Day 24: I like air and the sounds things make.

After sonnet-reading, room-cleaning, and laundry-drying this morning, I sat down to write my very tardy Forum article, and forced myself not to get up until it was written. The Forum is the official publication of the Virginia Junior Classical League (VJCL), the organization which raised me just as Rhea Silvia nurtured Romulus and Remus. I was the Editor of the VJCL last year, which means that I was in charge of the publication of the Forum. This year, Nizar Zahed (Varlet #1) has assumed this glorious position, and has thus been, er, reminding me to submit my article quite frequently over the past few weeks. You will have to wait to read the article itself when the Fall issue of the Forum comes out, but you can see the two issues I prepared last year by clicking the links below.

Fall: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5018004/FORUM%20-%20Fall%20MMX.pdf
Spring: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5018004/FORUM%20-%20Spring%20MMXI.pdf

The article is about Certamen, the classics-based trivia game in which a number of nerds compete at both the state and national levels each year. My piece focuses on advanced Certamen at the national level, and writing it really made me think back on all my summers spent training for this event -- literally some of the best times of my life. All this nostalgia must have caused me to expend a lot of energy, because I was planning to rest for a few minutes at this point, but ended up not arising until 2 hours later.

When I did stumble out of bed, Mama and I headed to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, the closest thing to the Elysian Fields I have ever observed in real life. There, we walked for an hour, covering every inch of trail which goes through the park, and even repeating some loops multiple times, occasionally slowing down to take photos with the flora. After our walk, we met a family from Pittsburgh who needed help getting to Leesburg. We drove to Route 7 with them following us, and then gave them directions from there. They were very appreciative and happy!

To pass a bit of time before Mama had to show a house to a client, we went to DSW, where I had to do my best not to purchase a pair of boots whose style was called "Hamlet." (I need to stop judging lectures and shoes by their names! "That which we call a rose . . . " etc. etc.) After getting a bit lost, we arrived at the house in McLean, and met with Viji Auntie, a close family friend, who is looking for a new house. By coincidence, her old neighborhood happens to be called "The Hamlet" -- how cool!

After we had checked out the house (which I really like), we headed to Panda Express for dinner. I now hope to get some sleep to avoid any random nap attacks tomorrow. Good night!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bygones -- by Marina Keegan

Image
I had a dream the other night that I was checking my email. That dream sucks. And woke to woes of seniors writing love songs for tomorrow and Tomorrow and the melodies That flirt us forward, whispering the next thing and the next thing and  – so we beat on birds flocking south until we circle round and realize maybe maybe all that running wasn’t worth it. Maybe we should build a cabin. Or teach high school. Or use our hands. My palms are smooth as words – Weak with fashion and double spaces. I want everyone else’s club and job and class The grass I sleep in always browner than Than that around erasing dreams To sit and breathe because you Only bank for two years then it's over And twenty two is nothing new It’s just another chance to build For when we’re twenty three And twenty four And time begins to sell for more than Any 9 a.m. to never. We’re not stuck. That's the thing, we're not stuck. We owe no o
Read more

Din 227: “God took his time making you.”

Image
I awoke this morning to the sound of my students -- what could be better? We started today’s class with 15 minutes of Anapana (the first step of Vipassana meditation), which is designed to concentrate the mind. I have never seen meditators more still or focused than these children! After teaching them the technique, I told them we would be starting every class like this from now on. Meditation is a wonderful tool they can take with them wherever they go, and they are lucky to be starting at such a young age! As the class broke into groups and started practicing numbers for our upcoming Variety Show, I caught up with a few students. Vandna, a sophomore and our oldest student, was supposed to pick her academic stream (cf. major) a few weeks ago, but had been waiting for my return to consult me before making her final decision. She is most interested in commerce and dreams of holding a high position at a bank one day, but her family is advising her to take liberal arts, which has le
Read more

PSYCHED for summer!

Image
The last few days have been emotional with packing and moving and no more exams and lots more goodbyes. Wednesday night we threw a fabulous surprise farewell party for a very oblivious Reylon, with many of his closest friends and entrywaymates turning out to shower him with love, song, and pizza. Yesterday came my last exam of the year, a truly tragic event -- I stayed in my Latin classroom until the very last possible moment, twiddling my thumbs and staring at my professor and trying to draw out my freshman year as long as possible. I cried when I turned in my test and left the room. In the evening, the Opportunes had our last private gig of the season at the Faculty Club (throwback to our first gig this year!), where our beautiful seniors performed their last public rendering of "Midnight Train to Georgia" amidst laughs from the audience and tears from Bernie. After a night of packing and snacking and New Girl , I fell asleep hoping to stay in
Read more