I'd like an order of pure academia, with a cup of Earl Grey on the side.

So. I have completed the first day of classes in this, my senior year of college. Do I feel accomplished? Maybe. I suppose more so than I did a few years ago. In all honesty, the answer really has to be yes, because I have accomplished much between my senior year of high school and now. I definitely have learned much, broadened my horizons, and stretched my brain to the breaking point (nearly).
I had three classes today. My Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule is annoying only because all the classes are right in a row and I don't have time for lunch! The bright side to this is that I'm done with classes by 2 pm. Much better than last year when I wasn't done until 4 pm. That was awful on Fridays.
Pretty sure I'm going to love Music Theory, though it will be kind of difficult. This is good, though. I need a different type of a challenge, and a musical one is certainly welcome. Latin will be a challenge, as well, since I've never learned another language. I really, really love Latin, though, and it is taught by my advisor and favorite professor here at Concordia. Definitely a plus! My last class of the day is English: Its Cultural Development. Call me a nerd, but I love the idea of taking an entire semester to trace the development of the English language from it's very beginnings in Old English (which is more of a Germanic language than anything) to our Modern English. Middle English is interesting, anyway, because that's very French-influenced. See, there I go already acting like an expert on the subject! I'm not, I promise. I just happened to read a book about the language's history a few years ago. It was excellent.
I've had my nightly cup of tea, and I suppose it would be best to say goodnight. Bach's Cantata #43 is heavenly, by the way. Then again, anything by Johann Sebastian Bach is epic.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, and speculation at a standstill. ~Barbara W. Tuchman

thoughts I cannot keep inside me

I'm a senior. In college. That's...a very heavy thought to wrap my brain around. It seems like only yesterday that I was starting my first semester (two classes, while still in high school) at the community college. And that was in January of 2007. Anyway, what with all the changes that happened in my life in just the past year, I barely know what to expect this year and beyond.
God has guided me thus far, though. I trust in Him to keep me on the path He has chosen for my life. He has led me to Concordia, that I know. The people I've met, the places I've been -- everything is because He knows exactly where He wants me to be.
It's pretty awesome to know that there is a God who cares about me. No matter what obstacles are thrown in my way this senior year, He's got my back. I like that. :-)

The Breaking of the Fellowship

As we go through our lives, there are few things that remain constant and steadfast.

Our Father in heaven certainly does.

Family does, in most cases.

And even some friends.

But it's the friends thing that gets me. I look back over the years and realize there are few friends in my life that have been there forever. In fact, I'm not really sure there are any. People grow; people change; people move on. And in our hearts, a piece of that person who you knew yesterday will always be there. In the last seven years or so, I was blessed to be part of a wonderful and tight knit group of friends. We did most things together, and it felt like we would be together forever.

Life isn't like that, though. I changed, and so did they. It was no one's fault; it just happened. Some of us had grand plans of traveling the world together, of writing books of our adventures. We even called ourselves the Fellowship, after the group in Lord of the Rings. And like the Fellowship, we never made it all the way as one. Like the Fellowship, we went our separate ways in the journey. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I am very happy with the direction my life is going, I cherish each and every one of the memories of our Fellowship. The adventures we went on and the craziness we took part in could truly fill volumes of thick books. Maybe some of those adventures will find their way into the stories I write someday. I've moved on to a new chapter in my own life; perhaps calling it the next book in a series would be more appropriate. Each and every one of the people I used to call my closest friends still hold a special place in my heart, right next to the special place my new friends have filled.

The Lord above has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams, I know this to be true. I've been so incredibly privileged in this life to know some very interesting and truly unique people. All of them have changed my life, one way or another. I can only hope that I have played a similar part in their lives.

If you've read Lord of the Rings, or at least watched the movies, you know that though the Fellowship breaks, that is not the end for them. They see each other again. And if not in this world, then in the next. As a Christian, that is a hope I can hold onto. All my brothers and sisters in Christ I shall see again in heaven, even if our lives have drifted apart in this broken and unpredictable world. What an awesome thing to know!!!

So I miss the friendships I used to have. Yet I'm so incredibly thankful for the friendships that have been forged now, in my Concordia days. I think...well, what it really comes down to is that there have been harsh words spoken and misconceptions have run wild. And on top of that all, we've simply grown apart. Life's crazy.

I swear, I DO NOT have a shoe fetish...

However, thanks to www.stumbleupon.com, I would spend the money on these shoes. All four colors.






Aren't they beautiful?!?!?! Sooo Alice in Wonderland-y, too. But, I'll never be able to afford them.

"Forget love....I'd rather fall in chocolate!"

So that's not actually true; I'm in love and quite happy to be there. :-)

However, I have chocolate on the brain today because of a book I began reading this morning and have nearly finished. Okay, I'm halfway through it. Chocolat, by Joanne Harris, is a delectable book! It is lovely because it is set in a sleepy French village called Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, and partly because the protagonist, Vianne Rocher, opens up a chocolate shop and the descriptions given of the treats she sells are mouth-watering. I can almost taste them as I read.

Joanne Harris had written other novels, apparently. Her writing style has intrigued me all day, and I will have to look into these others that she has published. I suppose I must allow for the fact that she is British (and part French, imagine that), since I have a tendency to enjoy writers from the UK more than from my home country of America. Not really sure why that is....

I spent a good part of the afternoon at the Borders Cafe in town, drinking a lovely coffee concoction that was called Cinnamon Swirl. No, it had no chocolate. I originally wanted something with chocolate in it, like a mocha, but for some reason the Cinnamon Swirl Brewed Coffee on the menu caught my eye. It certainly caught my taste buds!

My lovely drink and my book. Yes, I took a library book into Borders. But, it was only the cafe part AND I had it in my bag!

And now my coffee is gone and I decided to leave my book open for this picture. Note the epic Dragonology bookmark; I probably bought that at this Borders like, two years ago.

And then I came home, washed my car (it REALLY needed it), went swimming, ate dinner, and wrote this blog. Loveeeee life. :-)

Working at a public library has its perks. Really.

Mainly the perks are that I'm surrounded by books, and get to check out said books all the time. And being in the Children's Department is nice because it's always fun to talk to the kids. Today, I'm at the desk. Right now there aren't a lot of people, and not too many questions, either. There were a LOT of people here yesterday morning, because of the weather. It was pouring rain! And this morning it was nice and still is, as far as I can tell.

The reason I wanted to write this time, though, was not really to talk about my job. I know that probably gets boring after awhile anyway. What I wanted to say was that I discovered a new book series. Actually, a friend of mine mentioned that it was recommended to her, so I decided to look for it (while at work, of course, which is why I was talking about my job). The series is The Hungry City Chronicles, by Philip Reeve. He's a British author, which essentially meant I would like the books on some level. At any rate, I found the first book in the quartet, Mortal Engines, right away in the Teen Zone at our library. I then read that book in about a day! IT WAS SO GOOD. And actually, I felt like it should be turned into an anime series. Everything about the book was very anime-ish. I suppose that's probably because Reeve is writing about a rather post-apocalyptic and steampunk world.

I checked out the second book the other day, so I'll begin reading it soon. Also there is a short story by Philip Reeve that was written before this quartet and pretty much is where the Chronicles began.

Alice in Wonderland (1903)

There are so many film adaptations of Lewis Carroll's book out there that my head spins when I try to remember them all! I recently found, on www.youtube.com, a restored version of the first Alice film, made in 1903. It is just over eight minutes long, and for being made only eight years after the birth of cinema, it is remarkable! Enjoy!