(xaris and shalom)

I routinely hit the point where I am starving for stories, and it seems that every free moment I have, I read.  And read.  And read.  Interestingly enough, this often comes right at the end of the semester.  When I'm trying to do finals. Yeah. I can and will read just about anything when my options are limited.  This includes cereal boxes and shampoo bottles.  I took a while to learn to read, but once I did, it must have really clicked. Anyway, my genre of choice is a toss-up between sci-fi and fantasy.  I remember right when I realized that I had fallen into something deep enough to keep exploring for a long, long time; it was when I was reading Lloyd Alexander's The High King (which was the first of the Prydain Chronicles that I read.) Last week I went with Karen and Becca to a huge outdoor flea market and we found the books, and Becca and I found that we have similar tastes in books.  I still have a few of the ones that I bought left. So here's what's been on my rea

...Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place And what is actual is actual only for one time And only for one place I rejoice that things are as they are... [from Ash-Wednesday , by T. S. Eliot] So here is an update on this time in my life. I graduated.   It was a good last semester, filled with time with C1 and other friends, and we wished it could have been longer, but it couldn't.  So now we are learning how to live in "the real world" (what is college?   The Truman Show ?) and figuring out what you do with friendships of that caliber when you all move apart.  It feels kind of good to be done, I guess, but mostly I'm sad to know that it is done.  I have a BA in Biblical Languages, and a BA in Cross-Cultural Studies, and a minor in philosophy.  I like it.  I am  glad to be done with that. My family moved. That was sort of in process throughout a lot of the spring semester and I suppose it is still sort of in process, as the other hous

It is the loveliest dorm on campus, in my mind, and I was tired of studying poli sci, so I went there to see a friend and take a break.  She was on duty for the weekend so I figured that she'd be there.  Being friends with RAs can be like being friends with someone who's under house arrest; it is a real nuisance if you want to go somewhere with them, but it does tend to make them easier to find. Anyway.  Fiona was there, but she was just about to go off to dinner, so I sat down on her floor and chatted with her until she was ready to leave and then I stood up, intending to head back to the library.  Her roommate, Dana, was still in the room and we kept half talking with each other -- the awkward kind of conversation that happens when one person is half trying to leave but not really in any hurry. I ended up pulling out a chair and we sat and talked for a good while.  And it was good, and so unexpected.  We've vaguely known each other since sometime my junior year, and she h