Today definitely felt like summer, and I'm not just talking about the sun and the heat. Both of those were involved in the day (but thankfully today I wore sunscreen) but there was also swimming in a pond. It was a sizable pond, though not quite a lake. I don't really know where the line is between pond and lake. I think it has to do more with depth than expanse. Either way, a dip in this body of water was very refreshing and very summer. It will be happening again soon. We did see one and a half snakes though. I say half, because one was just a baby. The other one was gliding along the surface of the water. It looked pretty cool, but was not a comforting sight.

And this is from page 248 of the aforementioned novel:

As well as touching on the sensitive topic of religion, Athena had gone further: she had talked about diet, a subject of national interest, more important even than wars, strikes, or natural disasters. We may not all believe in God, but we all want to get thin.

Ouch, America. That hurts. Oh wait, this book is set in England. Really--ouch, humanity.


The human mind is an amazing thing. I was thinking this while typing that quote. I was looking at symbols (letters) with my eyes that form into thoughts (words) that flowed into my mind and back out through my fingertips, which knew which buttons to press to transcribe those symbols to form those ideas again on this document. Wild!

"'How would you like to go to Palermo ten days from now?' asked Franz.
'I prefer Geneva,' she answered. She was standing in front of her easel, examining a work in progress.
'How can you live without seeing Palermo?' asked Franz at an attempt at levity.
'I have seen Palermo,' she said.
'You have?' he said with a hint of jealousy.
'A friend of mine once sent me a postcard from there. It's taped up over the toilet. Haven't you noticed?'"

That one is from page 80.

I'm going to hang out with Radiohead tonight. Woot! I'm not actually an active listener of Radiohead, but I appreciate them as musical artists and enjoy concerts. I hear they have memorable concerts. Woot!

I will soon begin the next phase of my summer. This past week as been hanging-out-at-home phase. Consuming. Food, time, money. Phase two will involve working, but with hanging out involved as well. Making new friends and learning. I'll let you know how it goes.

And apparently people would rather roadtrip than work at an organic farm with cool people. I guess we're different. I don't know why I made that poll, I had already made my decision. I guess just to know other people's decisions. You should take my new one though. It'll give me insight into the souls of my fan base.

I have lots of dirt under my fingernails.  Yesterday I harvested at the Farm and today I planted flowers at an elementary school with UBC. It was fun.  It made me want a yard to plant flowers in.  If you have a yard,  you should take advantage of this nice weather and go plant some flowers soon.

So another idea for the summer is to take a/some studio art class/es at Baylor. I don't actually need anymore, but it would be fun. And I actually know a lot of people staying in Waco for the first half of the summer. I don't know. We'll see.

It's easy to just give up on yourself. To taste rejection a few times, and then just throw in the towel. Freshmen year here I rushed and that didn't turn out like I planned. A couple weeks later I tried out for a choir and was turned down (I don't know what I was thinking. I do not have a choir voice and I can't read music). At that point I thought to myself, "Well, maybe this is a sign. Nothing is sticking here, so maybe I'm just not supposed to be at Baylor." But my friends were sticking, UBC was sticking, I didn't really want to go anywhere else, and I just banished the thought from my mind.
Last semester I spent my time stretching my wings and pushing my boundaries and taking adventures and I left Italy feeling like I could do anything. This semester I'm feeling significantly less invincible and realizing not everyone wants me. I talked to Tinsley about it this morning. She applied for a position in an organization she's apart of that she didn't get and, while putting on mascara, we pondered the tendency we, as people, have of tasting a hint of rejection and from that deciding that we will always fail and should just give up. But we don't think that about other people. I know that she's not a failure and she knows that I'm not a failure, so really we're just being illogical about ourselves.

That goes for you too. You're not a failure.

Ok, I'm at the SUB right now and there are ants crawling all around my computer so I think I will leave soon. It's freaking me out. And this post is long enough. I also understand the tendency in people to mentally check out when they see a really long blog post, because I do that myself.

So I'll check out now instead.

16

I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

So I didn't get that internship at the Kimbell this summer. Major bummer. So of course now I'm questioning my whole course in life. Yadda yadda yadda--normal college-student stresses and fears and general questioning of everything. I won't bore you with that. I'm looking into the World Hunger Farm now. There's possibly a spot this summer for a live-in volunteer, they say. I'm going there tomorrow so we'll see how that works out, if that's even what I want to do. Gerg. I don't know exactly what "gerg" means, but it feels right.

I've recently gotten into the Indigo Girls. I know I'm about ten years too late, but I'm ok with it. Today I learned the song "Closer to Fine" on the guitar. Now I will drive my roommates crazy with it. And they will love it. Love it I say!

And here's a picture from the aforementioned outdoor service, taken whilst we were picnicing afterwards. (You can click on it for a closer look.)


This weekend I get to go camping with strangers. I'm in a Backpacking class but I going camping with a different section of said class. So I'm not actually looking forward to it, though I'll probably end up enjoying myself, because I like outside. Maybe I'll come back with a new bestie. Or enemy. Probably just a bunch of new acquaintances. Think of all the new people I'll get to say hi to on campus!

What do you guys think I should do this summer?