Observations, and a New Book

First observation of the day: It's hard to eat healthy when all you have in your apartment for lunch is a box of frozen chimichangas.  It is even harder to eat healthy when your friend says that her boyfriend and his roommates bought a five-pound roast to cook dinner for a few people, realized that five pounds of beef + vegetables + cornbread is a lot of food even for six men, and need people to come over to help eat it.  So my friends Rachel, Rachel (there's two), Miranda, and I added ourselves to the party, and we all had a lovely and delicious meal.  And we personally came bearing acorn squash and macaroni and cheese, so there was plenty of food to be had by all.  Much merrymaking took place.

Second observation of the day: Being away from Dallas for 5 weeks has apparently been enough to completely disorient me...besides campus, I don't remember how to get anywhere!  I had to follow my friend's vocal directions to dinner tonight, even though I've been to the house several times before.  And, SMU is constructing George W. Bush's namesake library (much to the chagrin of all democrats within a 500 mile radius of University Park), and has blocked off access to my preferred route out of campus, making me fall prey to the Dallas rush hour crunch which is Mockingbird/Hillcrest.  Lame.

Third observation of the day:  I've been too lazy to unpack the Wii Fit.  Wonder if this says something about my current level of fitness.  This will for sure happen tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll have interesting reviews to offer.

Fourth observation of the day:  Dallas is COLD!  It finally feels like winter.  Acknowledging this today, I suddenly wondered how all the lizards and scary turduckens survive the cold (don't tell me a turducken isn't a real bird, they're wandering my apartment grounds.  Perhaps I'll post a picture one day.)  I actually gave this concept a good 5 minutes or so of thought this afternoon.

Fifth observation of the day:  A new hairstyle is a nice confidence builder for a new semester.  One woman who I haven't spoken to since August got all excited about my newly straightened style today, and told me it was "gorgeous."  Though, she has been sitting in the row behind me in my church history class all year, so presumably she had a lot of time to look at my hair, even if we never actually spoke.

Sixth observation of the day:  I feel smarter this semester.  This is a good thing.  I think that I FINALLY have some sort of mental framework built up on which to hang new information.  And I actually recognized words like filioque and azymes, instead of freaking out trying to remember what they mean.

And finally, a goal update:  You faithful blog readers will perhaps recall that among my myriad of goals for the year was the wish to read more for fun.  I must inform you, then, that I have unfortunately put The Screwtape Letters aside for now.  Although this is a fantastic piece of literature, and I would highly recommend it to anyone, it's just too theological at the moment for me.  Since all I deal with in grad school are theological concepts, I feel like I need something completely different for my relaxing time.  It is for this reason that my nightly reading has become The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas.  (Brandi, go ahead and role your eyes).  It's true, I'm obsessed with the unintentionally hilarious and consistently awesome melodrama that is that 1998 Leonardo DiCaprio classic (please refer to the video at the bottom of this post)...but, on a more intelligent level, I am also obsessed with any and all things pertaining to Le Grand Siecle (17th century France) and the court at Versailles and all things Louis XIV.  And, with The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers topping the list of my favorite French literature, Alexandre Dumas and I are good friends.  Besides being a storyteller of the highest caliber, his writing style has a dry humor and satirical element to it which I absolutely love.  For example, the title of chapter two is "How Mouston Became Fatter Without Informing Porthos, and the Troubles Which Consequently Befell that Worthy Gentleman."  I find that to be hilarious.   Also, it's so far removed from theology that it won't add to my stress levels.  Escapist literature is what I need to de-stress...and what better way to do that then by escaping into the daring adventures of D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as they attempt to stage a royal coup?  None.

If you haven't read The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo, I recommend that you hastily acquire them.  If you are not familiar with the sheer awesomeness that is the film version of The Man in the Iron Mask, I refer you to this clip.  (Fun fact, the chateau used for filming is Vaux-le-Vicomte, which I visited while studying in Paris.)  Enjoy!