of wonders, wonder worthy of a romance all its own!--I rang Anna, and she actually answered the phone! We've been playing phone tag for over a month now.
So I went for a long walk for an hour-and-a-half while I talked to her. Maples blazed against the late afternoon sky. I walked through a neighborhood full of young maples, many of them crimson, and then I walked down into some woods behind one of the apartment complexes, where I sat under a sweetgum tree in a clearing--in a clearing on a crunchy carpet of yellow leaves, with a yellow ceiling. Walked down to a dry creek on deep drifts of yellow leaves, and then back up through a hillside full of Johnson grass and asters.
After I said good-bye to Anna, Lisa, Laura, and I went over to campus to pick Lindsay up from class, and then the four of us went for our housemates' night out: to the mall.
The food court was our first stop, Chick-Fil-A, to be precise. While we ate Lindsay told us about a "robot study" she participated in today. We devoured our lemonade and waffle fries and then shopped for awhile: American Eagle, Payless, Target. Lisa and I both bought jeans, and we left Target richer by a welcome mat and a bag of animal crackers.
At home the girls settled down to watch two episodes of Friends. I slogged through writing a poem while listening to FOTR. My candle burns on my desk. Lisa and Lindsay are both working now, too, and I can hear Laura talking on the phone downstairs.
04 October 2010
Now Playing: Bach, B Minor Mass, "Confiteor unum baptisma...."
Life is very normal right now. I've been trying to work/not work all day today, and even though I have a list of things to do, and most of it is done, it's been hard to focus. My thoughts keep jumping ahead to the big papers and projects lurking at the end of the semester as I wonder whether I'll be able to pass muster as a "real" grad student.
For some reason fall is one of the hardest times of year for me. I just realize how much time I spend being unhappy. It's really ridiculous. The voice inside my head mutters away all day about how meaningless reading psychoanalytic theory and Chaucer is, how foolish other people must think me, how guilty I am before God because of all my sins....
One morning last week I was sitting on my floor, doing my quiet time, and I happened to look up and see the plant sitting in the windowsill. One leaf was illuminated by the sun, a long bright green arc. Somehow God displays His glory there, in how perfectly calibrated leaf and light are to each other, and as He provides sunshine for that plant and keeps all its cells fine-tuned, enabled to do their work.
It's humbling, but that's what my attitude needs to be, too. Live like a plant. Simply for God's glory, simply enabled by His grace. I want to have learned the lesson and be done with it, be able to live life effortlessly in His love.
But God is a God who "waits to be gracious to you," who "exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all who wait for Him." Always thought I was a patient person, but I'm really not at all--I want to be happy and full of God's love now. Perhaps this is what it means to exercise faith.
Life is very normal right now. I've been trying to work/not work all day today, and even though I have a list of things to do, and most of it is done, it's been hard to focus. My thoughts keep jumping ahead to the big papers and projects lurking at the end of the semester as I wonder whether I'll be able to pass muster as a "real" grad student.
For some reason fall is one of the hardest times of year for me. I just realize how much time I spend being unhappy. It's really ridiculous. The voice inside my head mutters away all day about how meaningless reading psychoanalytic theory and Chaucer is, how foolish other people must think me, how guilty I am before God because of all my sins....
One morning last week I was sitting on my floor, doing my quiet time, and I happened to look up and see the plant sitting in the windowsill. One leaf was illuminated by the sun, a long bright green arc. Somehow God displays His glory there, in how perfectly calibrated leaf and light are to each other, and as He provides sunshine for that plant and keeps all its cells fine-tuned, enabled to do their work.
It's humbling, but that's what my attitude needs to be, too. Live like a plant. Simply for God's glory, simply enabled by His grace. I want to have learned the lesson and be done with it, be able to live life effortlessly in His love.
But God is a God who "waits to be gracious to you," who "exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all who wait for Him." Always thought I was a patient person, but I'm really not at all--I want to be happy and full of God's love now. Perhaps this is what it means to exercise faith.
01 October 2010
29 September 2010
Now Playing: Cherish the Ladies, "Woman of the House", "Sweet Thames Flow Softly."
I'm procrastinating on going to sleep right now, so here's what I did this past weekend. I drove to Nashville and visited Syneva! I could rattle off a list of all the things we did: shopped at a flea market, visited the library, walked around downtown, walked around a lake, went out for Italian food, went to City Church, cooked food, watched a DVD.
Scratch that. Sounds like a to-do list. Try some snapshots instead.
On Friday evening, we drove through a sudden thunderstorm to get frozen yogurt. Oblongs of yellow light through glass doors in the mansions along Belmont Boulevard glowed like the facets of a chandelier. We listened to Brahms's sonata for clarinet and piano, and the sky was green with lightning.
Saturday afternoon we spent hours sifting through trays of tarnished jewelery and crumbling postcards, piles of kitchenware, and old furniture at the flea market. Syneva bought a flour sifter, and I bought a silver ring for three dollars.
That night we had the house to ourselves and made Mexican food. I made tortillas for the first time ever, rolling extremely sticky balls of dough in piles of flour while we talked about North and South and Foyle's War.
Sabbath morning we sat on the front porch, drinking spiced black tea, eating pumpkin bread with dried dates and walnuts, and talking about Shostakovich.
When I drove back to Indiana through Kentucky, the forests were beginning to be veined with warm colors, copper flowing up through the dark green trees. In Indiana all the pumpkin patches and corn mazes were open for business.
Since I came back, it's been work as usual, though the weather has finally cooled off here, and I had to wear a hoodie when I ran this morning.
I'm procrastinating on going to sleep right now, so here's what I did this past weekend. I drove to Nashville and visited Syneva! I could rattle off a list of all the things we did: shopped at a flea market, visited the library, walked around downtown, walked around a lake, went out for Italian food, went to City Church, cooked food, watched a DVD.
Scratch that. Sounds like a to-do list. Try some snapshots instead.
On Friday evening, we drove through a sudden thunderstorm to get frozen yogurt. Oblongs of yellow light through glass doors in the mansions along Belmont Boulevard glowed like the facets of a chandelier. We listened to Brahms's sonata for clarinet and piano, and the sky was green with lightning.
Saturday afternoon we spent hours sifting through trays of tarnished jewelery and crumbling postcards, piles of kitchenware, and old furniture at the flea market. Syneva bought a flour sifter, and I bought a silver ring for three dollars.
That night we had the house to ourselves and made Mexican food. I made tortillas for the first time ever, rolling extremely sticky balls of dough in piles of flour while we talked about North and South and Foyle's War.
Sabbath morning we sat on the front porch, drinking spiced black tea, eating pumpkin bread with dried dates and walnuts, and talking about Shostakovich.
When I drove back to Indiana through Kentucky, the forests were beginning to be veined with warm colors, copper flowing up through the dark green trees. In Indiana all the pumpkin patches and corn mazes were open for business.
Since I came back, it's been work as usual, though the weather has finally cooled off here, and I had to wear a hoodie when I ran this morning.
18 September 2010
Now Playing: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack, Track 15, "The Great River."
A few photos from today are here.
It's been a long week. The saga of computer problems never seems to end! Last Wednesday, I locked myself out of my computer, launching my dad and me into a labyrinth of computer programming questions. We both spent what seemed like hours poking around on the internet and fiddling with my laptop. Finally, on Saturday night, with the help of Lindsay's old laptop and a blank CD, I managed to burn a program to solve the problem. My dad walked me through the process on the phone. Saturday night I went to bed with a functional computer, a slightly better knowledge of how it works, and a deeper appreciation for my dad's patience!
Then on Wednesday we woke up and the internet was mysteriously not working. I spent some time that afternoon trying to coax the router to work and ended up calling AT&T, but they were unhelpful. It took Laura an hour on Thursday night to get the thing fixed. In the meantime, I was biking around campus with my laptop, notebook, and Norton anthologies or Riverside Chaucer in my bag! Either helped my stamina or ruined my shoulders; I'm not sure which yet.
Computer issues aside, good things have happened this week, too. Lindsay and I both registered for library cards on Thursday, and on Friday I checked out a glorious stack of Bach and Brahms CDs that I've never listened to before. Friday was also the day I ate lunch with Cindy at the Runcible Spoon, and we spent a delightful couple of hours talking about Europe.
Last night Lisa and I were left to our own devices, Lindsay and Laura both having gone on short weekend trips. We worked dutifully (mostly dutifully, anyway) until nine o'clock, when we took a break to eat ice cream and watch Letters to Juliet. Chick flick, anyone? It was amusing. This afternoon we joined some people from the RPC on a short hike--more like a walk through the woods--at a state park an hour away from Bloomington. It was pleasant to be outside, walking under the tall oak trees, and laughing at all the wee kids scampering about.
Lisa is baking chocolate cake and lemon bars for Fireside Chat tomorrow night.
All things considered, I'm very thankful that tomorrow is the Sabbath.
A few photos from today are here.
It's been a long week. The saga of computer problems never seems to end! Last Wednesday, I locked myself out of my computer, launching my dad and me into a labyrinth of computer programming questions. We both spent what seemed like hours poking around on the internet and fiddling with my laptop. Finally, on Saturday night, with the help of Lindsay's old laptop and a blank CD, I managed to burn a program to solve the problem. My dad walked me through the process on the phone. Saturday night I went to bed with a functional computer, a slightly better knowledge of how it works, and a deeper appreciation for my dad's patience!
Then on Wednesday we woke up and the internet was mysteriously not working. I spent some time that afternoon trying to coax the router to work and ended up calling AT&T, but they were unhelpful. It took Laura an hour on Thursday night to get the thing fixed. In the meantime, I was biking around campus with my laptop, notebook, and Norton anthologies or Riverside Chaucer in my bag! Either helped my stamina or ruined my shoulders; I'm not sure which yet.
Computer issues aside, good things have happened this week, too. Lindsay and I both registered for library cards on Thursday, and on Friday I checked out a glorious stack of Bach and Brahms CDs that I've never listened to before. Friday was also the day I ate lunch with Cindy at the Runcible Spoon, and we spent a delightful couple of hours talking about Europe.
Last night Lisa and I were left to our own devices, Lindsay and Laura both having gone on short weekend trips. We worked dutifully (mostly dutifully, anyway) until nine o'clock, when we took a break to eat ice cream and watch Letters to Juliet. Chick flick, anyone? It was amusing. This afternoon we joined some people from the RPC on a short hike--more like a walk through the woods--at a state park an hour away from Bloomington. It was pleasant to be outside, walking under the tall oak trees, and laughing at all the wee kids scampering about.
Lisa is baking chocolate cake and lemon bars for Fireside Chat tomorrow night.
All things considered, I'm very thankful that tomorrow is the Sabbath.
13 September 2010
Now Playing: Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat.
In the post just below this there's a link to some photos from the past two weekends as well as of our wee house. On Saturday Lindsay and Lisa, who are beasts, hauled in Laura's tiny pickup truck an almost new blue plush sofa from a family about twenty minutes away. They got it out of the truck and into our living room, rearranged the furniture, hung pictures on the walls, and generally made the living space downstairs look like home. My heart gives a little patter of happy surprise every time I go down there now.
Today while poking around on the internet for Digital Humanities, I found some gorgeous photos from the Staffordshire Hoard, a collection of Anglo-Saxon objects from the 5th-7th centuries (roughly). The hoard was only just discovered in 2009, so many of the objects haven't been catalogued or fully cleaned yet, but their website has some stunning images. Here are a couple:
One of these is broken gold with fish and eagle details. The other is a gold strip with a verse from Numbers etched onto it in Latin, calling God to arise and scatter His enemies. Today I spent two hours in Dr. M's office with three other students as we discussed our projects for this class. I think that some how Dr. M talked me into putting together a sort of annotated bibliography of digital resources to use for teaching and researching, though I initially wanted to try for a syllabus. We'll see. The idea of trying to put together a syllabus daunts me, which is partly why I want to try it. But either way the work will be useful later on.
In the post just below this there's a link to some photos from the past two weekends as well as of our wee house. On Saturday Lindsay and Lisa, who are beasts, hauled in Laura's tiny pickup truck an almost new blue plush sofa from a family about twenty minutes away. They got it out of the truck and into our living room, rearranged the furniture, hung pictures on the walls, and generally made the living space downstairs look like home. My heart gives a little patter of happy surprise every time I go down there now.
Today while poking around on the internet for Digital Humanities, I found some gorgeous photos from the Staffordshire Hoard, a collection of Anglo-Saxon objects from the 5th-7th centuries (roughly). The hoard was only just discovered in 2009, so many of the objects haven't been catalogued or fully cleaned yet, but their website has some stunning images. Here are a couple:
One of these is broken gold with fish and eagle details. The other is a gold strip with a verse from Numbers etched onto it in Latin, calling God to arise and scatter His enemies. Today I spent two hours in Dr. M's office with three other students as we discussed our projects for this class. I think that some how Dr. M talked me into putting together a sort of annotated bibliography of digital resources to use for teaching and researching, though I initially wanted to try for a syllabus. We'll see. The idea of trying to put together a syllabus daunts me, which is partly why I want to try it. But either way the work will be useful later on.
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