First Final

Sounds kinda contradictory, don't it? Yes, this should probably be in the Starving Student blog, but I just don't feel like a starving student yet, honestly. I haven't even done my first grocery trip. Anyhow...

I took my first final yesterday. 'Twas the culmination of my six-day course on Dante's Inferno, and it wasn't half bad. Two hours, and my responses filled two lined sheets of paper front and back. I felt pretty good about it.

In other news, shortly after the final, there was an end-of-Late-Summer-Honors dance...with non-LSH roommates, and basically anyone else who found out about it invited as well. I got there late, but enjoyed myself immensely. And everyone seems to have this wild notion that I know how to dance. Highly amusing, really. My roommates, who were also in attendance, voiced jealous impulses. I told them to make fools of themselves and it would get better, but they didn't take my advice.

I met a guy who's really good at leading, though. He is also under the impression that I know how to dance, so he asked me to do some swing and later on some waltz. Surprisingly enough, we did not look like complete idiots, which is a fine compliment to him. I tend to instinctively rebel against any sort of leading, but he had me doing some simple lift-dip things during the swing and I managed the waltz fairly well on top of that.

Oh, and finding all the cultrual nuances that separate British from American makes me laugh. My British roommate can entertain me for quite some time discussing kitchen rolls.

Thalius

This is my daemon. He spent a lot of time as a tiger, but I'm pretty happy that he settled as a lynx. It says that means that I'm competitive, responsible, modest, solitary, and proud. I think it's interesting that modesty and pride are both on the list.

Divine Genius

Okay, so perhaps divine is pushing it, but it's sorta a play on words...yeah.

Dante Alighieri blows me away. That's really all there is to be said. It is impossible to read too much into him: he meant everything! And just when you think he slipped up, just when you think he made a mistake--haha, joke's on you, simpleton. Nope, instead he was poking fun at someone, or paying homage in some sly, obscure way. And now, some quotes from my class on Inferno. Probably not as funny out of context, but whatever.

Dr. Sowell: "Always use a Latin phrase when an English one would suffice."

Kyle (he's so funny): "Couldn't it just be coincidence?"
Dr. Sowell: "Ah, dear, innocent Kyle. OF COURSE NOT!"

Dr. Sowell: "WOULD YOU EVER MAKE YOURSELF A FIGURA CHRISTI?"
Josh: "No."
Dr. Sowell: "Are you sure?"
Josh: "Yes."
Dr. Sowell: "Never?"
Josh: "No."
Dr. Sowell: "Never ever?"
Josh: "Never ever."
Dr. Sowell: "Never, never, ever?"
Josh: "N--"
Me: "Shut up already! He's going to prove you wrong!"

Dr. Sowell: "For years people thought that Dante had simply made a mistake, and forgotten that Virgil said Beatrice would tell him what the future held. Bah! Those were the same people who said he couldn't find a better rhyme than ome and ume. Idiots."

Book List

I managed to endure one of the ordeals I described last night: I picked my books. They are as follows:

Leather Bounds
Mark Twain: Selected Works
Edgar Allan Poe: Selected Works
The Works of Washington Irving
The Complete, Fully Illustrated Works of Lewis Carroll
Medieval Epics and Sagas (containing things like Beowulf, The Son of My Cid, The Song of Roland, etc.)

Mythology and Folktales
The Once and Future King, T.H. White
Celtic Myths and Legends, Peter Berresford Ellis
Best-Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna Cole

Drama
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostrand

Writing Aids
Robert's Rules of Writing, Robert Masello
The Plot Thickens, Noah Lukeman
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss

Mental Health
Lord of the Rings (combined volume), J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lays of Beleriand, J.R.R. Tolkien
Going Postal, Terry Pratchett (I wanted to put Thief of Time in as well, but no room)
The Dark is Rising / Greenwitch / The Grey King / Silver on the Tree, Susan Cooper (I couldn't fit Over Sea, Under Stone in the box)
The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara

There are so many I had to leave out. I didn't even fit The Divine Comedy in. I might be able to sneak a few more slim volumes into the writing materials box (the binders fill it from top to bottom, but not from side to side).

Moving Out

I'm moving out on the 23rd.

It's only three or four days sooner than I was planning on, but it straddles a weekend. I had plans for that final weekend. Now it looks like this weekend is my final weekend. Yikes!

Preparations are under way, but this is gonna be tough. My bookcase is killing me. My mum mentioned something about packing up all the books I don't take with me. It's sacreligious, I tell you. Books die in boxes! And it's not like I can take them all with me. I have nearly two hundred books in my room (stuffed in various bookcases, crates, and other nooks and crannies), and there's no way I'll have room for all of them in my apartment. I'm limiting myself to only as many books as I can fit in this wooden box I have, but it's not enough. Thus far, I can only fit all my leather bound books, my world folktales book, my Celtic folktales book, the Dark is Rising sequence, the Lord of the Rings, The Killer Angels, a couple Terry Pratchetts, Watership Down, and a couple other odds and ends. I still have a little room left, but not much. What do I leave behind?

Same with my notebooks. I have nearly an entire shelf of old notebooks, some of which are full and some of which are hardly used. There's no way I can take them all, but how can I part with these pieces of my soul? I don't keep a journal, but I have my notebooks. They're like a comfort object, more so even than my knives.

Which brings me to another point: large knives are prohibited in my housing area. Do you realize how much that hurts me? My machete, my bowie, my kukri, and probably the biggest two of my throwing knives all fit that description, and probably a good number of my flip knives as well. I guess my sword, sissy though it is, also falls under the list of prohibited items. All I'm left with are my mini flip knives. My one consolation is my wooden katana. There are no rules prohibiting big sticks carved in the likeness of bladed weapons.

I'm having a hard time with this.

Accidental Rejection

Today, there was a little exchange at work between me and a guy we'll call Char. I was getting off my opening lifeguarding shift and rushing off to teach swim lessons at the other facility.

Char: Are you done after swim lessons?

Me: Huh? [I am so intelligent.]

Char: Are you double shifted, or are you done working after swim lessons?

Me, to myself: Oh no, Char, I'm not taking some afternoon shift. I'm not gonna double-shift myself voluntarily. Sorry, I can't, I have a water polo game.

Char: Do you want to come sailing with me?

Me (on automatic): Sorry, I can't, I have a water polo game.

Me (to myself): Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! The game isn't important, you'll probably forfeit anyway, and it's sailing. Not boating, sailing. Whenever Char talks about it, it sounds like tons of fun. Idiot!

Me (out loud): It sounds like sweet awesome fun though! *sees the clock* Crap! I have to hurry over to the outdoor pool.

Oh, and what a surprise, my team forfeited. My only consolation is that the weather probably made sailing a no-go anyway. Lame-sauce. Stupid autopilot.