I'm feeling wordy tonight...

Though I'm not sure that's good or bad. About that last post...ok, so it was kinda wierd...really wierd, but it was one of those spontaneous things that come over me every once in a long while. And since nobody reads this, I may as well just put my wierdness down in writing ;)

Grrrr! Much more homework than expected this quarter. I half enjoy it, I'll reluctantly admitt, though sometimes I work on the "wrong"/non-priority stuff just to have an excuse for putting off the old busy work. We're in college for heaven's sake! Where does the triviality end? Hopefully before graduate school!?! Else I might go insane- or have I already?

Woke up this morning and thought it'd be a pretty nice day. Very nearly wore flip-flops. The sun was out, even if it was cold. Anyway, after spending an inordinate amount of time in the computer lab, I had to rush off to my class at the high school. And, somehow, very providentially it seems to me, a brief hail storm escorted me all the way and miraculously quit just as I entered the building. 15 minutes of tempestuousness (is that a word? it is now), and timed exactly with my sojourn to the high school. Amazing how that works. At first I was a bit irked- a nasty and childish trick, I thought. But then again, it was kind of...refreshing for me. Cleared all the stress and hastiness out of my system. So, while I still think it was Providential, it was Providential in a good sort of way as well. A reminder.

Sometimes spontaneity is nice. Y

¿Preguntas?

New classes, new faces.
Old friends.
A flood of contradictions and questions in philosophy.
All the same and yet so different. Too little sleep. . .
Lucretius is pretty good at putting one to sleep.
Why are there drugs for that anyway?
And yet so engaging at the same time.
Am I training my mind or conditioning it?
How much do I really take away and how much richness is wasted on my laziness?
Yet I must return to work before the day is spent.
Overwhelmed.

Clases nuevas, caras nuevas.
Amigos viejos.
Un torente de contradicciones y preguntas en filosofía.
Todos tantos mismos y aún tantos diferentes. Ni bastante sueño. . .
Lucretius sabe bien como acostar su lector.
¿Por qué hay narcóticos para eso?
Y aún tanto insinuante además.
¿Estoy disciplinando mi mente o acondicionándolo?
En realidad, ¿cuánto sabiduria quito desde la clase? y ¿cuánto riqueza derrocho cuando soy perezosa?
Todavía, tengo que devolver a mis tareas antes de me lo malgasto todo el día.
Engolfada.

Raining

Just thought I'd say "Happy Easter!" before it was too late. And I kinda needed to update as well seeing as I can't stand people who fail to keep their blogs current. New classes tomorrow...woohoo! (or not)

Legislating from the Bench

First off, I readily acknowledge that's quite a clichéd (and controversial) title, but personally I can't come up with anything better to describe the actions of Judicial Branch in this Schiavo case. I've avoided the topic for a while, knowing how people tend to overreact to present dilemmas. But this is too much. There is more at stake than one woman's life; the procedures and laws we establish now set precedents for the years to come, and there's no telling the extent of impact those precedents will have on future generations. It's not something we can quantify.

At any rate, that's neither here nor there (yet). My point is that whatever comes out of this Schiavo case won't just be about Terri's death-- or life, if a miracle happens. The root problem here is that a judge, a fallible and sinful judge, is grasping for the authority to decide whether someone should live or die. Frankly, he's trying to play God. And although the Judiciary has been out of hand for quite a while, this case presents us with the opportunity to correct the problem, to return to the principles this nation was founded upon. Principles of inherent human rights, of Lex Rex, of checks and balances. Our country was formed on the idea that men, as corrupt, depraved humans, cannot be given sole power over the lives of others. Thus, the Constitution established three branches of government: the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial. With the power of a nation distributed across the three branches, no one branch could assume total authority. The other two stood to restrain, to prevent one branch from oppressing the people.

In the current Schiavo case, the Executive has recognized Terri's right to live. Both President George Bush (R) and Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) have stood up for the Schindler family and its plea to keep their daughter alive.

The Legislative Branch, too, has supported the Schindlers and Mrs. Schiavo by issuing a subpoena that would have kept Terri alive at least temporarily. But, in both cases, the Judicial Branch has ignored completely the mandates of the other branches. Their flagrant arrogance is unpardonable. Judges do not have the authority to deny the other branches, nor do they have the authority to make their own laws. That duty is given solely to the Legislative Branch. Still, these Judges, both on the state, federal, and Supreme Court level refuse to change their rulings (or their apathetic silences). Can we expect one branch to regulate itself for the preservation of justice? Obviously not.

It is said that power corrupts. Why then do we give sinful men the power both to make laws and to enforce them? And absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Twenty-third March, Twenty o'Five

Ugh- a full day of Pacific Northwest History. I cannot express my disgust. Actually, it hasn't been all that bad, especially since I've started being more creative is my BS-ing. In reality that's what this class is: a bunch of stuff I spend hours of my day writing just to please an Associate Professor in Women's Studies. How corny is that?

Anyway, the more I get done the more satisfaction I have. Soon I'll be reading Narcissa Whitman's biography and writing a little review, which isn't a bad thing at all. Then again, it's sucking up my entire Spring Break (and then some). All the same, it's my fault for procrastinating ever since September. Maybe I will learn a little lesson from it all... Nah- I must admit, I love procrastinating. And when I pull off ok grades in the end it kinda reinforces my behavior. But that's psychology and we don't want to go there. At least I don't. If you do, let me know.

Hmmm, so what's up with life? Not much. For some reason I'm addicted to blogging though, so I always come back, even when I've nothing of the least importance to write! And, although I swore I wouldn't blog from this computer (my Dad's nasty slow machine), I had to endulge myself after a long, though not terribly hard day.

Perhaps I really am a writer after all and just haven't the discipline to harness my "gift."

Feast or Famine

That's basically what my blogging's like. And my life in general. But hey, you can only expect me to blog so much when I'm trying desperately to finish my Northwest History class work before the deadline (April 1st). I've got 2 more units to do- approx. 10 pages of writing a piece- 3 book reviews, and a final. Think I can do it? I'm sure I can, though it certainly won't be quality work! And these are the terribly boring chapters on the labor movement, etc. *sigh of desperation*

And, since I've been working on that all morning, I'm seriously braindead right now. Just thought I'd take a little break and update the old blog; I can't completely abandon it! Then again, I get pretty frustrated with people who don't write regularly (meaning every day) so maybe I should try living up to my own standard. But, for the moment at least, blogging must be considered a distraction from my studies. Besides, I don't have anything profound to say and I'm babbling even now...

I want some more comments!!!

Can't think of a title at the moment...

...but I've decided to return to the blog anyway.

Had a wonderful dance class today- BJ (best friend), Abbi (little sister of 10 years), and I arrived at the studio early and since I have the key, we got the heat and the music going and worked on revising and updating some old choreography. About 2-3 years ago, we choreographed and performed a little dance to "May it Be" from The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack. Anyway, that was back when I had only taken a year of ballet and was very...shall we say...unadvanced. So now we're working it out on pointe and trying to speed it up/complicate it a bit. Even though we didn't get very far (neither of us really remembers the old choreography now), we had an excellent class with Kitri- the teacher- since she's teaching us another piece for recital. Slightly more modern and more brisk than "May it Be," and still a great deal of fun to rehearse. It's more "theatrical" somehow; BJ kills Abbi and me in a sword fight :)

Now of course I'm listening to track 18 from The Fellowship so that I can really get a feel for the music before I add any new dance steps. I would type in the lyrics, but then again they're not very true or beautiful. A lot of rot about "believe and you will find your way..." Maybe I'll think of another song to write in here. How about "Remember Me" from Troy? It's sort of a funeral dirge though...

"Remember- I will still be here,
As long as you hold me
In your memory.
Rememeber- when your dreams have ended,
Time can be trascended...
Just remember me.

I am the one star that keeps burning
So brightly- it is the last light
To fade into the rising sun.
I'm with you as long as you tell my story,
For I am all I've done.

Remember- I will still be here,
As long as you hold me
In your memory.
Remember me.

I am that one voice in the cold wind
That whispers- and if you listen
You'll here me call across the sky.
As long as I still can reach out and touch you,
Then I...will never die.

Remember- I'll never leave you
If you will only
Remember me.

Remember- I will still be here
As long as you hold me
In your memory.
Remember- when your dreams have ended
Time can be transcended.
I live forever.

Remember me.
Remember me.

Remember me."

There, now you have a song. But the words don't truly capture the power of the song as a whole- you'd have to hear it to know what I'm talking about. Oh well.

Snow?

That's right, in March, and after 2 weeks of upper 50's no less. So much for wearing my beloved flip flops.

But there are more important things at stake today. Last night Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed, leaving her a painful two weeks to live. I find it so ironic (and so horrifying) that Americans want "human rights" for terrorists and despise capital punishment, yet allow/support a man's killing, nay murdering, of his innocent wife allegedly because she doens't want to live. What kind of justice is that? The wicked escape their punishment while the helpless are starved because they have the "right to die." Whatever happened to the real rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? A sad, sad state our country is in.

The end of Winter Quarter...

Woohoo! It's finally over! I finished my last final (psych) about a 1/2 hour ago, and boy is it nice to get that off my shoulders! Now all I have to do is anxiously wait for the posting of grades. That always makes me very nervous.

Why is it that whenever I sit down to write all my ideas fly away and suddenly desert me? Honestly. After blogging a bunch of crap yesterday, I was walking across campus to the theatre building and was veritably flooded with thoughts. But of course I can't find them when I take the time to blog. My thoughts are so elusive! But perhaps that's why I'm taking the time to write at all- so that I can learn to organize and hold onto my random inspirations. Then perhaps they'll gradually de-randomize and evolve (I cringe at using that word) into something of ordered beauty. And, in the end, when I finally do have something grand to say, I will have the skills do express it with glorious clarity. At least that's the goal.

But, once again, my thoughts have gone elsewhere "...and I've got nothing to say..." Sorry, just a little quote from an Avril Lavigne song ;) So you see how distracted I am today! Maybe it's all the stuff from this quarter that's clogging my mind. Strange that what's called "knowledge" or "education" so often is the opposite- a barrier to creativity and productivity. Though that could very well just be the problem with the modern education system.

Anyway, I think I better publish this post before the computer malfunctions and erases all my work *again*. Will write more when I have a bright idea and the motivation to blog.

St. Patrick's Day 2005

Well, after all my enthusiaism about blogging I seem to be very inconsistent in writing. And I honestly have no reason considering how much free time I've had over the past week or so. I must try to update more frequently...

Jeremiah came home from WSU on Friday- he's already on Spring Break. He brought his beloved X-box with him, so needless to say we spent the weekend watching movies. Oh, and I played Halo 2 for the first time ever (not that I've ever played Halo 1 before). Anyway, we watched Mona Lisa Smile, Bruce Almighty, Me, Myself, and Irene, and Liar Liar. I think I've had enough Jim Carrey to last me a couple months! None of them were "phenomenal" movies, although each had it's redeeming qualities (minus Me, Myself, and Irene which was just plain crass).

Other than that all I've been doing is a little studying and some baking. The networking class at the high school is very dull at present; all we've done so far in read about internet connections, etc. and worked a little with binary and hexadecimal (which I already knew). But I really don't know a lot about computers so I'm sure I'll learn some new stuff in the class. I'll just have to keep reading :)

And speaking of reading, that's how I've been spending a lot of my time- reading other people's blogs. Not even people I know well, just remote acquiantances, friends of friends and such. I never even leave comments- I just like to read about other people's lives for some reason. I wonder whether I'm the only "silent listener" out there. And one links to another of course, so I often get caught up in a web of blogs. But I guess that's the point.

Monday the 7th of March

Not much to say today, but felt I should keep the blog "current." A rather drear day- the heavens are masked in somber clouds whilst the hushed wind rustles in drooping leaves. The very picture of the "calm before the storm." I feel anxious somehow, but without reason; it is the weather that makes me so.

Today marks the Monday before finals week at the University and so the tension builds. Restlessness.

Thoughts

Hmm...so I decided to write again today, even though no one has made an effort to read my first posts :( Of course, that's mostly because the blog's only been up for about 24 hours and none of my friends really care for computerized journals. And because I haven't told anyone yet except my little brother... Anyway, I'm feeling chatty, so be forewarned that this could be a very loooooooooong post.

I came up with a better title for my blog- Profound Trivialities. But, as I don't know how to change the title, I'll have to be content with Of Elves and Eldils. Incidentally, the latter title was drawn staight from Richard Purtill's book "Lord of the Elves and Eldils." I perused that book back in November/December when I was writing my big Tolkien research paper (boy am I glad that's over!). If you're interested, it's a pretty good comparison of the philosophy/theology of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien. Most intriguing- that is, if you're a fantasy freak like me.

But no more about boring old research papers; I don't think anyone honestly cares to hear the complaints of English 201 class! Right now I'm in the Library, as usual, and completely blanking on what I wanted to write...I know I had something semi-important to say, but now it's gone. To much rambling in my introductory paragraphs I suppose. I should be taking my online Psychology quiz right now considering that the site goes down at 1:00, but then again that's what I said yesterday at the same time. I am such a procrastinator (you never would have guessed...)

Oooo, last night I went to a theatrical production here on campus- it was called "The Visit" (errrr! how are you supposed to underline the title properly when there is no underline key???). I think the play itself was pretty good- as to plot, etc.- but the acting was definitely not very high quality. Of course, the main actress, who's in my Theatre class, was convincing; but most of the other actors did a sub-standard job. Then again, the plot could have been a lot stronger if the ending wasn't so depressing as it was. Not to say that all depressing or serious endings are bad- those are usually my favorite kind because they're not as shallow as some comedic endings. But had the main character been allowed to live at the mercy of the town, the impact would be much more redeeming. A lot many much more :) As it was, the town betrayed this man for money, supposedly to attain "justice." I think the true justice in "The Merchant of Venice" is a better than the cruel, letter-of-the-law "justice" in "The Visit."

So, there are some of my random thoughts of the day. I really hope they're not too confusing. However, this blog really is for practicing my writing, so maybe with time I (and it) will improve!

latin and poetry...

Ok, time for a second post.

Here's a really cool poem- for those of you who know Latin (a very useful thing I might add), try and translate:

Tres Anuli regibus Alfonum sub caelo,
Septem Dominis Nanorum in lapidis aulis,
Novem Hominibus Mortalibus ad morendum damnatis,
Unus Domino Obscuro in solio obscuro,
In Terra Mordore ubi Umbrae,
Unus Anulus ad eos omnes regendos,
Unus Anulus ad eos inveniendos,
Unus Anulus ad eos omnes ferendos et eos in tenebris astringendos,
In Terra Mordore ubi Umbrae.

First Post

Wow! My very first blog...and I just realized I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing! Well, I'll keep going and hope everything turns out properly. This is, after all, my trial run, so there's bound to be errors along the way. It's only a question of how many and how often ;)

Anyway, this is now my online journal. Hopefully a few people will check it out so I can get some feedback, etc. I would also like to post some of my writing (mostly old stuff- only new if I grasp a fleeting inspiration) for comments and critique. It would also be great to get a little literary discussion going, even though I haven't read much lately because of classes and all the rest.

But I'll cut this first post short so I don't bore you before the blog really gets off the ground. You'll notice I tend to ramble if I don't have something definite to discuss.