A Poem

I've been trying to revise a poem I wrote last year as a response poem/allusion poem to Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach". I became mildly obsessed with "Dover Beach" during my Victorian literature class last spring because his imagery is so beautiful and his poem captured a feeling of both beauty and hopelessness that I found intriguing and haunting. I also really enjoy the response poem titled "The Dover Bitch" by Anthony Hecht, which is less haunting and more hilarious, but evocative all the same.

Here's my poem; all constructive criticism is welcome!

Ineffable Waltz

So here we dance upon your darkling plain,

Although I know the steps but dim

I follow yours into an endless round

Of one and two and three and one.

Your hand has seized on mine;

However far I try to spin away

I hear the crashing roar of Dover’s wave;

It beats the time as of a pounding heart,

Those ineluctable waves, those awful, beautiful

Swells that rush upon us as we grasp each other;

We become you and I, like we always knew we were.

And yes, I realize it is a little melodramatic.

Conversations About Snow

Okay, so here's an example of why you should never attempt to talk to a guy you are quasi-interested in while under extreme stress of finals week and going on under 5 hours of sleep.

TM: I hate the snow. I wish it had waited to snow until I left.
Me: Well, at least they did a pretty good job of clearing the sidewalks.
TM: No, no they didn't.
Me: Oh. Well, the snow is really pretty.
TM: Whether or not the snow is pretty doesn't really concern me.

And it was at about that point in the conversation that I slipped on the icy sidewalk.

It's Always 5:00 Somewhere

So, I finished all my finals on Wednesday and then had 20 hours to pick out an outfit to wear on my date with K. Julia and I decided it should be nice-casual, but warm (because it was under 20 degrees), so I ended up wearing a nice brown sweater dress with jeans, a green scarf, and my new winter coat.

I woke up Thursday morning feeling ridiculously nervous, and spent all of breakfast worrying to my friends about my date, because I'm such an awkward and bizarre person that of course I was going to screw something up.
"I think you need to chill out" Mikayla told me, "I have some rum and some cider in my room, if that would help." And that's how I ended up drinking at 10:00 in the morning, less than an hour after I woke up. But hey, it's always 5:00 somewhere, right?

The date itself went really well, much better than I expected. I was a little worried about getting there and having an awkward "who pays for this" moment, especially since I was the one who invited him. I solved this problem by showing up 5 minutes early to the cafe (he suggested the more upscale place near campus) and buying my own coffee. I was also having horrible visions of us just sitting in silence, staring awkwardly and unattractively at each other as we raced through possibly conversation topics in our mind. This did not happen; we talked easily for an hour or so, although we tended to switch topics rapidly and without finishing them. Normally, I dislike making small talk, but I had a really good time talking to K. After an hour, we headed back to campus in the snow. When we parted, he told me that we should do this again after the break, to which I enthusiastically agreed.

All in all, I would call it a Successful Date, especially since there's going to be a second date!

5 Reasons

Here are 5 Reasons Why I Should Forget About TM:

5. He's already proven that he doesn't know how to handle a hookup gracefully.
4. It's only the end of his first semester, and he's already known as the biggest player in his class.
3. Everything he does is calculated to attract women to him, but he doesn't take into account that women are attracted to sincerity.
2. The only reason he's interested in me again is because I've found someone else.

AND FINALLY

1. Wearing a cowboy hat in the snow is just silly.

This Is My Winter Song To You

I've fallen in love with the song "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. It's a very simple song, harmonically speaking, but their voices work brilliantly together, and the simplicity of it works well in juxtaposition with all the overdone, oversung pieces being performed these days. "Winter Song" is very haunting, but uplifting at the same time. If that makes any sense.

Another winter song I've really enjoyed lately is Colbie Caillat's "Mistletoe". This one is also a nice, simple song, but a little bouncier than "Winter Song". It's very similar to her other work, but that's partly why I like it.

The Weirdest Day Ever

Okay, for this post, my blog is briefly going to turn into a dating blog, like the one I read on cosmopolitan.com.

My love life has picked up dramatically in the past week; a few days ago I asked a boy out to coffee. I met him at a party in Julia's room about a year ago, but nothing ever happened because I was still in love with George. Anyways, I've been seeing him around campus all the time, so I decided to ask him out. He said yes, and then asked for my number, saying he probably wouldn't have time to call me until the end of next week, or even early next semester. Instead of a week later, he called today, two days later! Julia and I think that he followed the 2 day rule that guys seem to think is appropriate. I was so surprised that he called that I nearly dropped the phone. I hope coffee goes well, but I'm reminding myself that it's just a casual getting-to-know-you thing right now, so the stakes aren't that high. Unless, of course, I decide to seduce him in my black negligee, which is always a possibility.

In other news, just when I thought he'd finally gone away completely, TM reappeared on the radar. He joined a conversation that Stasi and I were having and walked with us over to my dorm. As we were walking, he turns to me and asks "How are things going?", to which I replied "Busy." He got a confused look on his face and then clarified: "I meant your love life." Well, alright then. It was very satisfying to tell him that I have a date next week. Later, Stasi told me that he walked over to the library with her and told her that he had handled things poorly with me. Really, TM? You think so?

Penultimate Week

So, this is the penultimate week of the semester, and I thought I'd give everyone (meaning Juliana, Caroline, and Ellie) an update of how this week and the next week looks.

Thursday, December 11: 2-3 page Psych paper due, Psych quiz
Monday, December 15: Two 350 word Mythology essays, One 800-1000 word Mythology essay, Four 2-3 page Renaissance Lit Essays due
Wednesday, December 17: 6-8 page French Literature essay due

So, I have between 21 and 29 pages of writing due within the next 6 days. Pray for me.

Victory, My Heart!

Okay, so I really should be working on my paper that's due Friday, but I feel like this is more important. I was over in the music building, oh, half an hour ago, and I sang the last run in "Vittoria, Mio Cor" nearly perfectly. This is a big deal, because this run has been my nemesis all semester and I HAVE CONQUERED IT! Luckily, I was recording myself, so here it is for everyone to hear! The beginning starts of rocky because the tempo was a little too slow, but I promise it improves. In the song, there's one run that is repeated 3 times, and it's the third time that I nail it. Listen carefully.

Okay, paper time!

The Break for Giving of Thanks

So, Thanksgiving Break is officially over, and I'm back to writing papers (NOT procrastinating on this one!). An overview of my break:

I drove home Friday with Stasi, Joanne, and two other girls that I don't really know. It was a nice drive, except for when we got lost in Yakima. I mean seriously, Yakima. But we did get home, and Stasi spend Friday night at my house, and then I dropped her off at the airport the next day as I drove up to the farmhouse. There was much fun with the twins and Caitlin, and we all had Thanksgiving at Aliina and Tobi's grandma's house on Sunday night. I spend much of the night singing with Kip. On Wednesday night, Leslie and her family came over for dinner, including her new boyfriend. I wasn't sure how much I liked her boyfriend, but her daughters were cute. Serena (the 13 year old) was also a Twilight fan, and we discussed the movie together. The rest of my time was spent shopping, doing homework, or working at the zoo, although the zoo closed down on Saturday because it lost power. That meant I had time to drive up to the farmhouse and meet Aliina's boy, Josh. We watched videos of fainting goats and pronking springboks, and had a hilarious time.

I did have an awkward incident over break, as usual. I went shopping at Southcenter mall, and made the mistake of smiling at a young man working at one of the vendor booths in the middle of the mall. He was selling a fingernail buffer kit and insisted on buffing two of my nails and rubbing lotion on my hands. He then offered to let me use his employee discount to buy the product and refused to let me leave. When I told him firmly that I had to think before making any purchases, he insisted on giving me a slip of paper with his name on it. It was pretty awkward.