Ok... I really like this one. Her name is "Merenda." She's from 540 BC, Archaic Greece. We believe she's either royalty or a goddess. And she's holding a lotus flower. Isn't she lovely?

Alright... there's a "Greek Art" lesson for you!

I finished Pride and Prejudice for the third time today. "A minor sort of accomplishment, I suppose." I've gotten something different out of it every time I've read it--especially this time since it was for my critical theory class. I love her. I love Jane Austen. She was so ahead of her time. And what a pioneer. I mean, she wrote novels when novels where unpopular--and she was a woman! (also unpopular, haha). And yet, she was one of the first to make novels popular. wow!

Oh, and today, I happened upon where the Austen scholarship is kept in Odegaard. As I looked at all those incredible titles (e.g. Letters of Austen, Austen and the French Revolution, etc. etc.), I was like, "Wow, I can just picture myself in grad school, sitting in front of this shelf at all hours of the night researching her and loving every minute of it." Hahaha...

And, her section is on the same shelf as Keats! Parfait =)

This morning my Mom and I were talking about grad school. It's kind of daunting and yet its getting closer. Did you know that UW accepts only 20 students into the Master's program each year--out of an average of 600 applicants? Yah... that's a little daunting. I joked with my mom, "But maybe I'll get married and never go to grad school."

She just looked at me and I said, "Alright, yeah, I'll probably go to grad school no matter what. I know myself too well. But I don't know how I'll be able to afford it."

She replied swiftly: "Marry filthy rich" =) haha

I don't know what may come. I don't know what I'm doing this summer even. I'm still praying about the Oxford program. I'm also considering going as a tourist. But, I will have a 1 month old niece or nephew then--which would make it hard to leave. Well, it's in the Lord's hands. He's leading this adventure... I'm just here for the ride. What fun!

This quarter I am taking a Marxian Culture Theory class... not my fave. It's the last required course for my English major. After this, I get more choice (praise Him!).

So... obviously, I disagree with Marx on a lot of things. But one quote of his stuck out to me and has been haunting me ever since. He said, "Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it."

Isn't that amazing? Now, unfortunately, Marx did change the world. But the quote remains true.

As I said, I've been thinking about this quote a lot since I first read it. Well, at home group last week, Tong gave me a key to unlocking the truth of this quote. He said, "When man stopped being a worshipper he became a philosopher." WOW!

And then I started thinking about these quotes in relation to each other. This is what I've come up with so far: I think worship did change the world--it still does!

I'm continuing to delve into these sorts of ideas. I'll keep you posted on what I find.

loves :)

Ellie was recently talking about how she had been putting off reading a novel because she's been reading so many biographies. She suddenly exclaimed, "I know what it is! It's because I like 'I' books and that novel isn't an 'I' book!"

I looked at her funny and said, "You mean it's not in first person?"

She said, "But, Samara, they're 'I' books. I've always called them that. My family has always called them that. They've always been 'I' books."

Charlli was just picking up on the conversation and, with a face of incredulity, said, "Ellie, i-Books are what you read on an i-Pad."

We all laughed, and then Ellie said, "But I called them 'I' books first!"

Hahaha... I love my roomies. Too much fun :)

Ok... this is going to be an "academic" post. I'm back in school so the nerd is coming out a bit more often. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Alright, take a look at the photo down below. This statue was found on the Acropolis and dates back to Archaic Greece (I guess I should have prefaced by saying that I'm taking Greek Art and Archaeology this quarter). But, back to the statue... This type of statue was an extremely common motif--starting in Archaic Greece and going on into the Roman Empire. These types of statues were found all over the ancient world and always near temples. They depict a young man carrying a lamb across his shoulders, which indicated the sacrifice he was going to make to the gods.

So, this being such a common motif, it is understandable that it was adopted by the Early Church and used in their Christian art. And this is how the form is remembered: Christ carrying a lamb on His shoulders. But notice how Jesus turned the whole motif on its head: instead of the young man carrying his sacrifice, Christ is the sacrifice carrying the ones that He saved.

Isn't that incredible? I'm going nuts over this! Haha... for all of the junk and the perversion and the lies that I have read and learned of in my Classics classes, revelations like this make it so beyond worth it!

just thought I'd share :)