Me Time

In the last few weeks I have been working on finding a balance in my life between school, other outside activities (Debate mostly), and time for myself to do the things I'm interested in. The piano that now sits at the end of my bed is one of the things that fit into the last category. Another thing is my new "Belle-mode" on campus where I read books while walking between classes (this one perks a surprising amount of interest in people who walk by--especially professors). Both of these have been great ways for me to achieve some balance in my life between all of the necessities in my schedule. But, I have found, yet, another outlet for my energy every Monday and Wednesday at 1 o'clock after institute: pool. There is a billiard table located in the Institute building, and right after my institute class, before I go to Debate at 2:30, the table is vacant. Well, not anymore.

I have officially established a reputation with the receptionist who loans out the supplies. She expects me now. It's wonderful. I have the whole room to myself. It's quiet; perfect for gauging the sound of my break with every new game I start. Even having only done it for three days I am starting to see drastic improvements. My aim is improving, my control is much better, and I put more balls in the side pockets than all the corner pockets combined. I have now made a new goal on my life's "to-do list:" have the ability to hustle a pool table. In the short amount of time I've spent practicing thus far, I have had to rely quite heavily on luck. I will admit that although I try to be patient with the game I play against myself, I often become irritate and just aim for the nearest ball to the cue ball and hit it with as much force as I can. Every time I have done this a ball has gone into a pocket somewhere, several times two balls will go in, and once three balls were put away with this "angry" hit. I need to stop being rewarded for these careless hits or I might never improve. But in the words of my father: "I'd rather be lucky than good any day." Amen. :)

Either way, I'm glad that I have another form of "Me Time."

~

P.S. About the Belle-mode: if you ever want people to pay attention to you, walk around in with your nose in a book. Everyone will immediately want to know what you're reading that is so fascinating that you can't stop to walk from place to place. You will instantly be popular. Your professors will also want to know what you're reading; possibly even to the point of distracting you so that you will become irritated by them stealing the book off your desk while you're not looking to read the back of the book so that they can judge you on your choice of literature outside of their classroom. But that's only a possibility. :)

~

"With a dreamy, far off look, and her nose stuck in a book; what a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle." -Beauty and the Beast

"Writers sometimes seem brightly colored and fascinating, but really those are just nature's way of warning you off. We're like tropical toads. Oh so pretty! Want to touch the toady! Except: poisonous skin that kills with one touch. Beware of writer." -Chuck Wendig

"If I fret over tomorrow, I have little joy today." -Llonio [Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander]

~

Today's Featured Quote:

"Happily ever after? I don't think that's quite what you meant. But one way or another, I rather think I will." -Cimorene [Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede]

The Bells Tolled

There's an old saying from somewhere that says "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it." To a certain extent, I agree with this phrase. You should not be flippant with your wishes. Wishing is not an activity where sarcasm is appreciated or welcomed. Only genuine wishing here, please. I have been, several times, the victim of wishing for something without really thinking about the consequences. When I was around nine, I thought that glasses were cool and I wished I could wear them. A few years later, my rash and unthought-through wish came true. Of course, with that example, it is conceivable that it would have happened anyway, seeing as both my parents wore glasses, and therefore carried that gene that had a good biological chance of being passed to me regardless of whether I wished for it when I was nine years old. But I'm sure that deep in the forgotten recesses of my mind there are other examples of this, and I'm sure that all of you reading this have already thought of examples in your own life. If you haven't, hurry and think of one now and pretend you were being an analytical and active reader. I promise I won't tell anyone.

Sufficed to say that you should not be impulsive when wishing. But, it is actually the contrary side of the above mentioned saying that I want to talk about. (I led off with the opposing argument to give contrast to the point I am trying to make and also so that I can use it as a point of reference for building up my point of view--and to think that I keep asking myself why I coach Debate)

You see, there is this weird, backwards thinking in our society. We will recklessly drop negative comments like, "I wish she would get the plague so that she would stop afflicting me with her over-bubbly, noxious personality." And when the above mentioned "she" gets in a car accident and nearly dies two weeks later we immediately think that we somehow jinxed her life and we suddenly feel guilty for having wished evil upon her in the first place. In juxtaposition, when a bright and glorious fluorescent dream stands in front of us, we hesitate and refuse to reach for it because "it'll never come true anyway." On a smaller scale, we sometimes won't ask a question because we're sure the answer will be no.

Here is further illustration of my point through a story: I was in Scranton, Pennsylvania for some unknown reason and was walking around enjoying myself when I ran into a very old church building. You know the type: the ones that look like a cheap knock-off of Notre Dame with a small 10-bell bell tower and only five stained glass windows in the front. But, I had this deep fascination with the building and went inside, wondering if I could get at tour. The custodian walked me around and showed me the main attractions and at the conclusion of the tour asked if I had any questions. I thought I would take a chance on an odd request. I asked if I could see the bell tower. Five minutes later I was walking up a set of stairs that looked as though they were right out of the end of the first National Treasure movie: nothing but termite damage and rot holding them up. We stopped at a door that lead to the space above the ceiling of the chapel. I stood on a five inch thick bearing wall support beam where if I had fallen to either side the flimsy ceiling underneath would have collapsed and I would have fallen sixty feet to my death or serious impalement. After this we climbed up yet more flights of stairs (these ones burned from a fire years ago) to the small trap door that led to the bell tower. It was amazing. I bet Quasimodo himself was the only person who had a better view then what I had. I got to carve my name in the wood and we got to be in the tower while the bells tolled. It is one of the coolest memories I have; and all because I asked.

I was careful what I wished for, and I got it. I know it's been said over and over again until our ears are sore that we don't ever wish for the things we really want because we're afraid that we won't get them. Well, here's an idea: If we wish for something and it does come true, great, but if we wish for something and it doesn't come true, are we any worse off then we were if we hadn't wished for it? Many people would answer: Yes, because I would have failed. My rebuttal: Who cares? Failure will never be the antagonist in your story, it will only be a conflict. These conflicts can beat against us and tear us down, and no matter how may times we beat it, it still comes back. In the immortal words of Benjamin Franklin: "Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and it will every now and then peep out and show itself." (never mind he was really talking about pride) But, we are the ones who get to chose whether or not the conflict, whether or not failure wins the battle and gets the girl (or guy as the case may be). WE are the ones who get to decide.

Dream realistic, but dream big. Believe me, you can do both. And don't be afraid to just ask; you might be pleasantly surprised.

~

"Never hold back you step for a moment. Never doubt that your courage will grow. Hold your head even higher, and into the fire we go!" -The Scarlet Pimpernel

"If you think you can't, you're right. If you think you can, you're also right." -Unknown

"When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail. If you're going after Moby Dick, take along the tartar sauce." -H. Jackson Brown

~

Today's Featured Quote:

"Expect the best. Prepare for the worse. Capitalize on what comes." -Unknown

En France...

Le francais est etonnate! Well, at least in my opinion. I had a rather interesting delusion the other day. I pictured myself with a young child (my own) and I was speaking to them in French. Their father (faceless at this point) then spoke to them in English. Then it occurred to me how awesome it would be to have bilingual children! It didn't matter that I'm currently learning Spanish and not French. French it was and rightly so. As useful and practical as Spanish is, French has a little more sophistication. I still want to follow through and learn Spanish, but I would then like to learn French. I don't know where I'd have a use for either of these languages, but there is something very appealing about the idea of be trilingual.

But beyond the language, I find France as a country to be quite fascinating. Over the past couple of weeks for absolutely no reason whatsoever* I have fallen in love with France. Some of my favorite movies/plays/books of all time take place (at least in part) in France: The Three Musketeers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo, Beauty and the Beast, Chocolate, etc.

I also have an unexplainable new interest with French history. This might be due to the several books I've read recently that take place in France between 1600-1800. But regardless, I am very intrigued by the country. They aided America during the Revolution not 20 years before their own. I don't know why these things fascinate me so much, but they do. I feel a sudden urge to go to Paris like in Sabrina and do some sort of internship and learn to speak French. ("You speak no French yes?" "No." "No?" "Yes. Could you repeat the question?")

Eventually. :)

Au revoir!

*I lied. There were reasons. :)

Oh! And Happy Binary Day! (101110)

~

"If you keep waiting for tomorrow, you'll find yourself with a whole lot of empty yesterdays."

"The French don't care what they do as long as they pronounce it properly." --My Fair Lady

"Woman was created for our destruction, and from her all our miseries arise." --Alexandre Dumas (The three Musketeers)

~

Today's Featured Quote:

"Fools aren't born. Pretty girls make them in their spare time." --101 Dalmations