Would anybody read this anyway?

Almost a whole year since I posted last. It doesn't surprise me that the rate of my postings on here has drastically decreased since I started using Facebook regularly. It serves the same function of letting my friends know what I'm thinking and feeling in a more regulated (hopefully) way than just throwing it out here, and it takes a lot less time and effort to post. So we'll see if this blog gets any more use or if I decide to retire it over the summer....

Reclaiming Space

I guess it's a measure of just how busy my spring semester was that I haven't posted since January! It's late now, so I'm just going to do a quick dump of the books I've been reading recently:

Brother Odd and Odd Hours by Dean Koontz
I love Odd as a character, but the books themselves have been hit and miss for me--in that order, actually. I really liked the community of religious depicted in Brother Odd, and it just felt more natural than Hours did, especially because swapping out Odd's companion ghost is a bit of a gimmick.

Feast of Souls and Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman
Friedman has a talent for putting together compelling worlds with intricate politics, histories, and mythologies, and letting a rebel search for the truth in it, and this Magister Trilogy is no exception.

Skim by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki
Rachel was right, this is a beautiful book, but I wanted more at the end!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
A BookCrossing ring. Nice to get a chance to read this since it's in the 11th grade curriculum and before the movie comes out. Interesting, but I'm not sure I see the reason for all the hype. I haven't thought about it in too much detail, though.

Much more to add when I get back from the beach!

Quizzes!

This is kind of cute, and came up accurate for me:

You are most like: You are Blue
You are cool and soothing, with a hidden spontanious side. You are deeper than most people percieve, and you care a lot for those whom you surround yourself with.
Take this quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You?
Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

While this one is a good quiz for all of us, I think:

You are most like: Selective Procrastinator
As a selective procrastinator, you know how to procrastinate but only do it when you feel you can afford to. Your a faker!
Take this quiz: How Bad A Procrastinator Are You?
Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

School Has Eaten My Life: A Belated Update

I am:

• exhausted, even though I fell asleep for 3 hours on the couch after school today.
• looking forward to tomorrow, since all I have to do is proctor my first block final and start getting ready for next semester
• missing my boyfriend already
• missing my friends and wishing we still had a long college winter break for visits longer than 3 days
• amused by Hamlet as a Facebook feed
• amused by the fact that these bullets appear as flowers
  
• hoping that this sore throat that's been hanging around since mid-December is not indicative of something serious like strep
• apprehensive of having a career prep class for the first time, since i don't know how high to set my expectations
• wishing this post didn't sound so self-pitying
• wishing I had some kind of brownies, elves, or fairies that would clean my apartment for me while I slept if I left them the appropriate compensation (i.e. bowl of milk, etc.)
• running out of things to say
• wishing I had told my Honors class how much I enjoyed having them as students before they left class today, since half of them I won't see anymore because they are exempt
• hoping I can do more reading for fun this semester
• hoping I can keep in better contact with friends this semester
• falling asleep goodnight now
  

Surface Happiness

I came online tonight for the first time in a while with the intention of just checking a few clerical things--emails and bank statement--and then getting down to my grading. But I signed onto AIM, and almost immediately heard from Becky and Jeff. It's been longer than I'd like since I got in touch with Becky, and she invited me to read her blog post for http://www.youngwomenandcatholicism.blogspot.com/. Reading that site, talking to friends and loved ones about how hard it is to keep in contact when we're apart, all brought a nagging realization to the surface.

You see, I've been happy the past few weeks. Enjoying my classes, especially the insight, creativity, and humor of Honors. Visiting my grandparents and older brother for the first time since the summer. Happy. But not content.

I realized today that I've been ignoring little things that have been rubbing at my subconscious. Discontent with the way I look, yet an inability to start doing the things I know I need to in order to lose weight. A sense that I should be managing my money better. The realization that I haven't really cleaned my apartment in a long time. The frustrating realization that I let school take over my life completely; and when it doesn't, I avoid it completely, leading to a lack of balance in my life. Being annoyed that my apartment still isn't decorated, yet I've done nothing about it. Many little things all adding up to the big frustrating question: is this what my life is? Is this all I'm doing?

I'm not sure how to fight this sense of missing something. At the moment I'm hoping it will subside as I talk to friends, and preferably visit them or have them visit me. I just want to be happy--without having it be just a surface happiness.

Pen & Ink--again!

In a....well, not quite bizarre, but unexpected--chain of events, I'm now one of the co-sponsors for Pen & Ink, Freedom's Literary Arts magazine! The English teacher who was running it had to step down, and Mr. Kleist said it was available, so I stepped up and said I would help. It should be an interesting time, as I talked with the art teacher who co-sponsors it and found out that they're still working on getting last year's issue out; apparently the seniors last year just didn't get anything done. Unfortunately, that's often the case with this magazine. So we'll see if we can't get the issue out on time this year. Recruitment and membership in general seems to be a difficulty, so if we can start doing some other events in addition to the open mics, maybe we'll be able to attract a core group of people who will actually get things done. I've got lots of ideas, but we'll have to see how they all pan out...

School eats my life

Apparently, since I haven't posted in a month! All I'll say is that I really enjoy having my honors class, I'm amused at my mother's struggle to get John to fill out college applications, and that I won the Freedom Friday contest with my pretty black skirt with gold and white firework/flower print.

Looking forward to: a relaxed Monday inflicting tests on all my classes (heh heh), a mass of grading for the end of the marking period on Friday, Jeff's birthday next weekend, and the arrival of a certain traveling book!

Currently reading: The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum. This is one of the few series that I've seen the movies before reading the books, and it's rather surprising how different they are. Coincidentally, the movie happened to be on tv tonight!