My New Skill

I did something this evening that I don't think I've ever done before: I typed in my sleep!!! It all started when I was writing a historical fiction paper for Exodus class. I was telling the story of some of the plagues from the perspective of one of Pharaoh's Hebrew slaves, and boy was I struggling! The fact is, I was tired, and the more I wrote, the less I could think. Slowly, subtly, I felt myself drifting into slumber as I typed. I could not resist...

When I woke up a half hour later, this is what my screen said:

"Hark, Pharaoh, thou evil lord of an iniquitous nation!" Lifting his famed rod toward the heavens, Aaron spoke with assurance and power, his voice trembling with emotion."

Just kidding. Here is what my paper really said:

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk....

Et cetera. Nineteen pages of et cetera. And to think I wrote nineteen pages in my SLEEP!!! Who knew I could multitask so well?

What I Love

Singing John Rutter and Felix Mendehlsson in the library with Craig and Gretchen. That's what I did for several blissful hours this Sabbath evening, and I really can't think of anything I would rather have done.

Lest you think that experience insufficient to perfect a Friday evening, before that I spent an enjoyable hour or so listening to Mr. M. read "The Hobbit" and watching little Jamie be adorable. He (Jamie, that is), sat on my lap for a while, and that notched my joy up another level. Even had he not been there to charm with his cuteness, the reading itself was so good. I am sometimes amazed by how much I have forgotten of "The Hobbit" - a book I have read multiple times. The story is practically new to me now, and Mr. M. is a wonderful reader.

Also, we had chocolate cake for Sabbath treat.

All this is to say that my Sabbath has been nearly perfect so far. I feel incredibly peaceful and relaxed, and I hope this Sabbath brings you a similar experience.

Shabbat Shalom!

A New Avenue in Bloggerville

So, here is my very first blog post from my new cell phone. I can only write 1000 characters of text, so such posts won't be long; but I can send pictures, and everyone knows that a picture is worth 1000 WORDS!!!

I know this picture may be a bit painful for some, but I'm posting it anyway because I really like it. And I like Craig. He's great. He's so great that he gets to have his picture on my blog.

Well, I thought by this time I would pretty much have used up my words for the post, but no! There are still more than 400 characters available! Perhaps if I want to hone my phone-typing skills, I will actually start posting from my dear little dorm room in the middle of the night, but no promises. Blogging promises are excessively dangerous. I do now have that option, and the picture posting option, though, and perhaps - just perhaps - I will take advantage of it.

My Last Post of 2007

I'm not exactly sure what this post will be about, but as the clock ticks toward the end of my Christmas break, and the end of my continuous access to Verizon FIOS, I feel that any failure to post would be a waste of opportunity. Furthermore, I've finally gotten back into reading David Copperfield after a woefully long period of reading nothing at all, and there's something about Dickens that inspires me to put my fingers to the keyboard and write away, [Merrill].

Maybe I should just talk about Dickens. Basically, I love him. He has such an amazing way with words! His characters are so colorful and enjoyable, and he conveys David's thoughts in such a clear and insightful, yet amusing, way. There's a tremendous thrill of satisfaction that comes from reading about Aunt Betsey Trotwood telling Uriah Heep to act like an eel if that's what he is, but otherwise to control his body. (At least, I personally was tremendously satisfied by that line, for it expressed precisely what I would have wished to say to that loathsome creature, had I the privilege of being one of the novel's characters.)

Even the most minor characters in the book have such depth. Mrs. Crupps, for example, is only David's landlady; yet her manipulative hypochondria, her careless attitude towards her duties to her tenant, her repeated use of the phrase, "I'm a mother, myself," her infantile habit of placing pitchers on the stairs in a vain plot to break Peggotty's legs, and myriads of other little, almost unnoticeable traits and idiosyncrasies make her into more than just some uninteresting foil. She, along with all the other personalities in the book (and they are many), is so alive that the story becomes alive itself. I have no trouble seeing why David Copperfield is one of the world's greatest classics.

In other news, we broke the December snow record. (I'm not sure why I say "we," since neither I nor any other human had anything to do with it, but I cannot think of an alternative that will leave the sentence in active tense.) I don't know any specific numbers for the amount of precipitation in my town, but Concord exceeded 1876's 43-inch record just this morning. Last year, we had 1.8 inches, according to the website I consulted, but I don't even remember getting that much. It would appear that all the snow last December deserved was donated to this year's December on top of a normal amount as a kind of consolation prize for the month that really ought to be white.

I can hardly believe that 2008 is now less than thirty minutes away. It will be interesting to see how long it takes me to get used to the new number. I don't think it should be hard: I hate writing 7's, and "2008" has fewer syllables than "2007" anyway. Pitiful though it may seem, I think I'm going to head to bed now, just minutes before the calender changes. I am quite tired, and there will be plenty of 2008 to enjoy come tomorrow (and the following 365 days).

EDIT: I got distracted and stayed up after all. It's now 2007 2008!!!

Happy New Year, everyone!