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A cup of tea, several stacks of books, my agenda (a.k.a. my lifeline), some music, my computer, a pen with blue ink, a mechanical pencil, sheets of note paper, a sweater (or blanket) (or both). . .

I'm doing schoolwork.

can you use it in a sentence?

YouTube video of the weekend.

cast your eyes on the ocean

The ever calming sound of waves crashing on the shoreline is a sound I could listen to on a daily basis. Perhaps it's a sound I should listen to on a daily basis.

This week provided a sampling of grad school with my first batch of assignments to mark and the early stages of research for a grad-level sized paper.

a kind of heart ache

I really miss it. I see pictures of students who are in England now, and my heart aches. I long to be there again. Perhaps my real regret is not being able to share it with someone really close to me for the whole time. Don't get me wrong - it was wonderful to have mom there for a week - but for those other weeks...

I see people who are constantly travelling with others, whereas my journeys and explorations were often solo. Discovery the beauty of creation on my own, with no one to share the joy.

But I'm home now and have others to share other travels with. This is where I am. This is where I learn to be content. This is where I count the many other blessings which have been showered upon my life.

And perhaps some day I will go back.

the swing of things

the title of the video says it all

I have completed the first week of the final semester of undergrad and the future holds a lot of written pages by the end of April. 3 seminar presentations, 1 midterm, 3 quizzes, 1 performance review, 1 4 page paper, 2 8 page papers, and 1 20 page paper. My ambition is to remain positive, to see all of this as a a welcome challenge and as preparation for grad school, especially since I am officially a TA, not just a Departmental Assistant, this semester and will grading alongside my writing and reading.

Reading. I've actually been enjoying the assigned readings so far. Tolkien's Silmarillion, various articles by David Lodge and R.B. Kershner regarding literary theory and criticism, a short story by Ruby Wiebe, who is known as the author of the dreaded novel study in grade 11: Peace Shall Destroy Many, selected contemporary novels such as Haroun and the Sea of Stories and In the Skin of a Lion. And on the side, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, one of John Le Carré's spy stories which I have started now for the third time. Oh what fun it is to ride on the sleigh which is getting closer to the edge of a sheer cliff, the Cliffs of Insanity.

It's great being a student. :)

need space? have books!

I always need more space on my bookshelf for the books which are growing in stacks on the floor in front of the double-shelved bookshelf. Here is the solution I came across today:

i can only imagine

Post no. 1 for the new year - it's only a week late.

No, this is not about to be a review of the past year, as it was rather quite eventful. Although, I do have to mention a few things which have had an impact on my life: England (obviously), the passing away of my oma, ending a long-distance relationship, and beginning my final year as an undergraduate student.

These holidays have been filled with all sorts of delightful things: skating, visiting many, many friends, and generally spending time with family, (although I didn't do any of the baking I said I would…). Grad school applications are almost completely finished, and I am on the brink of a new semester.

The challenging task of this year is to put all concerns in the hands of the One who controls all things, and not getting caught up in the cares of tomorrow. Here's to putting all things to prayer.

falling in love with poetry

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells

Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;

Selves - goes itself; myself it speaks and spells;

Crying What I do is me: for that I came.

I say more: the just man justices;

Keeps grace; that keeps all his goings graces;

Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is -

Christ - for Christ plays in ten thousand places,

Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his

To the Father through the features of men's faces.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

haunting the halls

A lengthy silence.

A filled summer.

A new school year.

A final year, begun with a vengance like the blaze of a summer sunset over the Atlantic ocean.

A year which promises long days and full evenings, but brightly coloured patches in all of the work which sometimes seems to overwhelm.

A year which will result in growth, carefully crafted, though it sometimes takes the evening light to appreciate the delicate lace of a weed.