Milton on Blank Verse

From Richard Eberhart's introduction to Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes.

"The measure [of Paradise Lost] is English Heroic Verse without Rime, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; Rime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works especially, but the Invention of a barbarous Age, to set off wretched matter and lame Metre. . ."

"Not without cause therefore some both Italian and Spanish Poets of prime note have rejected Rime both in longer and shorter Works, as have also long since our best English Tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true musical delight; which consists only in apt Numbers, fit quantity of Syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one Verse into another, not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned Ancients both in Poetry and all good Oratory. This neglect then of Rime so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so perhaps to vulgar Readers, that it rather is to be esteem'd an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recover'd to Heroic Poem from the troublesome and modern bondage of Riming."

What do you think?

And The Stick moves on. . .

Thanks to Rebekah, who passed this on to me.

1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?

(I had to look up "Fahrenheit 451" on Google to understand this reference, just to show how ignorant I am)

[Updated, thanks to Crystal's helpful comment] I would have to pick Emma. Not just for its main character, but for its 'feel'.

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Oh, definitely! Mr. Knightley in Austen's Emma. If I could be any fictional character, I would be Emma, because Mr. Knightley seems like one of the finest men imagineable. Let's hope there is a Mr. Knightley in the real world!

3. The last book you bought was...?

Good question - what was the last book I bought? Because, you see, I ordered a set of five. I'll just pick one at random - The Practice of the Presence of God, with Spiritual Maxims, by Brother Lawrence. I was delighted to get this little book, because it seems to me that the Christian life is learning to be more and more present with God.

4. The last book you read was...?

I guess that means "read and finished." That would be Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, by Mark Crispin Miller. Now, I always thought the media was slanted to the left, but after reading this book one would think every news anchor and journalist was a rightist fanatical Republican. Miller seems to be a liberal libertarian, which is an interesting mindset to explore.

5. What are you currently reading?

Too many books at once, as usual. I'll try to be honest.

In progress...

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver
El Sombrero de Tres Picos, by D. Pedro A. de Alarcón, edited by Benjamin P. Bourland
Die Trapp-Familie, by Maria Augusta Trapp
Beautiful in God's Eyes, by Elizabeth George
Founding Mothers - The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts
There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale, by Sean Astin, with Joe Layden
The Hidden Art of Homemaking, by Edith Schaeffer

And two that need to be resumed...

The Iliad, by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler, edited by Louise Ropes Loomis
Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis, second book in his Space Trilogy

Now you really don't want commentary on all those, do you? I didn't think so. But I do have some excuse for having so much current reading, because some of them must be read in stages.

6. Five books you would take to a desert island?

Easy!

-my Updated New American Standard Bible
-the Complete Works of Shakespeare
-My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
-Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, John Milton
-my Greek New Testament

What three people are you passing this stick on to and why?

Can I make it four?

My English major friends at Grace will come up with great responses... Crystal, Laura, and Anne Elizabeth (whom I can't link for you because I haven't asked her permission yet).

And Mommy. Just to see what you'll do with it, Mommy!

And anyone else who visits this site is free to post their ideas on their own, or comment on mine, if you so wish. Books are always worth discussing!

Happy March

So many lovely things have happened, and it's only March 11!

~A $100 tax refund!

~Finishing War and Peace, all 1136 pages of small print. I don't think I'll ever forget that number.

~Seeing our beautiful Iowa capitol buildings for myself. Photos will be coming.

~New library books, including Milton's Paradise Lost and the complete works of Scott.

~Ardith and Heather coming up for spring break! Think of them, they're traveling all day tomorrow.

~And of course, to be redundant, poetry.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

~And best of all, knowing that the best is yet to come.

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Colossians 3:4

Two bits

Last night, reading Mark Crisipin Miller's Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, I had to laugh at this reasoning!

The World Trade Center had been bombed a few months earlier, and Clinton surely grasped the Islamist threat; but the rightist drive against him hampered his ability to fight that danger with the proper force and concentration. (p. 131)


And what about Martha? What is she up to today? Who would like not to know? This morning Drudge Report had this article by Christopher Byron.

Saturday evening's hymn

I love the old Mennonite hymns, even without the music, and I thought this would be a good one, whether you read it tonight or tomorrow.


My God, how endless is Thy love!
Thy gifts are every evening new;
And morning mercies from above
Gently distill like early dew.

Thou spread'st the curtains of the night
Great Guardian of my sleeping hours;
Thy sov'reign word restores the light,
And quickens all my drowsy powers.

I yield my powers to Thy command;
To Thee I consecrate my days;
Perpetual blessings from Thine hand
Demand perpetual songs of praise.

-Isaac Watts, 1709

What's happenin'

Actually, not that much, and why anyone would want to hear about my life - that is the unanswerable question. I shy away from diary-style blogging, while avidly reading it in blogs of friends. But I have to remember that some readers don't live with me in the house, and some of those don't read Mommy's blog (in which case, please let me refer you to the "Pa and Ma Hoyt" link on the sidebar).

Daddy and Mommy have been home for a month now, which is just dandy with this little girl! Daddy is much, much better... he is up and around the entire day, exercises every day, takes the stairs twice as fast as before and many more times a day. He has upgraded all the computers in our computer lab (with Jason's help), set up a computer for Trevor, has both his upstairs and downstairs computers running, and he upgraded Mommy's as well (mixed results still coming in). He and Jason have been setting up high-definition TV in our living room, adding a 21-inch monitor above the TV with superior colors and clarity. Sadly, Daddy has a cold right now.

Well, what can I say about Mommy that she doesn't already post on her blog? She's also back into the home routine, including her janitorial job at the church up the road. If I dare say it, she is turning into more of an Internet geek than some of her own children. As long as I publicly admit that referring to her as a 'geek' may get me kicked out of the will, I should have plenty of witnesses for the trial.

Ardith tells us she may be up for Spring Break week after next. Can I brag on my sister? She had two offers for positions at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids. What fun to have a popular, sought-after older sister! All of us are looking forward to seeing her graduate from LeTourneau in May.

I study Spanish or German every day and otherwise try to help out where needed. I am the one they send into town on errands. After all, every teenager loves to drive, right? Actually, I do, but don't let that slip, it could be awkward. I'll have you know that I saw FOUR deer en route to prayer meeting last week, and hit none of them. Currently I'm overseeing Jason's and Derek's Greek, and Derek's writing.

Other miscellaneous notes on the kids under me, i.e. whatever pops into my head first...

Jason - planning an extensive filming production
Kendra - surpassing me at the piano
Derek - taking over the Age of Empires world
Melinda - reading voraciously
Carolyn - loving horses, especially pet stick-horse "Trigger"
Ethan - still springs for feet and no mute button
Nolan - new hero is Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes
Trevor - daily adding vocabulary for new 'annoy-the-big-kids' tactics

8:41 P.M. and all's well.

Life is coming!

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down,
we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.

For indeed in this house we groan,
longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.

For indeed while we are in this tent,
we groan, being burdened,
because we do not want to be unclothed
but to be clothed,
so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life!

Now He who prepared us for this very purpose
is God,
who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.


-2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Craving. . .

. . . No, not chocolate. Milton's Paradise Lost.

Counting off the weeks till the next library spree. . .

In honor of my friends

My fellow poetry club members are hosting a campus-wide event tonight! I can't be there, but I wanted to commemorate this milestone - with poetry of course.

It's hard to explain poetry. You have to feel it.


On first looking into Chapman's Homer

Much have I travelled in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific--and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise--
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

--John Keats

Firsts

Feel free to laugh at me! I'm always glad to bring joy to others. Anyway, I usually deserve it.
These are in no particular order.

Since December 16, for the first time ever, I. . .

-lit a match
-filled a gas tank
-did the grocery shopping
-drank green tea
-drank black tea
-mailed a package
-made lasagna
-set a mousetrap
-burned the trash
-caught my finger in a mousetrap
-caught a mouse
-shoveled snow
-smashed a china bowl
-spread salt on icy paths
-cooked a roast
-drove to Waverly
-stranded a vehicle
-had a vehicle jump-started
-heard Nolan pray
-had my hair styled
-bought a sci-fi book (not even under Ardith's compulsion)
-bought a soundtrack
-cleaned a freezer
-scrubbed out the kitchen sink
-sung tenor in its correct octave
-wore a ski cap to bed
-edited fake HTML code
-found a computer file that Jason couldn't
-verbally argued with Trevor
-sat in front of a flatscreen monitor
-cropped a photo in an image editor
-rubbed my hands in green alcohol
-set up a Christmas tree
-was high on acetaminophen
-called in pizza
-made salty fudge
-made good fudge
-was alone with the kids more than a week

Moral of the list: Sharon is hopefully a little closer to qualifying as an adult.

Bomb Threats, Explosives, and Rubber Bands

Guess we'll have to give up those rubber band wars.

Too bad. The kids had even designed Lego-launching RBGs.

Diese Verrückten Handys

During President Bush's visit to Europe,

The only disturbance to the summit occurred when Joschka Fisher's cellphone rang during the conversation. The [German] Chancellor sent a sharp look to his Vice Chancellor, who hastened to turn it off.

From Spiegel.


While we're in German, if anyone's interested, oberflächlich is superficial.

Wednesday's Headlines

We had a distinguished guest drop in for a visit this morning!

Your German for the day

Came across this word while reading, and it's been running back to my mindfront all day. I suppose it wants to get out and infect some other minds.

oberflächlich

I was going to post the definition, but what fun would that be? Why don't you figure it out! If you think it's fun to read, believe me, it's even more fun to say. If you say it right.

Hint: it's an adjective, one that I hope never describes me, or you, or any of us.

Latest Computer Geek

Some of you have heard of this little guy's computer, set up by Daddy the master computer assembler and upgrader.

Since my titles don't show up: he generally sits on a large computer, as shown in picture #2. In pictures #3 and #4, I think he was planning to change his preferences. . .

Trevor also likes to help wash dishes. He won't even have time to get sick of them, since we will have to get a dishwasher for better sanitation.

Trevor has also discovered that talking is a far more fun and interesting means of communication than grunting. He enunciates extremely well! Still working on getting to sentence level, but the littlest kid is finally starting to grow up.

Blue

Do you know what I love? Walking down a country road, no one in sight or sound, out where I can lean back and see nothing but sky. . . blue sky. . . the sun shining from one side, brilliantly pure white cirrus clouds streaking their way across the great blue circle of the heavens. Gazing into that deep blue is understanding how the color symbolizes God's holiness, as in the tabernacle. . . the great expanse separating God from us. Lovely, awesome, cold. Lovelier, warmer, more awesome still is the thought that God would transcend that blue expanse of holiness to reach us. Because we could not.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Hebrews 4:14

Out of Context - February Edition

The Ides have rolled around again.

Jason: "What is it with girls. They're like, so weird."

Jason (demonstrating dino romance): "He goes, RRRR, OOPS! I chomped her head off!"

Ethan: "I'm not a little kid. I'm a growing boy."

Ethan: "It's pretty bad to be a person. You have to do dishes." . . . "But then, it's pretty bad to be a worm, 'cause you get squished."

Nolan (looking contemplatively at Sharon's purse): "I don't like your purse."
Sharon: "You don't like my purse? Why not?"
Nolan: "Because it looks gross."

Nolan: "I don't want to get out. I'm going to fire you."

Ethan: "What's the matter, Derek? What's so unplaced about it?"

Carolyn: "But I was just at an interesting part. The interestingest part!"

Melinda: "Better be careful, Derek, there's 210 milligrams of salt in each serving [of vegetable dip]."
Derek: "I don't have to worry about how much salt I eat."
Melinda: "Yes, but salt makes you thirsty, and being thirsty uses up more electricity for pumping the water. All around you could be saving, by just using a little less vegetable dip!"

Sharon: "Oh come on, life isn't so bad."
Ethan: "Oh yes it is. When you're still my age, it's still bad. Well. . . when you're my age. . ."

Derek (to Jason): "Hey! That's not fair. You can cheap out on your easy-street school."

Sharon: "Are you going to sleep well tonight, Nolan?"
Nolan: "No, I'm going to sleep well - bad."

Jason: "I just feel this need to drink juice in endless quantitites."

Kendra: "Girls have more genes than boys."
Jason: "I don't need jeans. I have plenty of shirts."

Jason: "Know how many arguments end in fistfights?"
Derek: "That's good, a little recreation at the end."

Trevor (playing on his new computer): "Eewps! . . . Ba-aa-ng!"

Trevor (running past his older sister): "Yii-ites. . . Yites! Yites! Yites!"

If you can figure out Trevor's last comment, congratulations. . . you are well on your way to winning an award in Linguistical Analysis of Toddler Language Verbalizations Transcribed to Text (generally known as LATLVTT, which acronym has provided a new area of research for a sub-committee of said award, namely, research into the most appropriately obscure vowel sounds to insert between the above consonants in order to make the pronunciation of said acronym impossible for the common layperson to deduce without the aid of previously mentioned committee).

Just a little fun

Ran across a couple cognados falsos in Spanish today.

If you want to say you're embarrassed, don't make it worse. Embarazada actually means that you're. . . well. . . with child. 'Embarrassed' in Spanish is apenado(a) or avergonzado(a).

So there really is some truth in living for weekends, vacations, retirement. . . have to wonder if the biblical Year of Jubilee had some connection with another generation retiring. . . Voy a jubilarme! I'm going to retire!

Yippee. Only forty-five years to go.

Not a disclaimer

This is a little late in coming.

If you can read Latin or have enough interest to go muddling around in a dictionary and the accompanying paradigms till you figure out that linguarum perita is the feminine form of 'linguist', let me just assure you that I'm not a linguist. I was forced into some interest in this field upon nearly stumbling headlong into the awful, sickening truth: no one can learn all the languages on earth. For me, linguistics is just an excuse to study any language without having to master it. Linguarum perita literally means 'girl skilled in languages', and parvissima is the superlative form of parvus, 'small', 'little', which could mean 'the littlest girl skilled in languages' or 'the girl rather least skilled in languages'. All that is just a roundabout way of saying that I love languages, and I realize my skill is little compared to many other people, or, if you prefer, I may be short.

I decided to skip out the 'Sites of the Month' feature because this entails the generally boring job of looking for stuff that may interest other people. Frankly, who cares? "Write about what you know," Mommy and Ardith used to tell me, and the same thing applies to links on blog sidebars. By the way, if you're trying to improve your comprehension of a language, do listen to foreign language radio. It helps.

Cheers!

Here's to my wonderful sister Ardith!

(Ardith, I didn't have any champagne, so I ate up the rest of the guacamole dip in your honor)

Question

Is linguistics the ultimate field of study? Does scientific interest evolve from physics to pharmacy to psychology?

I don't know... I have a hard time believing there isn't some bias involved in a view that holds letters so far above numbers. What does the author of this blurb mean by linguistics, anyway?

What do you think?

Visiting Ardith

McDonald's? Wendy's? Arby's? Applebee's? Pizza Hut? Perkins?

"We don't want grease, we just want slime."

See, this is the problem when twelve people in a fifteen-passenger van try to pick out a restaurant. You have two genuine adults, two classified adults, and at least three wanna-be's, plus the younger ones who have no inhibitions about spurting out their own opinions, not to mention the several who double as wise-crackers.

Having finally settled on Pizza Hut, we only had to wait about ten minutes for them to find us three tables in a corner. In the very cornerest of these corners Ardith went through the Family Interrogation which naturally follows the Business Interview. This one, being conducted over pizza and Sprite, was probably less stressful. This one, being conducted by Daddy, was probably at least as thorough as the Interview, though on different points.

If twelve people choosing a restaurant is interesting, twelve people arguing over directions back to Ardith's suite is even more so, and this time without bringing in the stereotypical gender differences of How Guys and Girls React to Being Lost. Not that we were lost.

We left Ardith happily surfing the Sci-Fi channel on one of the two TVs in her hotel suite. Now I'd better stop before I say something somebody will make me regret.

But it was very good to be all together!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Lord willing, Daddy and Mommy will finally be back home, to stay.

I had decent-sized plans for getting the house ready, but it looks like we're going with the essentials. Jason and I have both been sick this weekend, a strange cold that brought headaches and coughing and stomach upset and some feverishness and dizziness along with it. Better to leave the important point unobscured - just being together again!

That may even be all together, as Ardith has plans to stop by between interviews with Rockwell Collins this weekend.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 118:1
(among many others)

Postscript

Achieved: Kids in bed by 9:17 p.m.

Mice

What's with these pesky little rodents? They seem to think the whole world is their private litterbox. No wonder no one's made housepets out of them. They tend to publish their regular routes, like the cereal cupboard. Too bad they tried infiltrating a house where the occupants enjoy designing pitfalls alternative to the common mousetrap.

Plan A is currently in operation. If it fails, we may implement Plan B (brainchild of several younger tacticians):

Stay Out Of The Cupboard

It's time to find out whether mice can really read or not.

Why You Should Drink the Stuff

Let me put in a good word for green tea.

Green tea is hot,
and green
(it even tastes green),
and annoys people who can't believe you drink that grassy stuff,
and warms up your stomach more pleasantly than churning acid,
and is supposed to be good for you.

Good for you?

Of course I meant your hard drive.

Green tea warms you heart and soul and magnetic heads. Best part of bootin' up is green tea in your cup!

Monday

Despite the unlooked-for industriousness, this has been a good day.

It was so balmy that I took a walk, then burned the trash later, then took another walk. Most importantly, the packing snow finally arrived, so all the kids went out to play during naptime.

Cooking was one thing I didn't do today. This weekend I had to use up a whole gallon of milk because it was past the date, and frankly, though the milk passed the taste test, I didn't want to risk waiting till the next morning, only to pour lumpy milk into the pitcher to the tune of whiney groans. In case you didn't notice, that was a long sentence. Here are two short ones to make up.

Returning to the milk... what to do with milk? Make milky things. Rice pudding, chocolate pudding, tapioca. I have sworn not to make anything new for snack until the kids eat it all up, not to mention the leftover apple cobbler and apple coffee cake. Generous dollops of Cool Whip help the medicine go down. So far the various taste factions have something to please them.

Melinda has been teaching herself to knit, enthusiasm overflowing to several others and settling into the quiet and civilized pool of a sewing circle - if three make a circle. Maybe a line on the couch.

In the midst of these peaceful pursuits comes a dark note of dread! Someone . . . perhaps something . . . Jason says he left his computer password-locked, only to later find it in shut-down mode. Sweet, adorable Trevor? I think he's been more attentive in those lap-sitting sessions than we suspected. Derek is reporting similar finds.

Since Martha Stewart isn't here, what's the best way to spread that piney fragrance from your Christmas tree? Use the vacuum cleaner on the fallen needles. Believe me, it works. It works even if you didn't plan it that way.

Speaking of Christmas trees, we should probably take ours down sometime this week, sometime before Daddy and Mommy come back. This last week they came down for an overnight visit, which we all enjoyed very much! Daddy looks stronger, and he smiles more. And Mommy laughs even more than Daddy smiles, if that's possible. Let's just say we all have fun.

But Mommy, we do need you to come home soon. Jason has started singing opera, or something like it.

Philosophies of Politics

Naturally, such deep ideas are not coming from my head... not yet anyway. Today's inauguration ceremonies reminded me that I wanted to post these quotes Dr. Forbes compiled for the Election Forum we had last fall. He entitled the page "Miscellaneous Thoughts to Ponder".

The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all in their separate and individual capacities. (Abraham Lincoln)

Politics has got so expensive that it takes a lot of money to even get beat with. (Will Rogers)

It makes no difference who you vote for - the two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people. (Gore Vidal)

There are some politicians who, if their constituents were cannibals, would promise them missionaries for dinner. (H. L. Mencken)

An elected official is the one who gets 51 percent of the vote cast by 40 percent of the 60 percent of voters who registered. (Dan Bennet)

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. (Oscar Ameringer)

Government is too big and important to be left to the politicians. (Chester Bowles)

Practical politics consists in ignoring facts. (Henry Adams)

An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, stays bought. (Simon Cameron)

Political campaigns are designedly made into emotional orgies which endeavor to distract attention from the real issues involved, and they actually paralyze what slight powers of cerebration man can normally muster. (James Harvey Robinson)

The justification of the majority rule is not to be found in its ethical superiority. (Walter Lippmann)

Many people consider the things which government does for them to be social progress, but they consider the things government does for others to be socialism. (Chief Justice Earl Warren)

The difference between a politician and a statesman is: a politician thinks of the next election and a statesman thinks of the next generation. (James Freeman Clarke)

Government in the US today is a senior partner in every business in the country. (Norman Cousins)

The short memories of American voters are what keep our politicians in office. (Will Rogers)

When one may pay out millions of dollars to presidential and congressional campaigns, the US Government is virtually up for sale. (John Gardner)

Voters quickly forget what a man says. (Richard Nixon)

And where are the others that might have stood, side by your side in the common good? (Maurice Ogden)


In no way intended to refer to this election particularly. Good thoughts are always worth pondering.

Hoyt Bible Church

Forget the underground church... the upstairs church is the wave of the future. This afternoon Ethan and Carolyn were telling me a little about the 'church' they had started for the younger kids. They were meeting upstairs and even had a little chorusbook of six songs.

There was some little concern expressed, on this knowledge becoming public at the supper table, especially over the smail detail of Carolyn standing in as 'pastor'.

"WHAT!! You've got a WOMAN PASTOR!"
"She's not a pastor, she's a Bible-story teacher!" (indignantly)
"So, Carolyn, what doctrine are you preaching - Catholic?"

Perhaps not so little concern. In order to avoid further heresy, Jason stepped in as interim pastor for the evening. I was cleaning up the supper dishes and was unable to attend, but I heard some very lusty singing, with a harmonica used as a pitch pipe, and a rather long silence.

"Jason preached a really good sermon. Really good," Melinda informed me, as the new flock clumped its way downstairs.

Well, they should be all warmed up for family devotions tonight. Goodnight, folks, some little parishioners need to head towards bed.

Out Of Context, January edition

Middle of the month and it's time for those quotes. If they're related, no spaces between. This means that a lot of the morbid ones actually aren't related.

Ardith: "Eyes bigger than your stomach, huh, Derek?"
Ethan: "But that's not true. Your stomach is bigger than your eyes."

Jason, concerning The Taming of the Shrew: "And what you don't often hear about is that the woman had a nose shaped like a shrew's nose."

Nolan, on seeing a cat: "I wish we could have a rifle and shoot it. That would be interesting."

Carolyn: "Do you want to die first, Trevor, or do you want me to?"

Ardith: "Yes, my inner homicidal tendencies have been brought out."

Jason: "One man's medicine, another man's poison."

Carolyn to Derek, concerning LOTR: "If Kendra was just let, I don't think you'd be let... yet."

Derek: "Hey! Join my side, Jason. I'm an island in a sea of angry waves."

Carolyn: "I've used up all my [computer] game time. I'm going to play something educational."

Nolan: "I'm not much tired. I'm just a tweency tired."

Jason: "I'd take chocolate. It has a quick pickup. . . and a l-o-n-g letdown."

Carolyn: "I'm drawing a spiritual horse."

Ethan: "I know why they wear a bullet-proof vest. So no one can mmm them."
Sharon: "So no one can mmm them? You mean, stab them?"
Ethan: "Yeah, with a gun. ... I mean! You know what I mean!"

Ethan: "I know how to use a sling. You look where you're going to throw it at, pull it back (well, put in a stone) and aim for a LITTLE BELOW where you want to hit."

Trevor doesn't say a great deal yet, but still manages to make his statement. Get a load of this cool dude.

Thanks to Melinda for serving as beautician.

It's time to get these kids in bed so I can get them out tomorrow morning.

Now the day is over. . .

Today we made the two-library and shopping run. It was a beautiful day.... clear blue skies with high brilliantly white cirrus clouds over brilliantly sparkling snow, and a bitterly cold wind. We came back home to discover that tonight's windchill ranges from 20 to 29 degrees below 0, and that's Fahrenheit. But we made it!

My library finds this time around:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams - Ardith will be so proud of me;
Star Trek: I'm Working on That, William Shatner - looks at the reality of ST technology;
The Iliad, Homer - did you know that this is described as "the world's greatest war novel"?; War and Peace, Count Leo Tolstoy (this and The Iliad are to finish)
Italian: A Self-Teaching Guide, Eduardo A. Lèborno
How to Learn Languages and What Languages to Learn, Mario Pei
Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, Mark Crispin Miller (author of The Bush Dyslexicon)

The author of this last one is simply a professor of media studies. Brilliant credentials for this kind of book and this kind of declaration, but let's judge him by his work. I can't wait to get inside his perspective and find out what makes it tick.


Trevor was so tired and goofy tonight! He would trip and not be able to get up from laughing. He is rapidly increasing his vocabulary by voicing the opposite of whatever we say. Tonight he added "down" and "up"; the trick is to agree with him, then he'll want the other, plus learn twice as many words.

As a side note, I have been informed that my photos may not be free-hosted much longer, so they won't be available for long. I will have to hunt up something else. When my computer isn't spontaneously rebooting itself in the middle of a first spontaneous reboot.

Just to help you sleep tonight

Yesterday I startled Jason by jerking and yelling when I played the following linked German coffee ad. I don't know why I should even post the link, except for four reasons; 1) it has a little German to redeem it; 2) to show what I can't take; 3) there is always someone who can take it, and who may even enjoy it; 4) occasional disturbances may help us better appreciate the monotonous or insane serenity of our lives. That said, be forewarned.

In order to access this ad, click here, scroll down the orange window, find TV Spot - K-fee Auto, and click the download button at the end. Depending on your surroundings, you may want earphones for the 1 second worth of noticeable sound (says the library student worker). You can save it, then choose Launch File as soon as it downloads to view it at once.

January's upgrade

The latest sidebar attractions, depending on what attracts you...

-January's Sites of the Month focus on language and the Internet, especially IM communication linguistics, which I find fascinating.

-L & L, languages and linguistics, those inseparable L's; some good resources and interesting overviews.

-A new photo gallery (Winter), dedicated to the latest biggest dump of snow.

I realize that some of the photos aren't perfectly straight. Think of it as a New Perspective in photo art.

Disclaimer: No, I haven't read all the new sites. Others should never have to wait on my slow reading! I did look them over well and would like to finish when I have a chance. However, the day is only so long and daily life is only so short.

Why You Shouldn't Read Jane Austen's Junk

(Mainly just one of her books called Pride and Prejudice)

These are my only lines of this blog post. The rest is a persuasive essay that my brother Derek (13) wrote. I have only made a few spelling and vocabulary-clarifying corrections. He has regretfully approved the final version of this blog post.

That's right. Junk! Why do I use such vulgar description? Because that is the only way to categorize Jane Austen's novels as I see them. Of course not everybody agrees with my viewpoint on them. One of them is Kendra. She thinks they are great and she has watched the movie of what she thinks is the best of them, Pride and Prejudice. Moreover Sharon and Ardith like the book, Pride and Prejudice, too. Ardith, Sharon, and Kendra probably partly like it because it has a considerable amount of romance (Prideful guy and Prejudiced gal fall in love). But, who wants to read a lot of MUSH?!??!? There is probably only one answer to that VERY important question. And that is... because maybe they like mush (or romance... BLEAH). But then the question is what's wrong with romance. Nothing, except that it is almost always put into a nutty, silly, foolish, or yucky ("sorry for using that word Mommy, but I just HAD to use it to clearly describe what I'm trying to get across") style. Therefore, one of the reasons why you shouldn't read Jane Austen's Junk is, because it's got a considerable amount of MUSH in it.

Furthermore, who is this Jane Austen. She is, I guess (or maybe I just know), a sharp tongued woman with a wicked sense of humor. A wicked sense of humor isn't all that bad, my sister Ardith has it; but, a wicked sense of humor plus a sharp tongue, is another thing. Besides sharp tongued women tend to be bossy or dictator-like. Besides all that, the person is a female and her attitudes are not akin to that of the male. Boys, I guess, just naturally don't like her or her works, while girls naturally seem to.

In addition to all this, she had out of the whack titles for in of the whack things. Sense and Sensibility? Oh good grief. Not too bad, I guess, except that it's about people with sense and sensibility probably, and not about two close abstract ideas. Or maybe I'm just nuts and don't know what I'm talking about; Kendra would probably think so. But what I want you to get from this essay is, the idea that Jane's Junk is not to be adored or liked, it is mush, and it seems to be quite silly. Just don't become in thought and action like those who pour this junk into themselves.

Derek tells us that this description of Jane Austen as a woman with a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humor came from the back of an Austen biography, by Amy Ruth, which last piece of information I provided despite Derek's concerns that this would lead to a mass reading of a book spreading Austen mania.

Saturday evening's prayer

I sit here typing in the peace of bleached and smarting hands, thanking the Lord that He made food to keep under cold and not heat, that I do not have to pray for the strength to nobly die of asphyxiation after prolongued exposure to the rich odors that would bombard me while cleaning a heated refrigerator.

More pictures

Despite my summer job of covering our windows with plastic, they continue to rebel and give off gorgeous shows like this!

A few pictures from the New Year's Eve Party at our church are on the sidebar. More specifically, the Hoyt kids taking aim at the piñata.

Unfortunately, my only picture of Ethan didn't even show him because someone else stepped in front of the camera. So I wanted to give my eight-year-old brother another spot on the blog.

We take turns praying before meals, and one morning it was Ethan's turn. This was soon after Daddy's and Mommy's latest visit, and we weren't expecting to see them for a while.

"Dear Jesus, ..."

(pause)

"Please help all of us here at home not to get sick, and help Daddy and Mommy not to get sick where they are either, so they can come down and visit us. In Jesus' name amen."

Mumbled and run together, and no mention of the food. But now it looks like his prayer may be answered on Friday. God is so good!

Tuesday Night's Forecast

Half past nine o'clock and all's well!

So far we haven't forgotten the Christmas tree lights, the stove burners or the lamps, and so the house hasn't burned down... yet. Personally, I think a blaze sounds like a lovely way to warm up. Especially with this approaching killer snowstorm, first of the season (for us) that the meteorologists are eagerly jumping all over in their haste to finally put some fear into the hearts of viewers who begin to think that the snow finally heard of global warming. If we get a good dump, it will be fantastic for building snow forts and starting snow battles to top the Empire's takeover of the Rebellion's headquarters on Hoth.

I predict a late night for everyone. . . late for children who can't sleep for thinking about the storm, and late for the three of us girls staying up to enjoy Austen's masterful interplay of characters in Pride and Prejudice.

2005: The Year of Languages

Yes, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has designated 2005 as the Year of Languages. I heard about this back in November when our language professors returned from the ACTFL conference in Chicago. Hopes are for this initiative to affect all of America, even military officers. More information is here.

What a perfect excuse to go dig up my language books!

(side note: flashlights were not invented to be useful when swinging from the wrist, especially not when descending steep dark attic stairs with heavy book boxes)

All I have to do before next fall is finish my German and Spanish books and study for this semester's final, which I'll take to pass the semester I am missing for these languages. And keep up the French for study abroad in Dijon next spring.

So I think I will start some new languages. In other words, Hebrew, Italian, and Japanese. How exciting!

Endings and Beginnings

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.


2 Corinthians 5:9-10

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.


Revelation 22:20

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

A Few Cards from the Game of Life

Best way to get rid of that horrid citrus zinc lozenge taste: a mint (one of their few uses).

Best way to kill your appetite the next day: eat a huge dinner in a hot room with nine other friends, stay up till 2 a.m. watching an exciting, sad, scary movie, then get up six hours later to drive a van in for realignment.

An overflowed toilet does constitute a family health and sanity crisis.

Till this crisis is properly dispensed with, you're probably better off wearing shoes around the house.

If you're drying off equivalent amounts of blood and water, you're washing your hands too often.

There is no limit to how much some little boys can complain.

Your classy new hair cut may well be the death of your gagging younger brother.

Upon discovering something that truly annoys an easy-going sister, write it down.

Reading for too long can make eye movement painful.

If you can feel the electric current through the wire, said wire may be getting old.

Rhythmically patting a little brother's back produces an interesting vibrating hum.

Write down those quotes. They'll be worth another laugh someday.

• "Do you flavor your coffee with lettuce?" (Derek)
• "Trust Ardith. She's watched enough TV to know." (obvious)

No, there isn't anyone else. If you don't do it, no one will. Now you know what a mom's life is like.

Keep reenforcing those traditional family values: "Life isn't fair. Get used to it."

HOPPP

Photos are on the sidebar. (For the unenlightened - HOPPP = Hoyts-Opening-Presents-Party Pictures)

One or two aren't perfectly clear. I am still refining the art of using a digital camera.

All presents sent from Texas-based associates are represented. Thank you for these unexpected and very welcome contributions!

I hope these pictures will let you share in our Christmas.

Even more importantly, keep Christmas in your hearts the year round, as the Ghost of Christmas Present counseled Scrooge.

Merry Christmas!

This has truly been the best Christmas ever. We were all together again!

A few calculations. . . Daddy hadn't been home for nine weeks, Mommy about the same time. Most of the kids hadn't seen either Daddy or Mommy since sometime in November (I think). Ardith and I visited over Thanksgiving. That was our last real face-to-face contact till today. Now just six more weeks to go! (Lord willing, with somewhat more frequent visits)

So much fun to open presents together! Our Christmas dinner turned out fairly well, only about half was burnt or undercooked or something else fairly easily remedied, and was eaten not too long after 2 p.m. We laughed so much! Enough to have lifted a hot-air balloon at least. Wouldn't have been a bad day for it, quite warm. . . but we had so much fun.


This is for Christmas and for my parents. It's Mommy's favorite Christmas carol.

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem's home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart Lord Jesus-
There is room in my heart for Thee!

Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming Thy royal degree;
But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth
And in great humility.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus-
There is room in my heart for Thee!

The foxes found rest and the birds their nest
In the shade of the forest tree;
But thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of God,
In the deserts of Galilee.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus-
There is room in my heart for Thee!

Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn
They bore Thee to Calvary.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus-
There is room in my heart for Thee!

When the heavens shall ring and the angels sing
At Thy coming to victory,
Let Thy voice call me home, saying "Yet there is room-
There is room at My side for thee."
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When Thou comest and callest for me!

Emily E. S. Elliott

Christmas Eve

Isaiah 9:6-7

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this."

Modifications

You may have noticed a few changes on this blog. If you didn't, that's all right - I will now inform you of the significant ones.

Ardith gave me a few HTML editing tips, so I have expanded the sidebar to include some links of interest to myself and hopefully to you also.

1. You can now access the (2) blogs of my family (and soon some of my friends, or perhaps blogs I deem worth visiting).

2. Well-educated includes educated on current events, therefore, I have provided several links to news sites, in different languages of course.

3. 'Sites of the Month' should be self-explanatory. In the interests of promoting knowledge, and especially knowledge in the context of languages and linguistics, I would like to post links on a general theme each month. This month's theme is French websites. I realize that very few French-speakers visit this blog, but you might want to visit the sites anyway. Some have interesting pictures or maps that you could track down (with a little guessing and perspiration).
For those who don't feel like following up on my hour+ of research. . . no guilt intended, unless of course you want to feel some. . . remember that December is fast closing the rather frigid doorways of 2004, and soon will come a new year, a new month, and a new topic.

I have carefully ordered these websites for optimal experience.

--Gymnastique Linguistique: tracing French to its root language, Latin, with a few activités;
--Le Figaro: similar to Le Monde, focus both French and international;
--Histoire en Ligne: French history, complete with geopolitical maps;
--A la lettre: All the info on French authors and their works that you could want;
--Glossaire linguistique: Explanations and diagrams for linguistic and typographic terminology
--Tolkiendil: dedicated to Tolkien, with essays, games, illustrations, etc.

I suppose some of these sites might be translatable, if you'd like.

Enjoy and become more cultured. And you can take that any way you want.

Singing Saturn

Johannes Kepler may have been right about the "music of the spheres".

"Kosmisches Konzert: Raumsonde hört Gesang des Saturns"

Yesterday Spiegel had an article on the space probe Cassini, a joint project of NASA and ESA, its European equivalent (I think). This probe has been visiting the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Apparently it has detected sounds or tones that result from solar wind particles meeting Saturn's electromagnetic field. In fact, astrophysics researcher Don Gurnett from the University of Iowa (n.b.!) has published Saturn's first tones. And he and his RPWS (Radio and Plasma Wave Science) buddies think the same may be true for Jupiter.

"Das All ist zwar luftleer, aber nicht stumm", proposes the article; "The universe is indeed a vacuum, but it is not silent." If true, this gives new meaning to Psalm 19:1 - "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (NASB)

Yay! I'm so excited!

1) My computer's up and running! Jason set it up for me. Of course I could have done it myself, however, there were a few changes. Now I'm using one of Daddy's two monitors for his downstairs computer, a flatscreen! My monitor had taken to frequent fits of buzzing while at school. Personally, I think it was the little Word paper clip that looked like it would pass out every time I was typing out my French or German or Spanish homework.

Only disappointment is that AOL refuses to work, so far. Fortunately, I don't have a buddy list hundreds of people long like some people I could mention (but I kindly refrain from so doing).

And now I can finally access all the files saved to my harddrive, which means returning to the science fiction story contest with Jason and Derek which I don't mind humbly saying that I'm winning hands down, due to my four or five chapters already completed, despite a sabbatical of the entire fall semester. Oh yes, and my photos are also saved to my hard drive. I will get busy putting these at the public's disposal if Ardith will help me set up an online album which a specifically targeted general populace can access.


2) Ethan allowed me to keep the instructions from the watch he just received for his birthday. Did I mention that these instructions are in eight different language? I think I have identified all of them: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, two Asian languages which must be Chinese and Japanese, and lastly German. What a gold mine! Now I get all the fun of comparing them, not to mention acquiring a first-rate vocabulary pertaining to watches in the above languages (at least the ones I can read). Here are some translations of watch:

montre
Voi
Uhr
relógio
reloj

I've only changed the order of one, so you should have no difficulty classing them.

And now that Ardith has adjusted the connection for our home network, my screen name is free to again whiz over the cyberspace currents and connect me to the online population, or, should I quote my revered Grandpa and say my 'three friends'.

Now I will go obey Nolan's command to read him a Peanuts book 'when you're done with that.'

Who needs ovens, anyway!

Not the ever-resourceful Hoyt kids. Ardith and I have just planned Christmas Dinner over lunch, complete with pie and no oven. Ethan has postponed his birthday meal indefinitely since he just can't resign himself to anything of quality inferior to homemade pizza. As for the Christmas cookies. . . we'll make fudge. Everybody knows chocolate's good for you, everybody who's read my mom's blog, anyway.

I thought it might be helpful to have a list of names and ages for future reference. . .

Ardith - 21
Sharon - 19
Jason - 17 (Dec. 30th)
Kendra - 15 1/2
Derek - 13 1/2
Melinda - 12
Carolyn - 10
Ethan - 8
Nolan - 5 1/2
Trevor - 3 in February

About halfway down the list I forget, so I keep going and see if the last couple end up at the right ages. We all know my parents are timeless and ageless. Besides, I'm not sure about Daddy's age anymore since he's had three or four different birthdays.

Yesterday I drove the kids in for play practice, which somehow finished early. Tonight will be the gala performance. I've been under the impression that it was a 'normal' story-of-Mary-and-Joseph-and-baby-Jesus presentation, but Pastor John says there's a twist in it this year. It can't be too extreme - we don't have any Herdmans in our church.

Jason and Derek had to stay extra long to finish cleaning the WRC church last night, because somebody had eaten Oreos over a newly swept floor. Meanwhile, we watched our usual Saturday night music shows - Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk. Guy Lombardo is my favorite. Not so much for Ethan - "Oh, great, it's over!" - not said sarcastically.

And now you can all agree with him, 'cause this post is done and I'm off to take a nap.

The Gang's All Here

Time for the first nightly report. Yes, all the Hoyt siblings are home. We only had to wait till about 6 p.m. for Ardith to show up.

Today we went shopping, because Ethan's birthday was today and to be celebrated tomorrow, and he requested pizza. So we got out to the van and had to move the four mousetraps baited with peanut butter. I'm not sure mice are still living in there. . . the one I saw was the little guy that ran underneath the accelerator and Ardith's foot, when we went up to visit Daddy and Mommy over Thanksgiving.

Ethan wanted pizza for his birthday, and I planned to make spaghetti pie for Ardith's first supper home. Unfortunately, the oven wasn't working. I found this out when the second batch of cookies started smoking after about 4 minutes. Fortunately, Jason enjoys getting his daily dose of carbon from burnt cookies. So much for a baked supper. . . we just had spaghetti with cheese instead, and applesauce and beans. To round out this lovely Italian theme meal, I gave them all a Ghirardelli's Dark Chocolate (my college friends have figured out what to get me for Christmas). We ate supper out in the living room while watching Ethan's birthday movie, Robin Hood - the Disney animal version. During the exciting first climax scene of the post-shooting match ruckus, most of the kids were yelling in loud hoots at the ridiculous escapades, underscored by Trevor's steady drone of "ooww.... ooouwwiieeeee....", probably in sympathy for the rhinos that Lady Cluck was tackling.

I tried mopping the kitchen floor today. My conclusion: Swiffer mops aren't magical. Except in the commercials where dirt doesn't get slowly ground into the tile because the ever-vigilant mother whips out her handy Swiffer every afternoon (and apparently doesn't have to put ten chairs on the table first). It does look better, but I think hands + soap + hot water will be necessary for a deep clean.

That's all, folks. Two little girls are reading up in their double bed, waiting for me to pray with them. Everyone sleep well and think warm thoughts, especially if you're in slightly underheated bedrooms.

Made it!

Needless to say, it's great to be home. It only took me half an hour to check out of my room and say goodbyes. Weather driving home was clear and beautiful, and just imagine this - the house is now 75 degrees instead of 73! Compliments of Jason. And it's so easy to unload a vanful with six or seven extra pairs of hands.

I sat down on the couch to talk to Grandpa and Grandma for a while, and after a few minutes Carolyn came to claim her "pillow" (at least that's what she calls me), Nolan wanted to snuggle, Ethan and Melinda wanted to talk. I asked when Ardith was coming home, and Ethan remarked, "Oh yeah, she's bringing a whip." Make that a blacksnake whip! I'd like to know who started that idea.

I knew I'd been gone too long when I sat down to play Dutch Blitz with Carolyn (10), Ethan (8 tomorrow), and Nolan (5), and Nolan dutch blitzed in the first round. (!!!) Nothing makes you feel old like a precocious little brother. What I can't understand is how he watches everyone else's cards as well as his own, so he can tell them when to slap down another card.
It's Grandpa's doing - he's been training him. I realized again today how much Grandpa and Grandma have done just by sacrificing nearly a month of their time to be with the kids and keep things running smoothly. Thank the Lord for them.

And for one final happy note, I found that two of my final grades are in. Intermediate German and Intro to Sociology, both As. Two down, three to go. I'd like to break my past trend and avoid any A-'s this time round. We'll see. It seems like I spent very little time studying this semester. But I'm just glad to be done.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness endures forever."

Psalm 136:1

Looking ahead

Three more days till home for Christmas, and then some. I'm staying home the spring semester to help run the homestead. Just so no one has any doubts - I want y'all to know that it was my choice to come home. I offered quite a while ago when I learned that Daddy would need to stay in Rochester for three months. But we didn't know when Daddy's transplant would be, so we couldn't plan.

I can't wait to come home! It took long enough to work up excitement for college, now after three semesters I feel very ready for a break. Not many people have that privilege. Fortunately, language credits through placement tests have moved me up a whole semester, so if I return to Grace in the fall I will still be graduating with my class in '07.

I just wish Ardith could take a break too, but she needs to graduate this spring. At least all of us kids will be together for Christmas. It will be a little different, but still very wonderful! It has been so comforting to know that Grandpa and Grandma Baker have been with the kids during these weeks.

Finals are humming along. . . French and Spanish down, only Sociology, Science, and German to go. And lots of packing, and cleaning, and goodbyes to say. I really don't see how all this can be crammed into two more days, but somehow it will.

By the way, I think everyone should read L'Etranger, or The Stranger, by Camus. It's good to confront the theory of absurdism at least once in your lifetime.

Picture Time!

Finally! It's only taken me about ten tries. Posting photos is a two-step process; first, loading them into an album from the hard drive on my computer; second, linking them on a lobby computer, because for some reason mine doesn't do links.

These are from the trip Ardith and I made to visit Daddy and Mommy.

My wonderful parents:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/SharonLHoyt/P1040357.jpg

My beautiful, popular sister Ardith:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/SharonLHoyt/P1040358.jpg

(you can tell I'm only justifiably biased)

And yes, they made me get a picture taken too:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/SharonLHoyt/P1040359.jpg

Now that I have a reliable site for hosting photos, there should be more in the future. And now I'm going to post this before I accidentally hit the odd combination of buttons that clears the window.

Weekend means entertainment

Yeah, I may get in trouble for this one, but it seems to me that new vocabulary requires practice.

So, to run back to Thanksgiving break, Tammie and I enjoyed a rather confabulatory ride home, especially since it took us three hours longer than usual. In fact, ten-hour trips in a small car with snow shutting you in produce conditions very favorable to confabulation. Once home, I enjoyed still more confabulation with my family, though a different degree of confabulation. The natural type that comes from years of knowing someone, till on a level so comfortable that it's hard to classify the conversation, because one doesn't even think about it. I think that's one thing that frustrates me about college. One has to always be thinking about what to say. It's all due to a social equation which says that one's number of friends (and perhaps even one's comfort level) is in direct proportion to one's ability to confabulate. But maybe it's better that way. Makes it easier to distinguish the real friends.

I'm afraid we're not a very deipnosophistic family, even over Thanksgiving Dinner. At least not in the usual sense of the word. Our conversation tended more towards the opposite extreme, somewhere in the wilderness beyond confabulation. That doesn't mean we aren't skilled in table talk, just not the fancy-restaurant variety. Actually, our variety of deipnosophism follows the unique theory that laughter aids digestion. If these two simultaneous actions hurt your stomach muscles, realize that they're in need of exercise. Especially if you're going to eat some of that ridiculously rich pecan pie.

Yesterday I gave a presentation on my 10-page French dissertation in class. I suppose, by an extreme stretch of the imagination, one could consider that a deipnosophistic exercise, minus the gastronomical aspect. In all seriousness, it went very well. I was nervous, felt like I was having trouble communicating all my logical developement, almost stopped a few times. But Prof. Schram said it was excellent. What a relief. I'm glad I went first. This next week, all I have to do for French class is read L'Etranger (Camus) one more time, and of course, prepare for the final. And listen to everyone else's presentations, which will be easy, since I won't be thinking about mine.

Hmm. . . I just discovered that this post was unconsciously inspired.

To whom it may concern: working on the pictures, i.e., the sites tried so far haven't been working, but I hope to have them linked by tonight.

Everyone stay warm and start thinking about Christmas. Never too early.

Super November around the world

We don't hold anything over Romania when it comes to presidential elections and voting complications. Translated from Le Monde's site.

"I voted four times," a young I.T. technician from Bucharest (the capital) informed the reporter. "I made a bet with my friends on who would have the courage to vote more than once. It was a question of adrenaline because you can go to prison for that. But hey, the stickers stamped onto our cards are easy to take off. In fact, I lost the bet. One of my friends voted seven times."

Another good reason to move to Romania, where the young and the daring can swing elections!

Donuts and things

It's strange to be blogging from Mommy's chair, in front of Mommy's computer at Mommy's desk. But I had to take advantage of Ardith's nap. By the way, Mommy, the plant hanging above your chair is growing long beautiful tendrils around the Burpee picture and down to the chair arm. . . I'm sure by the time you're back, it will have curled its way all over your desk.

Yes, good to be home. I don't have any thrillingly frustrating stories to equal Ardith's, although we were in the car about 10 hours instead of the usal 7 1/2. Traffic was stop-and-start most of the way to Chicago, and through Chicago, and past Chicago. Tammy drove the first half (the slow, long half); by the time we switched, the roads had cleared out and I could drive the speed limit. After quite a long stretch, the cars in front of me started braking. Ice! I must have hit the brakes too, because the car started skidding and spinning around. . . over 180 degree turn. . . I hung on, waiting for us to hit something. But we didn't even go in the ditch, although 3 or 4 other cars had already succeeded. That was scary. That's why we prayed for safety at the beginning of the trip.

After that it was smooth sailing to Waterloo. Since it was Tammy's car and Tammy likes to keep her speed up, I did too. . . but I promise I wasn't reckless. We got into Waterloo about 10 Iowa time, 11 Indiana time (left 1:30). Then I learned I would be staying the night because Ardith had missed her flight. Great job, Ardith. Cars may be slow, but they beat flights you never catch. Yeah, she knows I'm kidding. Pastor John and I almost walked past her at the airport the next morning. It was a very fast airport stop, since her luggage had somehow disappeared.

So, we got home. Ardith planned the dinner prep times and we managed to carry it out, with help from everyone else. After everyone had eaten their fill, or more, we sat around the table and laughed at Derek's attempt to re-word the title "The Taming of the Shrew" so he could avoid copyright laws. Why? I guess he wanted to write about a real taming of a real shrew. Most people know that Shakespeare's play describes how a man brings his headstrong wife to submission, but we did learn from Jason that the title also refers to how the woman had a nose shaped like a shrew's. It does hurt to laugh on a full stomach!

Today has been very relaxing. Sleeping in till 11, playing Dutch Blitz, doing a little homework. . . Ardith was working on her collation of Greek manuscripts, me on my French dissertation, on which I have to give a presentation a week from today.

As long as I was home and free from Grace's restrictive firewall, I took that molecule test. Looks like I'm glucose. All I remember is that I'm sweet, caring, and people feed off of me. Kinda makes me not want to be sweet and caring. I think there's some plot behind this.

Tomorrow, provided no cold suddenly descends to smite Ardith and me, we'll drive up to visit Daddy and Mommy in their ritzy little establishment. Might be a temperature shock, from a 73 degree house (if that) to 77 plus. But I'm definitely willing to take the risk!

From the library desk

As long as the library's paying me to sit here in front of a computer, why not write another post? Isn't this a wonderful country? Maybe that's what the 'liberal' arts college experience means. Ardith knows what I mean. Even if she is at a tech school that is only slowly beginning to live up to the idea of a liberal arts school.

I had to try the Narnia quiz that Martinez linked on his blog, short and dumb as it was (yes, that could have been worded more carefully - of course I meant the quiz, not the blog - but why not allow a few moments' worth of interesting reactions?). They assigned me to The Horse and His Boy, with the labels of wistful, alienated, goal-driven. Not bad. The Horse and His Boy has always been my favorite Narnia chronicle. Wistful, alienated. . . that's fairly accurate for the last few weeks. Goal-driven? Conversely, this hasn't been true, until the new motivation of Thanksgiving break.

But enough of trite personality quizzes. Why are they so fascinating? In my case, I think it comes down to selfishness. In fact, the more time passes, the more convinced I am that selfishness is deeply entrenched in me, and radical surgery is often required just to make me aware of it.

The library's Christmas decorations and the Christmas music playing is making me nostalgic. But I enjoy it now, because tomorrow is home!

Spiegel had some interesting news today, from Chancellor Gerhard Schröder:

"Wenn eine junge Frau in der Gesellschaft ein Kopftuch tragen möchte, halte ich das für tolerabel. Wenn sie es als Angehörige im öffentlichen Dienst tun möchte, würde ich sagen: Nein, da erwarten wir eine andere Weise, sich anzuziehen."

Why?

"Wer hier lebt und sich integrieren will, der muss sich an die gesetzgeberischen Regeln halten und er muss unsere Sprache lernen."

For those who don't read German, the Chancellor announced on television that women in teaching positions should not wear headscarves, because they are holding public office. Behind this is the idea that if someone wants to live and integrate himself (or herself) into German society, that person must follow the legislated regulations and learn German.
The French have been dealing with the same issue, only in their case, Muslim girls who attend a university and don't want to be expelled cannot wear the traditional head scarf. I find these similar themes interesting, considering the large variance between the church/state relations that French and German history has seen. Of course, their economic and political ties bind them much more closely now.

Those who want to read the article can visit http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,329017,00.html

No, I don't feel like learning how to set up links tonight, because it's almost 10 and I want to catch some of the sleep I missed earlier this weekend.

And yes, this was last night, but my computer must have been as tired as me, because it didn't have the energy to succesfully publish.

Survived till Friday

Tonight seems like a good time to write. The writing urge is tugging, which it hasn't done for a long time. . . probably because I haven't had time to give it a chance. Now, my real challenge is keeping on track while I type this in the lobby where "Friends" is on TV. Believe me, I'd be in my room, but I'm afraid my computer may decide to shut down and take its weekend rest when I'm about 89% done with the blog. And believe me, "Friends" doesn't intrigue me at all, but it does interrupt my thought trains.

Tonight Festival Chorus performed the second half of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, with guests for the solo parts. Sitting on stage is much different than sitting in the audience, in fact, standing on stage is rather different. I hovered between the happy extremes of feeling the glory of the music lift me toward the roof, to momentary panic that I had missed a cue from Prof. Faber, to the uncomfortable certainty that I was feeling dizzy and wobbly and would faint, just because I've never fainted before and performance night would be the perfect time to do it. But the night turned out to be a success, mostly because I was only one of forty and couldn't do too much to ruin it. It has been very pleasant to participate in some music this semester, which is now over, leaving the sad predicament of free Thursday evenings.

Let's see, I promised more details on our budding poetry club. So far we have met two or three times, depending on which of us is the subject, since Kat and I missed last night's meeting due to a three-hour dress rehearsal in which no one dressed at all like performance night, but we did rehearse - excuse that rabbit trail, I'm just trying to figure out how 'dress rehearsal' got its name. Our still-developing goals seem to be 1) to read and discuss poetry, 2) to write poetry to read and discuss, and 3) to find inspiration to write poetry to read and discuss. In other words, it's actually an inspiration club. Our main problem is to meet these three goals, because a few more easily distracted individuals distract the remaining compliant ones. Since several good ideas have sprung from these distractions, we continue to make progress and press toward the ultimate goal of being "the coolest club at Grace" (not my words) and promoting the general literary culture on campus.

Returning to tonight. . . it has been a relaxing evening of tidying, laundry, reading blog posts, talking to a friend, lifting weights. That last makes three times this week, which means I'm almost back to re-establishing a habit from last semester. More importantly, it means I'll be ready to come home for Thanksgiving Break and give piggy-back rides and play Dutch Blitz and beat thick banana bread batter and whatever else may be necessary. Thanks to some very wonderful friends - you know who you are, even if I don't! - Ardith will be home as well. This will undoubtedly be our most memorable Thanksgiving ever. Even if we have to celebrate it from two locations.

And now it's nearly 12:30 a.m., late for this little girl.

When my words fail. . .

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;

indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves
so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

who delivered us from so great a peril of death,
and will deliver us,
He on whom we have set our hope.

And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers,
so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf
for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

II Corinthians 1:8-11

News

And that's good news!

Daddy is out of surgery, into intensive care. Transplant was "satisfactory". He'll be closely monitored during the 24 hours post-surgery, the first crucial period.

Thank you for all the prayers, and many thanks to God for answering them!

Life

C'est pour cela aussi que nous nous efforçons de lui être agréables, soit que nous demeurions dans ce corps, soit que nous le quittions. Car il nous faut tous comparaitre devant le tribunal de Christ, afin que chacun reçoive selon le bien ou le mal qu'il aura fait, étant dans son corps.
2 Corinthiens 5.9-10

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.


What made me think of these verses was the Thursday chapel message by Roger Peugh. He showed us how deeply words, careless or not, can hurt others. Now I was sure that there exists a verse saying that we will give an account for every careless word we speak. Not finding that one, I thought of these. I'm still thinking of them.

My apologies for not posting earlier. This week I had several tests plus Homecoming, which entails a few responsibilities for senators. Let's see, if I wanted to give you a snapshot through one day, Thursday would be a good example.

6:00 - wake up and shower
6:30 - back to sleep (don't laugh)
8:00 - get ready, eat breakfast
9:00 - work at Language department
10:00 - chapel
11:00 - work again
12:00 - fast lunch
12:30-2:00 - Sociology
2:30-4:00 - work at library
4:00-5:10 - meeting with Senate's Alpha Dining committee and Sodexho personnel
5:30 - supper
7:00-9:00 - Festival Chorus practice
9:15-9:50 - Poetry Club
10:30-12 a.m. - help decorate dining hall for Homecoming Banquet

Probably the busiest day this week.

Sometimes it feels like everything solid is slipping away. Habakkuk must have felt like that, when God told him that the Chaldeans would invade Judah.

I heard and my inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us.
Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,

Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

???

I really don't understand computers. That is, I don't understand the personality factor.

Forget It

I wrote a nice long blog post. Now it's gone. Serves me right. Never trust a computer.

Maybe tomorrow, when I feel optimistic enough to waste time again.

Long Live the Hobbits

Tolkien's world has come to ours. Or at least, someone's discovered a wormhole.

Today's local Times Union proclaims the discovery of a human dwarf species, supposedly 18,000 years old. Their home is the Indonesian Flores Island, home to giant lizards and miniature elephants.

My personal theory? Someone's accidentally stumbled across one of the few colonies of Hobbits established during the escape from the ruin of Beleriand. No one was aware of them at the time, of course, because Hobbits are small and quiet, especially in woods full of large trees. What I don't understand yet is how they came here. If anyone has an idea, please let me know.

In other news. . .

Wednesday night was "Taste of the World", an annual Grace event sponsored by Mu Kappa and featuring tables of cultural samples from twenty-eight different countries. This is only the third or fourth year, and already it attracts hundreds of students and people from the community. Kathleen and I, both in Intermediate German, helped our Austrian professor with her table, serving Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) on bread and apple juice mixed with mineral water. We took over for our professor and her husband while they went to visit the other tables, and found ourselves scrambling to spread Nutella and fill more little cups, as well as stamp everyone's "passport" with the Austrian seal. When it was our turn, I tried nearly everything -German potato salad, sticky rice, crackers with quince jelly and cheese, authentic Russian torte. Most of the music was coming from the Argentine and Mexican tables, facing each other, where whoever was controlling the speakers seemed intent on outdoing the opposite table in volume.

When my roommate and I got back, we had to race each other up and down the entire hall to calm down.

Thank you for the package, Thainamu! I had just come out of Sociology, where we had not been discussing a pleasant topic. Finding your gift was just the right mix of kind intent and chocolate that I needed then. Yes, I definitely inherited my dad's taste for chocolate and my mom's love for it.

Photos

So I only seem to be posting once a week. What can I say? Life is busy.

I thought y'all might like to see some photos I took over fall break. These are from the day we went up to see Daddy at Mayo (Monday, 17 October).

Daddy, with his IV to the far left, and his heart monitor on upper left -
http://www.imagevenue.com/host/web2/e57b8_P1040306.JPG

Nolan and Trevor busy on Daddy's exercise bike -
http://www.imagevenue.com/host/web2/ad546_P1040309.JPG

By popular demand, Mommy -
http://www.imagevenue.com/host/web2/0c2f4_P1040320.JPG

Trevor thinking (on trip up) -
http://www.imagevenue.com/host/web2/c82fd_P1040302.JPG

And finally (okay, it's not quite straight, and I'm not quite a professional photographer. . . yet),
all the kids, more or less, in our 15-passenger van (on trip up) -
http://www.imagevenue.com/host/web2/52fe2_P1040298.JPG

I'm thinking this is the first time many people have seen Daddy for a while, since he and Mommy haven't been in our last few Christmas pictures. Anyway, this will give you an idea of our family right now. Thank you for all the prayers!

Today is one of those rainy Saturdays perfect for falling asleep over homework reading in a dorm room. Today I was glad to discover that all my midterm grades are in, all As.

Next week is Grace's Missions Conference week. For us, this means extra-long chapels on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and instead of classes Wednesday, two sessions with missionaries as speakers (8 a.m. and 11 a.m.). Wycliffe has one each hour, so that makes my choice easy.

Ardith, please have a very pleasant and relaxing Fall Break this weekend!

Having decided to avoid the sensitive topics of religion, politics, and sports, let me wish you all un bon week-end, una buena fin de semana, ein schönes Wochenende.

Here at last

Yesterday morning I woke up and typed out my German paper/speech. Then, because it was a grayish cold fall day, and I didn't have anything else to do, I went back to sleep till breakfast time. My 9 o'clock class had been cancelled, so I worked at the library till 11, when I went down to Prof. Schram's house for an authentic French meal. She served us de la salade, des baguettes, du boeuf bourgignon avec des pâtes, du fromage, and Holly made us delicious cream puffs so full of cream that it burst out at every bite.

When I got back to my dorm room, I carefully proofread and corrected my German paper. As soon as I had finished, my computer rebooted. Then I discovered that the only colors left for hall t-shirts were orange and yellow. Despite these difficulties, my paper was finished and my weekend stuff packed by 2 p.m. and German class.

We left soon after 3 and reached Tammie's house about 10:45, with a rather long, gray, and uneventful drive in between. Mommy picked me up on her way back from Mayo, and we reached home around 1 a.m. Of course, all the kids were asleep. How fun to come down this morning and see everybody!

Update

I don't know how many people actually read this blog, but I would like to ask for prayer for Daddy and Mommy. Neither of them has been online today, so I began to wonder. Kendra told me on AIM that Mommy took Daddy to the hospital on Friday because his heartbeat was irregular. While staying there overnight, his defibrillator shocked him, so they sent him up to Mayo, where he was shocked again.

I'm sure Mommy will be back within a few days to give more details. Till then, please do pray for them.


The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

James 5:16

Saturday Already

I think time perception should be reduced to an equation where the speed of time passing (y)increases exponentially as a person's age increases (x).

Last night Cheaper By The Dozen was playing in our lobby. Besides making me homesick, it reminded me to try posting links to pictures. The following link should take you to a photo I took of Trevor this summer. If it works, you will highly enjoy it because a) everyone has to love Trevor, and b) I took the picture with the superb Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1PP which Daddy found for me on Ebay.

http://www.imagevenue.com/host/web2/954df_P1030192.JPG

If it doesn't work, you won't know because I will have removed the link.

In other news - Midterms are next week. This doesn't mean much to me, because I only have 2 official midterms next week. I had three tests last week, two the week before, and two more next week. Our exam for Advanced French this Wednesday was the most difficult. I sat and furiously wrote long paragraphs to answer nine essay questions. After the fourth or fifth one, I could feel my brain slowing down perceptibly. After I was done, I felt mentally stretched out for the next four or five hours, and I'm sure the others had a similar experience. So on Friday, our dear kind Professor Schram took us over to the Grille to drink coffee and talk French around the table. We all agreed that we loved our French class!

Now I want to see if my photo links.

Trip to Stratford

Here's what happened this weekend. . .

Thursday night was supposed to be early-to-bed, since I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to leave on the Stratford trip at 4:30. I got back from choir practice at 9 p.m., just in time to see Kerry and Bush give their wrap-up speeches at the debate. After that, despite doing no homework, somehow I didn't get to bed till 11. Then I got up at 11:30, remembering I hadn't filled out an overnight slip. Back to bed. Here followed a pleasant 2 hours or so of sleep, till I was shocked awake by a very noisy alarm - the fire alarm. What do you know, they decided to have the drill that night. We all raced out and shivered in the cold for about 15 minutes. One more hour of sleep, then up, shower, hastily stuff my overnight gear into a backpack, run downstairs and call my friend to make sure she was up. We left from the McClain parking lot a little after 4:30, two 12-passenger vans and a 7-passenger that a student was driving.

Here and there on the trip up I almost dozed off. About 11 o'clock, we finally reached the U.S.-Canadian border. One of the girls is here in the U.S. on a student visa, and she didn't get the email about bringing her passport. Our van, the last one in the caravan, was sent to Canadian customs while the others traveled on. Customs officials (all ladies) tell us we can't enter the country. So, we try to head back across the border, only to be stopped again and sent into U.S. customs. Canadian customs was very modern, glass walls, alarms, etc. Coming into U.S. customs was like coming to Ellis Island as an immigrant about 100 years ago. They did have computers. Also big guys in blue uniforms behind the desk who barked out, "Next! Who's got an orange card?" to a crowd of non-middle-class non-white people. One lady was speaking another language. Dan (who speaks Spanish) and I (who attempt to speak French) figured out that it was Italian. We all felt very out of place.

After that, finally making cellphone contact with Professor Sauders' van, we dropped our poor passport-less friend Charity off at the house of one of the students' parents. She felt terrible that we'd already missed the first play, and wanted to make sure we made the second that evening. We felt terrible to leave her behind. Nevertheless, we persevered, reaching Stratford in time to check into the hotel and eat supper at a restaurant which was unfortunately behind, causing us to just miss the beginning of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Thus we had to watch the first two scenes on the lobby TV before we were conducted up dark stairs and hallways to our balcony seats.

The play was superb. The music and lighting together were just overpowering enough to tip me into the story. Not to mention superb acting, with just a touch of modernism that made us crack up laughing. I personally find Shakespeare anything but dry on the page, yet it's amazing how it comes to life through acting. You'd almost think Shakespeare wrote plays. Towards the end, Nick Bottom was performing before Theseus and Hippolyta, and pretending to die, with repeated shouts or groans of "Die!" and appropriate jerks and collapses, while I nearly died laughing in the top row of seats. I could see Jason, Derek, even Ethan doing it. Oh, and the Wall. The Wall was very good too.

To make a very long story short, we went out for dessert, went to bed, got up and toured the Shakespeare costume warehouse, went sightseeing and shopping (including an all-important visit to the chocolate shop), and set out on the return journey, nearly drugging ourselves with sugar when we used up our Canadian change at a gas station to buy candy bars and donuts. Crossing back into the U.S., we all held our breaths and could hardly believe no one stopped us. Except we did have to declare the bamboo - "No, it's not in dirt" - why did that guy buy bamboo anyway. We picked up Charity, who treated us to personality analyses on the way back, before it got dark and someone played the Veggie Tales DVD he had bought on a laptop (I think it was the same one who bought the bamboo). Arrived back a little after 9, good time considering all the delays.

Needless to say, we all became friends after spending hours and hours together. It was an unexpectedly wonderful weekend.

Answers

Apologies for not posting these sooner. I was extremely busy yesterday and today.

--Coercive potential -- Capacity of bombs/shells to kill/injure enemy

--Area denial weapons -- Cluster bombs that kill/destroy everything within area

--Incontinent ordnance -- Bombs/shells that miss targets and kill civilians

--Suppressing assets -- Reducing enemy's fighting ability by killing people and destroying equipment

--Ballistically induced aperture -- Bullet hole

--Scenario-dependent postcrisis environment - Whether we win or lose

Ardith did fairly well, especially on the last two. Which I think are the funny ones. Mommy wasn't as accurate, but then she was trying to apply military tactics to the homefront battle zone.

As to your prize, Ardith, it's too bad I didn't see your answers before I went to Stratford and visited all the intriguing little shops. But, since you're my sister and I love you, I'll give you something. Sometime.

Pop Quiz

Here's some military lingo from the 1991 Persian Gulf War that you can decipher over the weekend.

--Coercive potential

--Area denial weapons

--Incontinent ordnance

--Suppressing assets

--Ballistically induced aperture

--Scenario-dependent postcrisis environment


As presumptuous as these phrases sound, their translations will probably be three or four times as long. Unless you've done many writing condensation exercises.

I'll give you the answers some time after I get back.