You know, I'm starting to think that some things that would look and sound just fine on a blog page or book leaf come across as less fluid, and less interesting when they're put in black Times New Roman against a white background, double-spaced, with one-inch margins set.
Either that, or my opening paragraph really just is that boring.
7.19.2011
Two Three Four Things
Perhaps needless to say, my goals for this post have evolved since I started it. (The finished title doesn't even reflect the proper number of changes, I don't think.)
-Have finished both Eight Cousins and its sequel, Rose in Bloom. I think I actually liked the latter better, though both are good on the whole, their upsides shining through their being, as a fellow reader (who wasn't being negative, just matter-of-fact) put it about the first of the pair, "a little dated and a little didactic." (And anyway, two hundred years down the line, the recent writing we find least offensive is going to contain assumptions and tones that'll be awkward for those who'll have come after us, and we probably have no more idea of which assumptions/tones they'll be than anyone does. Tim Keller pointed that out once about cultural assumptions.) An interesting thing about the sequel is that essentially it's a little like Little Women, but rather more dramatic, and with boys: there are four who get most of the attention, and you can even draw rough parallels between each boy and his corresponding March sister (though in one case out of the four, there's really only about one thing the two characters have in common - the other comparisons have a little more depth to them). I mean, the book is about Rose (people who have any better idea of the history of literature than I do: when do we really start getting women authors writing from a male-adult character perspective? Does that even happen a lot now?), but the boys really figure heavily into it.
-I learned two new forms of solitaire last night, Canfield and Forty Thieves, thanks to a Hoyle game book at Albert's mother's house. Now, Canfield is every bit as half-impossible as people say it is (I suspect that Rainbow Canfield, where you can turn the cards over one at a time instead of three at a time, would be easier, especially if you let yourself go through the stock deck as many times as you want), but I actually think it's more interesting, even though I actually won the one game of Forty Thieves I played (it seemed to take a long time), and I have not yet won Canfield. (I'll have to try the Rainbow variation with real cards soon; last night I soon abandoned the real deck I'd started with and turned to the digital one on Card Shark, this free card-game app I put on my iPod. So I've also played a lot of Memory and Crazy Eights over the past, like, sixteen hours.)
At some point I should probably teach myself poker as a way of giving myself something else to do with my brother. But I don't know yet if I have the willingness to lose that badly all the time. Dude is not to be messed with at poker, as you've heard.
-In food news, wouldn't this be fun if you were a kid? Or, you know, whenever?
-Joe, Andrea, and Tom will be here at the end of the month to visit! So between Joe, Albert, and me...I mean, basically that's half this blog's regular readership in the same place, right? So we're pretty much a walking QPQ-Con. I feel like we should have a keynote speaker. (Okay, I admit it, I totally don't.) Except that by default I pretty much am.
All right, I think that means it's time I went and did something productive. At least after a few more minutes online.
-Have finished both Eight Cousins and its sequel, Rose in Bloom. I think I actually liked the latter better, though both are good on the whole, their upsides shining through their being, as a fellow reader (who wasn't being negative, just matter-of-fact) put it about the first of the pair, "a little dated and a little didactic." (And anyway, two hundred years down the line, the recent writing we find least offensive is going to contain assumptions and tones that'll be awkward for those who'll have come after us, and we probably have no more idea of which assumptions/tones they'll be than anyone does. Tim Keller pointed that out once about cultural assumptions.) An interesting thing about the sequel is that essentially it's a little like Little Women, but rather more dramatic, and with boys: there are four who get most of the attention, and you can even draw rough parallels between each boy and his corresponding March sister (though in one case out of the four, there's really only about one thing the two characters have in common - the other comparisons have a little more depth to them). I mean, the book is about Rose (people who have any better idea of the history of literature than I do: when do we really start getting women authors writing from a male-adult character perspective? Does that even happen a lot now?), but the boys really figure heavily into it.
-I learned two new forms of solitaire last night, Canfield and Forty Thieves, thanks to a Hoyle game book at Albert's mother's house. Now, Canfield is every bit as half-impossible as people say it is (I suspect that Rainbow Canfield, where you can turn the cards over one at a time instead of three at a time, would be easier, especially if you let yourself go through the stock deck as many times as you want), but I actually think it's more interesting, even though I actually won the one game of Forty Thieves I played (it seemed to take a long time), and I have not yet won Canfield. (I'll have to try the Rainbow variation with real cards soon; last night I soon abandoned the real deck I'd started with and turned to the digital one on Card Shark, this free card-game app I put on my iPod. So I've also played a lot of Memory and Crazy Eights over the past, like, sixteen hours.)
At some point I should probably teach myself poker as a way of giving myself something else to do with my brother. But I don't know yet if I have the willingness to lose that badly all the time. Dude is not to be messed with at poker, as you've heard.
-In food news, wouldn't this be fun if you were a kid? Or, you know, whenever?
-Joe, Andrea, and Tom will be here at the end of the month to visit! So between Joe, Albert, and me...I mean, basically that's half this blog's regular readership in the same place, right? So we're pretty much a walking QPQ-Con. I feel like we should have a keynote speaker. (Okay, I admit it, I totally don't.) Except that by default I pretty much am.
All right, I think that means it's time I went and did something productive. At least after a few more minutes online.
7.12.2011
Medicine
What I've been taking to ease, if perhaps not cure, what today must have been (given the symptoms, which included some pronounced dizziness and a short bout of vomiting...I'm sure you were keen to know) either fluid in my ears, a stomach virus of some variety, or both:
-ginger ale
-chicken-and-rice soup (preferably garnished with Albert's mother's nice garden herbs, left over from pizza-making yesterday)
-a Louisa May Alcott novel I've never read (Eight Cousins, which so far is so much fun), in e-book format (public-domain material triumphs once again)
-lots of sleep
I'll have to stop dosing myself on the penultimate item soon, and turn again to the last one.
-ginger ale
-chicken-and-rice soup (preferably garnished with Albert's mother's nice garden herbs, left over from pizza-making yesterday)
-a Louisa May Alcott novel I've never read (Eight Cousins, which so far is so much fun), in e-book format (public-domain material triumphs once again)
-lots of sleep
I'll have to stop dosing myself on the penultimate item soon, and turn again to the last one.
7.08.2011
Seven Quick Takes: Great-Bloggity-Moggity-It's-Another-Post-Already Edition
One: So my Bible study material lately has been twofold: I'm finally doing that thing where you take a 31-day month(...like July!) and read one chapter of Proverbs per day, and I'm also going through one chapter per day of Acts because, I dunno, I like it, and it's different from what I usually read from (an epistle or gospel). This is good, because my consistency with what a lot of Christians like to call "quiet time" had been a little substandard lately leading up to July, but now that I have a routine and so far am sticking to it, I feel more on track, and kind of like I'm thinking more deeply about the texts at hand.
Two: During that study today, I covered, naturally enough, Proverbs 8. One thinks of Proverbs as a collection of short wise sayings, but those actually don't start up until a little later; right now I'm still in the longer instructive passages. Two thoughts: 1) Boy, is the book of Proverbs against adultery (something like four warnings already, across eight chapters!). 2) It's really interesting (and heartening) that Solomon, who owes his very existence to an affair (being a child of David and Bathsheba, who got together when David sent for Bathsheba, slept with her, and later killed her husband - of which proceedings God did not approve - but that whole story is in a different Biblical book), is probably the one who's there speaking out so strongly against them.
Three: Another book I've started reading (which, you'll notice, has nothing to do with the President Project described a couple of entries ago, but whatever): The Complete Idiot's Guide to Teaching College, which with Albert's encouragement I bought at Job Lot this past weekend because we were in there anyway, and because it cost all of four bucks, which is pretty good considering it's usually closer to twenty. Anyway, it looks like it's going to be helpful.
Four: Newport has a lot of fog sometimes, being so near the water and everything. Albert and I took a walk along foggy streets the other evening, which was pretty cool - literally as well as figuratively. It does a nice job of turning down the heat.
Five: By the way, assuming I haven't told you this already by now, Albert's family sometimes calls him Eric (it's part of his middle name), so if I ever do that, that's who I mean. It confused my dad the first time I said "Eric" - understandably enough, since I hadn't explained - though it wasn't such a crazy idea to him altogether, given that he's also somebody who seems to go by a different name for each group of people he interacts with.
Six: Today, since it's cooler than usual outside (and hence I don't feel so bad about using the oven), I might just make some oatmeal crispies, which are so good. But then again, I still want(?!) to do a thing or two for school, so maybe I'll just stick to making baked chicken cordon bleu for dinner and tackle the cookies some other time.
Seven: Also, I'm looking for a place that sells decent women's polo shirts, especially ones that would go with a long black skirt. I'm planning to see whether Old Navy's are all right or a little too thin. Any other suggestions? Remember that I don't really like doing anything lower than a crew neck (not just modesty; it's also the best choice for me fashion-wise, believe me), so besides being of a reasonable thickness, it's also going to need to button relatively high.
For more, check out the site of the 7QT hostess, Jen!
7.07.2011
Unrelatedly
I'm starting to think that my Skittles allergy also applies to fruit-flavored Mentos (blast it!). I guess they are pretty similar candies. I should compare ingredient lists and see what they have in common.
New Project (As Though I Needed One)
So it's back: as has been the case so many times over the nine-or-so years since this blog came into existence (...wait, really?! ::goes to check:: Wow, yes!), it's time for me to come up with an overachievy personal goal to chase until I mostly complete it (like the Newbery Project), or else get tired of it (like the books listed on this blog's sidebar, though I still mean to get to those) or for some other combination of reasons abandon it (more or less like this).
This time, then, here's the project: I'm going to read either a biography or autobiography (my choice, where both options are open to me) of every American president. In order. No time limit, because, good gracious, it took me two years to read/reread over sixty Newberys, and many of those are a lot shorter than the books here are going to be.
I like American history, but sometimes the subject as a whole makes my eyes glaze over. Laws and geography and battle plans mostly don't hold my interest in the way that the domestic does - family, hometown, personal temperament, aspirations. So I feel like biography is really going to be the way to go here. I'm interested in the presidents themselves, and I think I'll be more willing to try to follow some of the duller larger-scale concerns if it's done out of interest in the people behind it. At least that's what I'm hoping.
And c'mon, can you think of a better excuse to read David McCullough writing about John Adams?
Anyway, I hope you like the idea, because I'm probably going to post about each book, at least briefly. So, you know...stay tuned.
This time, then, here's the project: I'm going to read either a biography or autobiography (my choice, where both options are open to me) of every American president. In order. No time limit, because, good gracious, it took me two years to read/reread over sixty Newberys, and many of those are a lot shorter than the books here are going to be.
I like American history, but sometimes the subject as a whole makes my eyes glaze over. Laws and geography and battle plans mostly don't hold my interest in the way that the domestic does - family, hometown, personal temperament, aspirations. So I feel like biography is really going to be the way to go here. I'm interested in the presidents themselves, and I think I'll be more willing to try to follow some of the duller larger-scale concerns if it's done out of interest in the people behind it. At least that's what I'm hoping.
And c'mon, can you think of a better excuse to read David McCullough writing about John Adams?
Anyway, I hope you like the idea, because I'm probably going to post about each book, at least briefly. So, you know...stay tuned.