"She laughed nervously as she spoke, and watched him with her vague forget-me-not eyes.  She was a curious woman, whose dresses always looked as if they had been designed in a whirlwind and put on in a tempest.  She was usually in love with somebody, and, as her passion was never returned, she had kept all her illusions.  She tried to look picturesque, but only exceeded in being untidy.  Her name was Victoria, and she had a perfect mania for going to church."

-Oscar Wilde,  The Picture of Dorian Gray

I keep reading that paragraph over and over when I open this book.  It is one of the only things reminding me of why I chose this major in the first place.  Language is beautiful, in contrast with 1984, where they try to cut it out day by day.  God is so good to give us these little things to enjoy.  Words, sentences, novels.

What a whirlwind of a few weeks.  Upped hours at work:  flour in my hair and on my glasses, powdered sugar all over my jeans.  Longest school days: messy Crossfit hair and always searching for a microwave for protein on protein. Sometimes these days overlap and I don't know what to make of them.  Rolling orange rolls to rolling out my aching muscles on a foam roller to discussing virtuality.

Leaves are everywhere.  Our backyard has spent the last week or two turning yellow.  I woke up from one nap or another and all of the trees were golden; the whole neighborhood is shades of orange, red, and yellow, with some blandly tan houses in between.  Fall is incredibly beautiful and makes me nostalgic for days in Sherwood, days in Portland, the state of Oregon in general.  55 MPH on the interstates and trees lining everything.  I miss all of my family in that general Northwest area.  I wish I could spend another month traveling around and head up there, but I need to be responsible now probably.

Five more weeks of undergrad life.  I will be nostalgic for this next fall, but right now I am looking forward to the break.  I am going to read some latin american novels, but the freedom of getting to choose my own books might be a little scary.  I need the lists to keep me productive.  I need them to remind me that I do enjoy Charlie Chaplin films, and to tell me what books to be spending time on.