"Money can change a person's hobby and wives."

I've been grading a lot of essays lately. On the whole it's been alright. Reading college application essays, though somewhat nerve wracking as I feel the immensity of it all, is really fun. I have one student who is a very skilled writer, so skilled that when he gets tangled up, it's in metaphor - which is really hard to unravel! (c: But a delight nonetheless.

Today I also had the unspeakable joy of going to the doctor with Jesse! Since I know I never would have imagined what I would see there, I will assume your imaginations are similarly limited (please take no offense) and come out and say that I have never seen live video feed of a stranger's nasal cavity while sitting in the waiting area at a doctor's office. Indeed, I knew not that nose-cams existed. (I probably could've imagined that far, but let me tell you, the ridges on the inside are difficult to express quite so vividly in words.)

Take care.

Each and All

". . .
As I spoke, beneath my feet
The ground pine curled it's pretty wreath,
Running over the club-moss burrs;
I inhaled the violet's breath;
Around me stood the oaks and firs;
Pine-cones and acorns lay on the ground;
Over me soared the eternal sky,
Full of light and of deity;
Again I saw, again I heard,
The rolling river, the morning bird;
Beauty through my senses stole;
I yielded myself to the perfect whole."

R.W. Emerson

The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.
John Cage
US composer of avant-garde music (1912 - 1992)

Sunday Dinner

Yesterday I went on a long hike. It was so good. I found this recreation area that looked like it would be awesome for picnics, and there was a river (read "stream") running down from the mountains you could wade in. Very nice.

I (praise God) had an epiphany for making rice pudding instead of French toast for my cooking class this week, so I tried out my recipe today, it was incredible (I thought). I'm going to try adding raisins and cinnamon next time I think, but it was very orangey. I like.

Jesse and I also made breakfast for dinner for everyone. Things I learned: Chocolate pancakes are the man, and you want to start before dark if you're cooking outside. (c: Next time. I think we may do it again next week. It'll be byob - bring your own bacon, and we'll have fried potatoes and eggs. I think we'll do meatloaf and potatoes some night too, but Leo's going out of town the next couple of weekends to get things ready for his wedding and I'd feel really bad about making something he'd enjoy so much while he was gone. It was really fun though, and I look forward to doing it again.

Hmm . . . what else? I've taken to binge reading (and book-buying). I bought SEVEN books a couple of weeks ago (not all at once . . . but still). I'm about half-way through them and I'm making excellent progress on Les Misérables, so I've decided not to be that upset with myself for spending so much money.

In two weeks "summer intensives" will end and my schedule will get another overhaul. There are also several teachers leaving this month, including Alex and Steve. I'm not sure if they're being replaced, or if they're just going to give more classes to everyone else. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Sorry this is so episodic, but that's how life feels right now - like it happens in brief spurts between sleeping and doing dishes. (c:

God keep you.