Well...

I haven't blogged in a while. I've really been taking a break from all forms of thinking (except reading--though that's mainly escapism at the moment).

I've really not been up to much. I got home and spent some time hanging around the house with my family and with Kalyn's boyfriend BJ. One day, we went to Bend state park. It was nice. The park was gorgeous. We went hiking along a creek that had beautiful little swimming holes and a lot of waterfalls. Later, we went swimming (it was me, Kalyn, BJ, and Theresa on the trip). It was really refreshing taking that day off. Since then, I've pretty much sat around the house doing nothing. I've read a few books (Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is now one of my top three favorite books). I've watched a lot of basketball. It's been great. I keep telling Kalyn that I plan to set a record for laziness this summer. I'm off to a good start.

I did end the semester ok it seems. I really stumbled through that ending. I didn't like how I did on my final. I didn't much like two of my three papers, and I didn't know if my professor would like the one that I did like. It all ended up ok, though. I got three 'A's. I'm not really sure how I managed those grades in all of the classes. In the epidemiology class, in particular, I'm shocked. I didn't do much in there. The professors had mercy this semester.

I guess that's all for now. Now that I've broken my hiatus from blogging, I imagine I'll keep it up fairly steadily for a while.

Good Poem.

In my poetry class this semester, I read some pretty good stuff (though not by Wallace Stevens). Anyway, last week we read a poem by Elizabeth Bishop that struck me for some reason. It's not my favorite poem of the semester (that would be "The Death of the Hired Man" by Frosst), but it's my favorite by Bishop. Here it is.

Filling Station

Oh, but it is dirty!
--this little filling station,
oil-soaked, oil-permeated
to a disturbing, over-all
black translucency.
Be careful with that match!

Father wears a firty,
oil-soaked monkey suit
that cuts him under the arms,
and several quick and saucy
and greasy sons assist him
(it's a family filling station),
all quite thoroughly dirty.

Do they live in the station?
It has a cement porch
behind the pumps, and on it
a set of crushed and grease-
impregnated wickerwork;
on the wicker sofa
a dirty dog, quite comfy.

Some comic books provide
the only not of color--
of certain color. They lie
upon a big dim doily
draping a taboret
(part of the set), beside
a big hirsute begonia.

Why the extraneous plant?
Why the taboret?
Why, oh why, the doily?
(Embroidered in daisy stitch
with marguerites, I think,
and heavy with gray crochet.)

Somebody embroidered the doily.
Somebody waters the plant,
or oils it, maybe. Somebody
arranges the rows of cans
so that they softly say:
ESSO---SO---SO---SO
to high-strung automobiles.
Somebody loves us all.

Nearly Done.

It's been a while since I last posted. That's because life's been crazy. Even crazier that usual I should say. I got to that point in the semester where there were three twenty page papers due within about a week and a half period, and I wasn't very well prepared for two of those papers. I survived it all it looks like. I got the papers turned in at least. One of my professors graded things quickly, and I got my first B ever on a major paper. I wasn't particularly troubled with this though. It was the first time I've ever actually shot for a B on a paper. I'm usually a pretty decent writer, but I need time. Time was one thing I didn't have. I chose the topic for this paper less than a week before it was due, and I read two novels in that week for it. The paper just didn't gel like it should have. I basically overshot. I came up with a nice idea for it, but the idea was too large for the space I had. The draft ended up being a little inconsistent. I knew it wasn't that great when I turned it in, but it was all too late. I think that everything should end up fine in that class though. I have a final in there on Monday (my last thing left), and if I do decently on that, I should be fine and get an A in there. That'd be nice to get an A in there since I'm not overly sure about A's in my other classes. So it goes. I'll survive however it goes though.

Let's see. I also got my portfolio comittee all finalized. Drs. Couch and Daghistany are going to do it. That works well. I had nice conversations with each of them. I'll probably write about the portfolio and those conversations a little more this summer when I have time.

I also notice that I got a nice comment on one of my blogs on John Paul II. That was very nice to see. Yet another (small but telling) example of that man's love helping to create human connection.

Well, that's all for now. I'll do some coherent and interesting blogs later this summer when I'm not grading and when I'm not studying for a final.