ummm... I've got a crush...

The paper turned in, it's now time for the reward: creamy chai at Trabant and Jane Eyre =)

Done with my paper--for tonight =/ it still needs a conclusion, but that's going to have to happen in the mmorning.

dreaming big tonight... honestly, right now I don't know how my sleeping dreams could top my dreams in waking hours.

ever get the feeling that your whole life course may change??

Such a big day. My credits from Oxford finally transferred over and should show up on my transcripts. And, I got to meet with the Office of Merit Scholarship to talk about funding ideas for grad school. Crazy! This looks like it will be a long but insanely good process =)

On the docket for tomorrow: My first--yes first--Husky Football Game!!!!! Go Dawgs!

Book Idea:

Take all the characters in English novels who have claimed something to the effect of: "I am the unnhappiest of men/women" or "no creature had ever been so miserable as I was" etc... and put those characters on trial. Then we can find out by comparison which fictional character was really the most miserable. We could in fact have 1st place, 2nd place, and honorable mention.

But then the others would need to go away and stop claiming to have the worst life.

Which characters do you know who have claimed that? Off the top of my head:
Caleb Williams
Victor Frankenstein
The Creature [I'm beginning to notice a family pattern ;]
Marianne Dashwood.

Sidenote: Some of the characters who I think may lay the best claim on the title, don't.

But go ahead, tell me who you know thinks they're unhappiest--and who really is??

Take these hands

I know they're empty

But with You they can

Be used for beauty

In Your perfect plan

All I am is Yours

Take these feet

I know they stumble

But You use the weak

You use the humble

So please use me

All I am is Yours

I give You all my life

I'm letting it go

A living sacrifice

No longer my own

All I am is Yours

Take this heart

Set it on fire

Shining in the dark

I wanna tell the world of who You are

All I am is Yours

I lift my hands up

God I surrender

All that I am for Your glory,

Your honor, Your fame

I give You all my life

I'm letting it go

A living sacrifice

No longer my own

All I am is Yours

I give You everything

To You I belong

Every beat of my heart

The breath in my lungs

All I am is Yours

- "All I am is Yours," Phil Wickham

Getting major revelation on race and gender in Frankenstein! I am loving this =)

In my dreams of the future, I will one day have a leather satchel, a vintage bicycle, and I look good in hats =)

[overlooking Oxford: All Souls College, Radcliffe Camera, St. Mary's of the Virgin, Christ Church Cathedral]

Considering taking 3 lit classes next quarter. Am I crazy? Yes and I love it!

source

Total nerd moment - I'm about to read my first article from Gilbert & Gubar's "Madwoman in the Attic." To me, this is momentous!

Really missing all of these lovely ladies and our incredible times together!

[from left to right: Amanda, Maia, me, Kristina, Stephanie, Elizabeth, and Cathleen]

[Cathleen, bending down... she's really a foot taller than me =]

[one of the happiest moments of my life]

[Emily and Cathleen... we love our red-heads!]

[Kristina and I at Vaults and Gardens Cafe--favorite!]

[Stephanie Downing at Downing Street, London]

[Amanda Bennett at Bennet Street, Bath]

[221 B, Baker Street =]

[from Merton College quad, overlooking Christ Church Meadow]

[Last night together with such good friends]

I am so dependant on the Lord right now, and that's a beautiful thing.
I'm in the middle of working on an annotated bibliography for William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. This was, honestly, the hardest book I've ever read. It was beyond confusing. But I've found that makes reading criticism more interesting. So I have to read and analyze at least 10 pieces of criticism for the bibliography (I've read 8).
As soon as I'm done with that, I get to dive into a paper on Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights. I'm actually looking forward to that one. I just don't have a lot of time to invest in it. But it should still be really interesting.
The really good news is that there is a light at the end of this tunnel: Jane Eyre. I read it for the first time last Christmas and I cannot wait to fall in love with it again (this time for a class). And my professor is the coolest--he is actually the editor for the Norton Critical edition for both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. Yes... in lit-nerd terms, that means he is amazing!
In the midst of all of this, I've kind of gotten sick. It's been getting worse over the last few days, but today it really hit =/ This isn't very good news, but, hopefully it won't affect school or work too much.
Just one more thing to trust the Lord with right now.

Via Ashley

:)

At home by myself tonight with some good music, favorite candle and a long assignment for English Honors. Only wishing for some chai...
Gotta <3 fall =)

Featured Artist:

Gungor

[Ghosts Upon the Earth]

I've been in love with this album for a while now; but the more I listen to it, the more I appreciate its intricacies--poetical, musical, and otherwise.

From Let there be Light on-wards, it is such a treat. I think artists are always attempting to create holistic and cohesive albums--ones where you can't just listen to one song or put it all on shuffle because the flow is too precious to divide up. This goal is becoming increasingly harder in the age of iTunes, but Gungor really achieved it on this album.

A few lyrical delights:

"All praises to the One who made it all

who made it all

All praises to the One who made it all

and finds it beautiful

...Fearfully and wonderfully and beautifully made"

- Crags and Clay

"Where it comes flowers grow

Lions sleep, gravestones roll

Where death dies all things come alive..."

- When Death Dies

"When you first regarded me

Your eyes filled me with grace

Thereby again my eyes

Merited to adore you

Vous etes mon coure

You are my heart."

- Vous Etes Mon Coure

[yes, the chorus is in French,

yes, its a duet

and yes, its Michael and Lisa Gungor]

*   *   *   *   *

You should really look into this album (also available on grooveshark) and you can read more about the inspiration and musical achievements on Gungor's Blog.

Trabant. Divine "creamy chai." Jazz favorites. 45th & University Way. New favorite. Monday smiles.

Coriolanus (2011)
Directed by Ralph Fiennes
Starring:
Ralph Fiennes
Gerard Butler
Vanessa Redgrave
Jessica Chastain [a new favorite of mine]

Gotta love creative Shakespeare adaptations =)

The lovely Jessica Brown-Findlay [Sybil Crawley, Downton Abbey]

Let the weekend festivities commence! =)

As I walk around campus, I have to keep reminding myself, "You are not going to run into of your friends from Oxford. They're all far away. So stop looking" =(

First off, I just have to say that my sister's know me well. Today I received emails from both of them containing the same link to the same blog on a scarf tying tutorial. Gotta love sisters (and scarves!).

Thanks so much to them... and here's a shout out to their blogs The Bakers and Beyond the Mountains =)

They are both such incredible women and I'm so, SO grateful to both of them!

[ps... these are all really old pictures, but I love you both even more now then I did then =]

Also... it, being monday, I thought I'd share this amazing little piece of inspiration. Enjoy:

Ok... I have a headache from laughing so hard this evening. So grateful for my family!

Side note: thus far, English honors has been going better than expected. The first novel we've been reading is gripping and its making rethink my stance on contemporary literature, at least a little bit.