…and write a blog post instead of my papers.
To be fair, I’m mostly done with papers; this has been a light semester on that front. I am not particularly looking forward to my seven finals, but I will survive, I think.
Here are some miscellaneous thoughts (:
recent reads
- The Woman of Andros by Thornton Wilder: 5/5 stars, one of the best books I have ever read. I will be thinking about it for a long time. Expect thoughts on it in comparison to Till We Have Faces sometime.
- Our Town by Thornton Wilder: 3 stars, maybe? I do not get the hype. Andros conveyed the same (or a better) message much more effectively.
- Andria by Terence: I need to read this in Latin and then I might have thoughts.
- Menaechmi by Plautus (reread): I did read this in Latin! Therefore, I can say that it’s pretty funny, it’s more salacious than English translation usually conveys, and I’m kind of over the conventions of Roman comedy.
- The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare (reread): 3.5 stars. Is this subversively feminist? Or was Shakespeare unreservedly in support of women submitting to their husbands at all costs, no qualifications? Even after talking about it I still don’t know.
- Selections from Thomas Traherne: 4 stars. I can tell Lewis liked this man, and why.
- Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (reread): 5/5 stars, no notes.
the end of the semester
I have approximately two more weeks before I leave the U.S. for my first trip abroad, and in that time I have three books I’d like to read for fun (Dragonwitch, Shadow Hand, and Calico Captive). While abroad I hope to get through The Weight of Glory, The Four Loves, and a sizable chunk of The Way of Kings. Then I’ll be working at a summer camp — more on that later.
I’m still in a bit of shock that I am about to be done with my sixth semester of college. I am looking at grad schools, planning (or failing to plan) for what I do next summer, and feeling nostalgic and burnt out (a little too early! be still my heart, you have another year!).
And so these last few weeks of the spring 2024 term are bittersweet. One of my best friends, my boyfriend, and a lot of other people I care about are graduating. Even those of us who are not graduating are scattering for the summer. I don’t know yet how to love my friends well, but I am learning. And the long distance of summer will be another chance to learn. God grant I use it well.
summer 2024
I am working at a camp this summer! This has been a lifelong dream of mine and while I have some reservations, I am very excited for it. I will be sailing and teaching people to sail and fixing up sailboats and cleaning cabins and, in sum, will become a two-trick pony (books AND boats! whoa!).
Here are some of my goals for the summer:
- Read for fun! I do not anticipate a lot of free time, but I hope to make my way through as much as possible of the Stormlight Archive and The Brothers K.
- Read for language acquisition! I would like to get through a book of the Aeneid in Latin, an epistle in Greek, and a Psalm or two in Hebrew.
- Read for academic inquiry! I am researching my senior thesis and would thus like to reread Till We Have Faces, Confessions, and The Weight of Glory as well as reading The Four Loves for the first time.
- Run! I am a reluctant, slow, and infrequent runner but it’s a hobby I want to keep pursuing (three-trick pony, anyone?).
- Write letters! Because I am terribly behind on this and have like ten pen pals I haven’t written to in ages (if that’s you I’m so sorry), and I might write to some college pals as well because that feels more real than texting. But also:
- Text and call friends and family!
- And lastly, read for spiritual formation! I might even read some of the Bible in English (in addition to the Greek and Hebrew) and maybe some of the Book of Concord and/or the Book of Common Prayer.
misc & closing thoughts
Wildcat (Flannery O’Connor biopic/story adaptation) is coming out soon and I am enthused about it. I bought new highlighters and they’re so pretty. I have been thinking lots about the inarticulable (those things which are beyond words) and since I can’t articulate it, I don’t know if I can write about it, but I have thoughts. I am working on getting less addicted to screens but wow is it hard. And I think I should get back into writing poetry.
But first, to finish out the semester well.
It helps to put some of what I am thinking down on paper, or on a screen, and I hope you enjoyed reading this. Godspeed, friends,
-orual
when through the woods 