What can I say... I'm a senior, and life is crazy! It's been full of fun, beauty, joy, love... full of everything wonderful! (except keeping up on this blog)
One of the many activities I'm participating in this year is a Shakespeare class. We've been reading and discussing various plays (putting on short scenes at each class) and are now launching into preparations and practices for a production of Twelfth Night. And one of the assignments for this week's class was to write a sonnet. It was my first attempt at writing one, for that matter my first attempt in writing in meter at all, and I very much enjoyed it.

I cannot seem to write a good sonnet
No rhymes, no subjects to my thoughts do spring
From my mind inspiration has been let
And any creativity ta'en wing.
Though potential subjects before me lie
As numerous as sands upon the shore
Nothing concrete from thoughts can I pry
Though I upon my fogginess make war.
Mayhap my poem had waxed quite eloquent
Describing laughter, lovely friends or snow
If I had but a smudge of his talent
Oh then such sonnets from my pen would flow.
Yet none of Shakespeare's blood is in my veins
And in this poem tis foolishness that reigns.

7 Quick Takes

A very brief, haphazard, insufficient and exclamatory summary of the past few months in no particular order:

1. Midnight Dancers For the past couple of months, a bunch of my friends and I have been working on a production of Regina Doman's The Midnight Dancers, and at the recent Homeschool Conference, we performed it. It was a fantastic experience! Our cast was such a fun group of people and we were incredibly blessed to have Regina Doman write the script for us AND attend our performance!

2. Homeschool Conference Celebrate the Faith 2009! Beginning with a writing intensive class with Andrew Pudewa, through the performance of Midnight Dancers, great talks, singing in the rain, meeting Regina Doman and her husband, listening to live guitar and violin at our table, having an all-around great time with everyone and finishing up with an absolutely lovely dinner party, this conference was a FANTASTIC weekend!!!

3. WCC I know I already posted on this, but it certainly deserves a place in the summary of recent events. Thanks again to all the students and faculty of Wyoming Catholic College for a wonderful visit!


4. WCYR At the end of March, my mom took a bunch of my friends and I to the Wisconsin Catholic Youth Rally... it was INCREDIBLE! Spending a day with hundreds of other Catholics, mostly teens, (including many of my closest friends) singing (and occasionaly dancing to) Praise and Worship music, listening to great talks having Mass (with Archbishop Dolan) and Adoration, is a truly inspiring, beautiful, fun, friendship-deepening and Glorious experience!

5. Lit. Discussion Group This actually has been something going on throughout the schoolyear, a monthly two hour discussion on various classic books (such as Joan of Arc, Brideshead Revisited and The Song of Bernadette). These discussions are always not only fun and spirited but thought-provoking and extremely helpful in understanding the book. They are lead by Dr. Gotcher , our most recent discussion was on Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset.

6. Latin Mass Last night our Latin Club attended a Latin Mass at St. Stanislaus. It was absolutely lovely. I LOVE chant and polyphony!

7. SPRING! It's May, everything's in blossoms, the grass is unbelievably green, the weather has been, in general, somewhere in the range of 60s-80s... it's PERFECT!!!!!!!!

Now heading into Gradutions, parties, a Baptism and the end of the year dance! It may be a while till my next post :)

This is too Funny!

Check these out! A great collection, all made by a friend of mine... do have a look!

WYOMING!

A few quick notes

I am at Wyoming Catholic College and it is SO COOL!!!!!! I and a couple friends have been learning snatches of Euclid, Theology, Thucydites, conversational Latin (it's so cool to listen to oral Latin, spoken at normal speed of speech, and UNDERSTAND IT!), Compline, history of Cardinal Neuman and plant classification. We've also been having a WONDERFUL time with the students and faculty, everyone is so friendly and welcoming!
We have probably at least a foot of snow, which sadly, cancelled star gazing tonight, but is coming in useful in the way of snowball fights (:
There are a lot of visitors here right now, including a cousin of my cousin, who I had no idea was going to be here, it's kind of cool!

My companions have made a general exodus, and I should probably follow... hopefully I'll have more soon!

The Screwtape Letters

I finished it along time ago, loved it, and have not had time since to sit down and blog on it, until now.

The storyline is fairly simple, and probably pretty well know, a series of letters from an elderly and experienced devil, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, during the period of the latters first attempt at temptation. Lewis uses this rather unusual basis to produce an absolutely brilliant book. Below is one of my favorite quotes:

He (God) is prepared to do a little overriding at the beginning. He will set that off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation. But He never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on it's own legs- to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in such a state of dryness are those which please Him best. We can drag our patients along by continual tempting, because we design them only for the table, and the more their will is interfered with the better. He cannot "tempt" to virtue as we can to vice. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away his hand: and if only the will to walk is really there he is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be decieved Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks roundupon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.

Happy Birthday Dickens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Blog Header

Yesterday, along with two birthdays, a Geography Bee and an expedition to Trader Joes we went to the Zoo. It was absolutely lovely. The cold yet gorgeous walks taken between the warm buildings created just the right mix. We visited: the monkey house, enjoying the whole rambunctious lot of them, but especially the playful Bonobos, the birds, the cows, a few seals and the big cats. My personal favorites, the pair of Lions are responsible for my new blog header. The first thing we saw upon entering the abode of the Big Cats was the Lioness inches away from the seperating glass. After ooing and aahing picture taking for quite some time, we moved on to the next window and found her mate similarly positioned. More of the same naturally ensued. Not long after, we left with cold faces, a ton of pictures and a strong resolve to return very soon.

Found in The Wisdom and Innocence by Joseph Pearce:

"...this splendid stir and thrum was to have a marked effect on Douglas Hyde during a train journey through south London:

Through my mind, in rhythm with the wheels, ran a verse from Chesterton's
Ballad of the White Horse I had re-read not long before:

Therfore I bring these rhymes to you,
Who brought the cross to me,
Since on you flaming without flaw,
I saw the sign that Guthrum saw
When he let break the ships of awe,
And laid peace upon the sea

Could there be so many Catholic Churches? I asked myself, as cross
followed cross. Why had I not seen them before? Through Herne Hill, Tulse Hill,
smug, suburban Streatham, the crosses came and went. And still the wheels
hammered out Chesterton's lines:

Out of the mouth of the Mother of God
Like a little word come I;
For I go gathering Christian men
From sunken paving and ford and fen,
To die in a battle, God knows when,
By God, but I know why.

Hyde was, at this time, a leading member of the Communist Pary and newseditor of its paper, the Daily Worker. Soon after, he resigned from its ranksand became a Catholic."