So, today I didn't get as far down the reading list as I'd have liked to. Apparently it takes longer to read "serious literature" books than it does to read "silly fiction" books. Who'd've thought? So I may get less of my summer reading list done than I'd really like to. Oh well. I'll keep trying, and there's always next summer!
Anyways, I got about 50 pages into Dante's Divine Comedy today. To give you a little background, Dante was born in Florence in 1265 and was exiled from his city in around 1301 for political reasons. He was married to a woman named Gemma but never wrote any poetry about her; instead, he wrote to/about his "courtly love" Beatrice, with whom he fell in love at first sight at age 18.
In Dante's Divine Comedy, originally named Commedia, there are three sections (side note: Dante was one of the first, and definitely the greatest, Italian poets to write in Italian). The story is about Dante, at age 35, being led through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise by the Roman poet Virgil. The first section, part of which I read today, is Hell. Today Dante went through the first seven circles of hell. I won't summarize it, because I'm not entirely certain I remember all of it, but I will point out some points that confused me.
Although Dante seems to be coming at all of this from a Catholic angle,
1. He is being led by a Roman poet through hell, purgatory, and paradise (rather than by an angel or saint)
2. There are many Greek mythical characters in this story that belong in the Greek underworld, not the Christian hell. Charon, Cerberus, Plutus, etc.
3. In each circle of hell, Dante meets people he knows/knows of. Many of them are cardinals, popes, or other religious figures.
4. He uses a character named Beatrice as the angel who sets up this whole tour through the afterlife thing.
So I'm a teensy bit confused about where he's coming from.
Other than that, it's very interesting. After I got a headache trying to read it in verse, I started just connecting the sentences without any reference to the lines. Here's an example of how it's written:
"The mountains and the hills crumbled to the earth, slowly collapsing to the ground"
would be written
"The mountains and the hills
Crumbled to the earth
Slowly collapsing
to the ground"
And that's with modern grammar and word-placement. I finally figured out how to read it like the former sentence, not the latter.
Also, I was very excited to find the source of the famous line "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," which is written on the gates of hell, according to Dante.
In other news, tonight I am baking chocolate loaf cake, but I substituted 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour for the spelt flour, 3.5 oz. of 85% cocoa plus 1/8 cup semisweet chocolate chips for the bittersweet chocolate, and light brown sugar for the dark Muscovado sugar. Mmmm... can't wait till it gets out of the oven.
<3
Eliza
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Reading List
When I got home from school in April, I realized I still hadn't read all the fantasy books I got at that estate sale last March (Mom and Dad hid them during the school year and *forgot* to get them out when I graduated). Furthermore, I realized that I didn't really want to read them. Since then, I've been reading mostly books that I've read before - the literary version of comfort food. Seriously, many of these are books I read in 7th or 8th grade! Not that I didn't read advanced books at that age, but these ones have been pretty fluffy.
I didn't really feel like finding new fantasy books. Sci-fi just doesn't cast the same spell over me that it used to. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?? I suspect that it's just a phase, but I'm going to take advantage of it while I can. If I don't really feel like reading anything in particular, but I still want to read, it's going to be good stuff, dangit! I can demolish the Honors program requirements for school, catch up on some books I've been meaning to read for a long time, and become more educated overall. Whew. So, without further ado, here is my reading list for the summer. (Note: I will probably not finish all of these... but I'll try!)
1. Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle
2. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
3. Don Quixotes, Cervantes
4. Common Sense, Thomas Paine
5. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon
6. Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
7. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke
8. Paradise Lost, John Milton
9. The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
10. The Federalist Papers, John Adams et. al.
11. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft
12. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
13. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
14. Something by Ralph Waldo Emerson
15. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
16. Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
17. Something by J.S. Mill
18. Dracula, Bram Stoker
19. Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beacher Stowe
20. Walden, Henry David Thoreau
21. Democracy in America, Tocqueville
21. The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
22. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
23. The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
24. Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
25. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
26. All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
27. Something by Virginia Woolf
28. The Poor Christ of Bomba, Mongo Beti* OR Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
29. Art of War, Sun Tzu
30. The Rig Veda, Kalidasa*
31. The Rubaiyat, Omar Khayyam
32. Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen
33. Jesus the Christ, James E. Talmage
34. Divine Comedy, Dante
35. Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population, Valerie Hudson
36. No Greater Love, Mother Teresa
37. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Sheryl WuDunn
38. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World, Carl W. Ernst
39. The Glass Castle: A Memoir, Jeannette Walls
40. Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
41. Camel Club, David Baldacci
42. The Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen King
*The county library does not have these books, so I'll read them if I can get my hands on them...
In addition to those listed above, I'm going to finish the Old and New Testaments, read the New York Times online, and read and take notes on my Intro to IR textbook to prepare for my TA job next semester!
In other news, I've finally decided what language I'm going to study to fulfill Honors requirements and possibly major requirements: Spanish! As Mom says, it's very practical, even if it's not sexy. I also got wholehearted support from Bishop Richardson (a Spanish minor who served a mission in Chile) and his (cute) younger brother Joel (a Spanish major who served a mission in Ecuador).
Here's my inspiration for the day: it's something that Thomas S. Monson said to describe Gordon B. Hinckley: "He does not counsel with fear." I realized today that I need to conform my own life to follow that tidbit of wisdom more closely. I cannot make decisions based upon how much I fear the consequences. I will not choose a major, a life, or what I wear in the morning based upon fear. My career choice will be made based on what I love, and on a healthy dose of logic - not on the fear that I will not be able to find a job in the field I choose. I am going to make decisions based upon what I want and what the Lord wants, not what I am afraid of.
<3 always,
Eliza
P.S. Sorry it's been so long. Updates on the Wyoming trip, my jobs, and Father's day are coming. It's just hard to squeeze long enough consecutive blocks of time to write a blog in, between my jobs, trying to swim daily, and attempting to get a little bit of family time and sleep too!
P.P.S. In case you hadn't already guessed, I'm hoping that having my reading goals down in writing will make me more likely to achieve them. I will keep everyone updated on what I've read from the list.
I didn't really feel like finding new fantasy books. Sci-fi just doesn't cast the same spell over me that it used to. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?? I suspect that it's just a phase, but I'm going to take advantage of it while I can. If I don't really feel like reading anything in particular, but I still want to read, it's going to be good stuff, dangit! I can demolish the Honors program requirements for school, catch up on some books I've been meaning to read for a long time, and become more educated overall. Whew. So, without further ado, here is my reading list for the summer. (Note: I will probably not finish all of these... but I'll try!)
1. Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle
2. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
3. Don Quixotes, Cervantes
4. Common Sense, Thomas Paine
5. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon
6. Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
7. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke
8. Paradise Lost, John Milton
9. The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
10. The Federalist Papers, John Adams et. al.
11. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft
12. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
13. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
14. Something by Ralph Waldo Emerson
15. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
16. Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
17. Something by J.S. Mill
18. Dracula, Bram Stoker
19. Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beacher Stowe
20. Walden, Henry David Thoreau
21. Democracy in America, Tocqueville
21. The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
22. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
23. The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
24. Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
25. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
26. All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
27. Something by Virginia Woolf
28. The Poor Christ of Bomba, Mongo Beti* OR Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
29. Art of War, Sun Tzu
30. The Rig Veda, Kalidasa*
31. The Rubaiyat, Omar Khayyam
32. Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen
33. Jesus the Christ, James E. Talmage
34. Divine Comedy, Dante
35. Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population, Valerie Hudson
36. No Greater Love, Mother Teresa
37. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Sheryl WuDunn
38. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World, Carl W. Ernst
39. The Glass Castle: A Memoir, Jeannette Walls
40. Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
41. Camel Club, David Baldacci
42. The Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen King
*The county library does not have these books, so I'll read them if I can get my hands on them...
In addition to those listed above, I'm going to finish the Old and New Testaments, read the New York Times online, and read and take notes on my Intro to IR textbook to prepare for my TA job next semester!
In other news, I've finally decided what language I'm going to study to fulfill Honors requirements and possibly major requirements: Spanish! As Mom says, it's very practical, even if it's not sexy. I also got wholehearted support from Bishop Richardson (a Spanish minor who served a mission in Chile) and his (cute) younger brother Joel (a Spanish major who served a mission in Ecuador).
Here's my inspiration for the day: it's something that Thomas S. Monson said to describe Gordon B. Hinckley: "He does not counsel with fear." I realized today that I need to conform my own life to follow that tidbit of wisdom more closely. I cannot make decisions based upon how much I fear the consequences. I will not choose a major, a life, or what I wear in the morning based upon fear. My career choice will be made based on what I love, and on a healthy dose of logic - not on the fear that I will not be able to find a job in the field I choose. I am going to make decisions based upon what I want and what the Lord wants, not what I am afraid of.
<3 always,
Eliza
P.S. Sorry it's been so long. Updates on the Wyoming trip, my jobs, and Father's day are coming. It's just hard to squeeze long enough consecutive blocks of time to write a blog in, between my jobs, trying to swim daily, and attempting to get a little bit of family time and sleep too!
P.P.S. In case you hadn't already guessed, I'm hoping that having my reading goals down in writing will make me more likely to achieve them. I will keep everyone updated on what I've read from the list.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The price of being a lifeguard
Yesterday at work, I got a fairly spectacular sunburn on my arms. I admit, it was a farmer's burn. But after the pain and anguish, you'd think that I'd be more careful today. Well, here's my thought process at work today:
9:00 am - Aaahhh!! Little kids everywhere! What do you mean I have to give fifty swim tests and set up two stands?? I haven't even put my purse in my locker yet!
10:00 am - Oh great, the bathrooms aren't opened yet? What am I supposed to do about the kindergartener standing here, his expression slowly turning from panic to secret amusement?
11:00 am - Phew, back on stand with some backup. For a while at least. Now, where's that sunscreen? I have a little bit of a base tan now, so I'll use 30 spf.
12:00 pm - Great, we have four lifeguards maintaining three stands.
1:00 pm - I've been on stand for the better part of two hours straight and participated in approximately 3 bajillion swim tests and one rescue. I should probably lather up the sunscreen again
2:00 pm - The little monsters... um, I mean children, of course... are gone! Now there are more lifeguards than swimmers at the lake...
3:00 pm - Ah, the sun is the perfect counterpart to the cool breeze blowing along the shore of the lake as I sit reading my book and watching the single toddler who is in the water.
4:00 pm - Hmm, I'm starting to get a little bit hot. Maybe I should apply that sunscreen again. Wait... WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT EXPIRED FOUR YEARS AGO??? Oh joy. Maybe it worked and that warm feeling on my shoulders is just sunshine, not burn? Nope, I'm in shadow. GREAT.
4:30 pm - I may as well start raking. Maybe that way the burn will at least even out across my right and left sides. And it will distract me as the burn turns me into a freshly-cooked LOBSTER!
5:00 pm - Time to head home. I guess I'll see how bad the damage is when I get home and look in the mirror.
5:05 pm - Ow, why does my arm hurt in the sun? Am I turning into a vampire? Ooh, this really hurts. Ouch! I don't like this! Is there any way to make the shades keep the sun from my arms? No? This ride home may kill me.
5:20 pm (standing in front of a full-length mirror in my swimsuit) - Holy hotdog batman. I didn't know my skin could turn that shade. And great. Not only is it bright and excruciatingly painful, even photosensitive, it is splotchy from that sunscreen. Kill me now.
11:07 pm - Aaarrrggghhhh!!! I am never going outside again!
It was a fun experience. Hopefully I will just be tan overnight, as happened miraculously last night. We'll see...
<3
Eliza
P.S. Yes, it really is sensitive to the point where sunlight hurts my skin. Also hot water, the heater, air conditioning, cold air, clothing, sheets, and lotion. Who knew?
9:00 am - Aaahhh!! Little kids everywhere! What do you mean I have to give fifty swim tests and set up two stands?? I haven't even put my purse in my locker yet!
10:00 am - Oh great, the bathrooms aren't opened yet? What am I supposed to do about the kindergartener standing here, his expression slowly turning from panic to secret amusement?
11:00 am - Phew, back on stand with some backup. For a while at least. Now, where's that sunscreen? I have a little bit of a base tan now, so I'll use 30 spf.
12:00 pm - Great, we have four lifeguards maintaining three stands.
1:00 pm - I've been on stand for the better part of two hours straight and participated in approximately 3 bajillion swim tests and one rescue. I should probably lather up the sunscreen again
2:00 pm - The little monsters... um, I mean children, of course... are gone! Now there are more lifeguards than swimmers at the lake...
3:00 pm - Ah, the sun is the perfect counterpart to the cool breeze blowing along the shore of the lake as I sit reading my book and watching the single toddler who is in the water.
4:00 pm - Hmm, I'm starting to get a little bit hot. Maybe I should apply that sunscreen again. Wait... WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT EXPIRED FOUR YEARS AGO??? Oh joy. Maybe it worked and that warm feeling on my shoulders is just sunshine, not burn? Nope, I'm in shadow. GREAT.
4:30 pm - I may as well start raking. Maybe that way the burn will at least even out across my right and left sides. And it will distract me as the burn turns me into a freshly-cooked LOBSTER!
5:00 pm - Time to head home. I guess I'll see how bad the damage is when I get home and look in the mirror.
5:05 pm - Ow, why does my arm hurt in the sun? Am I turning into a vampire? Ooh, this really hurts. Ouch! I don't like this! Is there any way to make the shades keep the sun from my arms? No? This ride home may kill me.
5:20 pm (standing in front of a full-length mirror in my swimsuit) - Holy hotdog batman. I didn't know my skin could turn that shade. And great. Not only is it bright and excruciatingly painful, even photosensitive, it is splotchy from that sunscreen. Kill me now.
11:07 pm - Aaarrrggghhhh!!! I am never going outside again!
It was a fun experience. Hopefully I will just be tan overnight, as happened miraculously last night. We'll see...
<3
Eliza
P.S. Yes, it really is sensitive to the point where sunlight hurts my skin. Also hot water, the heater, air conditioning, cold air, clothing, sheets, and lotion. Who knew?
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