A good day

Yesterday was a good day. It was a crazy busy one for Daniel - appointments, two tests, classes, covering shifts at the studio - but he made it through! One of those tests was to test out of having to take a preliminary lecture in the history of audio engineering, and he passed!!! This is particularly exciting not only because it is one less class he has to take, but also he can start taking actual hands-on audio classes next semester. Go Daniel!

Also, I made all my arrangements for the American Philological Association conference in Philadelphia this January! (Yes, I know, I'm a nerd!) I was looking over the schedule just now, and I'm really excited about it. There are several panels on ancient near eastern topics and late antiquity, which have been capturing my interest this semester. And two of my friends from ASU will be there, and it will be great to catch up with them!

So, it's officially paper time, and I'm quite nervous about it. I have a paper due this coming Friday, and I'm having a total block on it. It's for "Ancient Origins of Religious Conflicts", which is primarily a history class, and I've never really written a "history" paper. I write papers on specific texts, which may incorporate other people's interpretations of historical events as they pertain to the texts, but I've never written a paper like that myself. It's hard! Events have a never-ending amount of causes and repercussions, and connections to current events, so which do you choose to include? Alas! :)

My paper for Latin seminar will be much more fun, and more up my alley. I'll be discussing the use of descriptive language in different authors' tellings of the Hylas myth (Herakles' "squire"/pederastic love interest). Most specifically I'll be looking at how non-narrative elements such as descriptions of sights and sounds have a narrative function. My paper topic for Greek seminar is still in the works, but I have an idea and need to ok it with my professor. I want to look at the Greek construction of the Persians as Other and Enemy, and how that specific construction was used later in antiquity for propaganda and polemical works - specifically, how Augustus used it to characterize his battles against Antony, and how Philo used it to characterize Egyptians and not Romans as responsible for the first pogroms and violence against Jews in Alexandria.

Okay, so have I bored everyone yet? Sorry, there's just not much else on my mind right now except school work! That, and looking forward to seeing everyone in Arizona a Christmas time.

Miscellany

I sit here waiting in a dirty house for Daniel to get home . . . There was a time when I was the kind of wife that cleaned while her husband was away at work on Saturdays, delighting in taking care of the home for him. Alas, that wife is gone, and here (to stay probably) is the wife that HATES to clean alone. And what is more, she hates cleaning the bathroom most of all! So I have learned that I clean better and faster when Daniel is there to keep me company, and I'm much more cheery about cleaning the rest of the house if he takes care of the bathroom. I love marriage! :)

I have been reading many posts about the election, in addition to discussing it with friends and other family members. What an interesting jumble of thoughts and feelings! I confess I did not vote this year, for which I feel extreme guilt. But a part of me knows that even if I had, the minute I reached the poll I would have frozen. I chuckled when I read Rachel's comment - the conflict between "European tendencies" and personal convictions! But all I can say is that even if I didn't vote and hadn't a clue who I felt best fitted for the job, I prayed very, very hard for the outcome of Election Day, and I'm confident that the Lord heard those prayers. He is faithful.

Interesting side note - has anyone ever read any A.S. Byatt? I've been reading several books by her lately, and wondered if anyone else had. I am amazed and delighted by how talented she is - her prose is beautiful, and her stories are absolutely flawlessly crafted, in my opinion. But she discusses religion (in very specific Judeo-Christian terms), always from a negative and a positive side in her novels. She never really comes down on one side or the other, it seems. It's as if the agnostic character is praised for intellectual capacity and the Christian is praised for tenacious and genuine faith. One gets an edge on the other, then the other has the upper hand, and you are left wondering what in the world she personally believes! But all this to say, she has some beautiful passages describing a more difficult, tortured faith (which I'm sure most of us have experienced at some point or another), and I have appreciated them.

Oh, and Daniel and I have been enjoying fall very much. It's cold, it's cloudy, the Nashville skyline is a mess of red and yellow trees, all dropping their leaves everywhere! We have yet to jump in a pile of leaves (something I don't think I have ever done), but I'm sure that will happen soon. We enjoyed the morning by going to Cheekwood Botanical gardens, and enjoyed walking the grounds. It's absolutely beautiful, and we discovered an entire section I was totally unaware of. They have a Japanese garden, which is quite lovely, and is Daniel's favorite part, I think. When we left he said, and I quote, "Being in a place like that makes me want to be Sherlock Holmes. Or at least, be in 18th century clothing like Sherlock Holmes, wrapped up in a flannel blanked. Smoking a pipe. Or, just being outside wearing anything smoking a pipe. Yeah, it's just the pipe I want." :) This after spending the previous evening watching Sherlock Holmes episodes. Now, mind you, we have not seen the famous Russian version of Sherlock Holmes which is supposed to be the best rendition ever - but until we see that and pass judgement on it, Jeremy Brett is the best Sherlock Holmes of all times. Although I suppose I might have been a bit too zealous in praising him lately, because Daniel told me he had a dream a few nights ago that I was cheating on him with Mr. Brett. :)

It's about bedtime . . .

I have discovered that going to bed at 10:00 pm when you have to get up at 6:00 am is quite possibly one of the most wonderful things in life. Enough sleep? I've never known such happiness!

Daniel and I have just not had good luck with restaurants out here. We try new restaurants, with varying degrees of success, but always long for our old familiar haunts: Four Peaks, Delux, YC's, etc . . . ::sigh:: We basically have our Christmas trip scheduled around restaurants and the people that correspond to that restaurant!. :) We really are foodies.

Speaking of new restaurants, one the least successful experiences was last night. We decided on a whim to try a new pizza restaurant by school. While the pizza was good, and service was good, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go back there because one piece into the pie I went to grab a second and watched in slow-motion horror as I proceeded to knock over the pizza pan, throwing pizza all over the table and floor! Yeah, it was horrible. But the manager was great - he was over at our table within 30 seconds, and offered to get us a new pizza to replace the mangled one now spattered all over his tile. He was very sweet, and I appreciated that in my moment of utmost embarrassment!

But, in other more exciting news, I just discovered I have a week off for Thanksgiving! (Alas, Daniel only has two days) And what this means is that I will be spending every second of that week working on seminar papers, woo hoo. But seriously, that was wonderful news to me - a cumulative 500 lines of ancient languages to translate and two seminar papers? Heck no.

It's been getting very cold out here, I'll have you all know! :) Like hats and gloves and scarf and coat weather. Absolutely beautiful. I should also post pictures of the change of the season - for all those in Arizona, that's when the leaves on trees change color and fall to the ground, whereupon you rake them up into a huge pile and dive into them! (We have yet to do this, but it's coming soon.) All the trees at Vandy are bright yellow and red, and everywhere are squirrels and chipmunks running around. I recently discovered I love chipmunks, they are stinkin cute. :)

de socero nostro . . .

We received four packages from Amazon.com this week - all of them presents from Daniel's dad, Scott! It was like Christmas! I had fun picking them up from the rental office, because the woman gave me a very stern "Will you have money to pay rent this month?" look and said in her sweetest, most saccharine-sweet voice, "My, you have been doing alot of on-line shopping!" I tried to explain that they were gifts, but she didn't believe me. :)

Daniel received very cool blue tooth headphones, a live Pixies DVD, and I received two Loebs (Marcus Aurelius and Livy - yay!) Thanks, Scott!!!

So, that was the highlight of the week. In other news, it's getting to be about that time when I have to write millions of papers! The first one is for my Ancient Origins of Religious Conflicts class. A wonderful class, by the way, but very difficult. Pray for me!

Also, things for Daniel at the stuio are on an upswing! Let's keep praying! He went down to two days at the studio, as opposed to five, which turns out to be a good thing. We have more time together, and he has better shifts (during the day, so generally more sessions).

We're going to carve a pumpkin today, so I'll post pictures of our attempts later today. Happy Halloween!

It's pouring in Nashville, and I'm sitting in the grad seminar room looking of out its very old, very large windows. I love rainy days,although here it means you will automatically be 20 minutes late to wherever you are going, because everyone drives around 25 mph here with the hint of even a sprinkle of rain. But it made for a lovely time in the car with Daniel on the way to school.

Having Mom here was wonderful. It's nice to familiarize family with your life - now she knows what Vandy looks like, and where we like to eat, and what our apartment looks like so that now when I talk about these things, she knows what I'm talking about. :)

Mom couldn't catch a flight into Nashville, so Daniel and I decided to drive to Chattanooga to pick her up (it's about a two hour drive). The drive was wonderful. It's mostly through forests and over a couple of rivers, not many cities at all. Daniel and I think we'll do it again over Thanksgiving break. There's alot to do during the drive itself. For instance, the Jack Daniels distillery and Tennessee's two or three wineries are along this route. There are also many natural wonder-type stops which would be fun. On the way in we stopped to buy fireworks, which I am very excited about! I've never played with fireworks before . . . I was too scared to get anything big, but it'll still be fun.

The highlights of Mom's trip: 1) dinner at The Gerst House, a restaurant/brewery with "traditional" German food & drink and "traditional" German music. 2) Cheekwood Botanical Gardens (reminiscent of Hunington Library in Pasadena) 3) Cooking Indian food and watching The Office 4)Shoppingin antique stores.

All in all, a wonderful time. I was very proud of Mom, because she even petted our rats (yes, we have pet rats and we love them!). I had a hunch that most of our time together would consist of eating and giggling, which of course it did. :) And it was fun to discover Nashville for a second time - we've been so preoccupied with school that we haven't really been outside of our apartment or campus. There are beautiful parts to Nashville, and after this week I am determined to enjoy them more.

What's your most embarrassing moment? Here's mine . . .

A quick update - I'm sorry for slacking. As usual, school and work and internships have kept us abominably busy. But, I do feel as if I have finally hit my stride in seminars. My hands still shake when I give presentations (like this morning), but at least I have overcome my abject fear of talking and am able to contribute occasionally. I feel for the first time as if I am a contributing member. And I am learning (although it is difficult) to let things go as quickly as possible . . . I think once I'm out of this program, nothing will ever embarrass me again. By way of an example of public humiliation, I will share a story which up to this point I was too mortified about to share. But now I'm ready. :)

So we have our first seminar on floor 2 of the Classics building, and our second seminar on floor 3 of the same building. One day after first seminar I was walking out with my professor discussing some upcoming event. I, in my absent-mindedness and exhaustion-induced stupor, believed myself to be on the 3rd floor instead of the 2nd floor (they look almost exactly alike). So, while walking out I pulled out my key to open the grad student study room (right across from seminar room on floor 3) and attempted to open it . . . but failed. All the while my teacher was looking at me strangely, but I didn't know why. She finally walked away, and I tried again with the key, only to discover at that moment I was in fact attempting to open someone's office!!!

Embarrassing, huh?

:) I'm becoming much more emotionally flexible, shall we say. I just don't have the time to break down about the things I used to. It's probably a very good thing.

It's been a beautiful rainy day today, and Daniel is home tonight - so we will be spending the evening enjoying the weather, eating sour skittles and watching scrubs! A lovely evening, no?

We have just purchased . . .

OUR TICKETS TO COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can't wait to see everyone. And I promise, a proper update will come soon.

Love you all.