As some of you already know, religious studies minors have to do a research project to finish off the minor. I have a few possibilities right now that would cross over nicely with the French major and have nothing to do with existentialism (or at least very little to do with it). Please advise!
1. Social and Political Impacts of the Secularization of French Public Schools ("laïceté")
2. Loss of Faith in France: the declining church attendance rate and its causes
On the non-spiritual front, I put up my curtains and I'm a pirate today. Happy Halloween! I also spent a small amount of time reading Dumas with a glass of white wine in the university café, which made me feel very very 7th Sea. I need 7th Sea!!! I'm coming back with the best Montaigne campaign to ever leave Montaigne alive!
To do:
Find plan of the Citadel (we have a 17th century citadel!)
Read Montaigne book
Read the rest of The Three Musketeers
Live
2 weeks till Paris!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Things Katie Says
out of context, cuz it's better that way
"Just like you were wearing a sheep!" (illustration to follow)
Bess: I don't want to go to Sam's class.
Katie: I'd kind of rather stab him instead.
"Like if you had a kitten in your pocket!"
"Because we've decided, 'Screw the children! Let's live for today!'"
"But then I'd have intelligent life in my room with me, and that would be awkward."
out of context, cuz it's better that way
"Just like you were wearing a sheep!" (illustration to follow)
Bess: I don't want to go to Sam's class.
Katie: I'd kind of rather stab him instead.
"Like if you had a kitten in your pocket!"
"Because we've decided, 'Screw the children! Let's live for today!'"
"But then I'd have intelligent life in my room with me, and that would be awkward."
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Current mood: lonely
Dang... doing nothing is boring when you don't have a suite to do nothing with...
Life goes on as it always does. Next week I have very few classes thanks to absent teachers and All Saints Day, so I plan on doing... nothing...
I need a hobby. Fast. A hobby that involves going around and being active without involving lots of alcohol or expenditures.
Lately, my hobby has been negative existential thinking, and that's not getting me anywhere but depressed. Who am I? What is my purpose? And other angsty questions.
Maybe I just need a pug.
Photos of the room:
It'll be prettier when I put up the curtains I made :) Please send me letters! Or emails! Preferably with silly photos!
And for Damien, who's never seen her, here's my alter-ego who's been showing her face quite often lately: SUPER CHRISTIAN!!!
Hugs and pugs,
~Bess, the master existentialist
Dang... doing nothing is boring when you don't have a suite to do nothing with...
Life goes on as it always does. Next week I have very few classes thanks to absent teachers and All Saints Day, so I plan on doing... nothing...
I need a hobby. Fast. A hobby that involves going around and being active without involving lots of alcohol or expenditures.
Lately, my hobby has been negative existential thinking, and that's not getting me anywhere but depressed. Who am I? What is my purpose? And other angsty questions.
Maybe I just need a pug.
Photos of the room:
It'll be prettier when I put up the curtains I made :) Please send me letters! Or emails! Preferably with silly photos!
And for Damien, who's never seen her, here's my alter-ego who's been showing her face quite often lately: SUPER CHRISTIAN!!!
Hugs and pugs,
~Bess, the master existentialist
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Current Mood: pug?
FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE, SEND ME MAIL!!!!
I need contact with the outside world... if there hasn't been another rate hike, it's only 85 cents to tell me you love me by letter ^.^
The address is as follows:
Bess Karner
c/o Knox College
10 Rue de Fontaine Argent
25000 Besançon
FRANCE
Sameaddress applies for Katie, who has yet to stab Sam Bastos but probably will in the near future.
Please mark "Air Mail" for rapid delivery and lack of Bess explodey.
FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE, SEND ME MAIL!!!!
I need contact with the outside world... if there hasn't been another rate hike, it's only 85 cents to tell me you love me by letter ^.^
The address is as follows:
Bess Karner
c/o Knox College
10 Rue de Fontaine Argent
25000 Besançon
FRANCE
Sameaddress applies for Katie, who has yet to stab Sam Bastos but probably will in the near future.
Please mark "Air Mail" for rapid delivery and lack of Bess explodey.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Current mood: Existential
New plan: no Coke after 17h...
I managed to listen to three entire musicals and most of the Firefly soundtrack last night before conking out from Benadryl.
Will post pictures and fiction here shortly. Just moved into my room on campus. It's slightly smaller than a 5-name single, but there's a little more floorspace thanks to the lack of bureaus. I love my desk.
And, since this is a lit blog,
Poetry for the day:
On Passing a French Cemetary
Let ivy grow over my grave.
Let God make my body
a joy, a beauty; and a testament
to His power.
Make a place for birds to
nest in my headstone,
so that I may look back
and see new life
following my own.
New plan: no Coke after 17h...
I managed to listen to three entire musicals and most of the Firefly soundtrack last night before conking out from Benadryl.
Will post pictures and fiction here shortly. Just moved into my room on campus. It's slightly smaller than a 5-name single, but there's a little more floorspace thanks to the lack of bureaus. I love my desk.
And, since this is a lit blog,
Poetry for the day:
On Passing a French Cemetary
Let ivy grow over my grave.
Let God make my body
a joy, a beauty; and a testament
to His power.
Make a place for birds to
nest in my headstone,
so that I may look back
and see new life
following my own.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Current mood: nap...
France is tiring... too much work, not quite enough sleep.
Things everyone should know about my life in France:
*There's a guy in my classes who's like a clone of Scooter, but without the strippers
*The cross Erin gave me last year attracts more attention than the corset I got from Megan
*I have yet to find a cheese I dislike
*French poetry is more confusing than English poetry
*I have condemned myself to yet another presentation on existential theatre
*Apparently "The Three Musketeers" does not constitute good reading material (of course, I'm still reading it)
*Gaming is considered the pastime of murderous teenagers
*My church choir is made up almost exclusively of little old ladies who want to be my grandmother (and this is awesome), and is directed by a man who earned awards for music in the army
*Communion wafers are made of real bread
*It is forbidden to laugh in the library
*The dollar's still falling, thus making me poorer by the day
*Street vendors are the coolest thing ever
I don't wanna move to the Bouloie! I love my family!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
What the hell, George Bush? What the hell?
Knoxiens, please add me to the list of people ashamed of their president. It took me long enough.
Film everyone must see, regardless of religion: O Jerusalem. I cried. And I have come to the following conclusion:
There is only one type of war. There is no holy war, no just war, no civil or revolutionary war. There is only War, men killing men in the name of something or someone that doesn't want men to kill. God have mercy on our souls.
Knoxiens, please add me to the list of people ashamed of their president. It took me long enough.
Film everyone must see, regardless of religion: O Jerusalem. I cried. And I have come to the following conclusion:
There is only one type of war. There is no holy war, no just war, no civil or revolutionary war. There is only War, men killing men in the name of something or someone that doesn't want men to kill. God have mercy on our souls.
Monday, October 16, 2006
why, yes, angst is my middle name!
that being said, night went better than hoped. awesome indian food. we left before the real bêtises started. and the musee courbet rocks my socks.
world is very sunny. river no longer flooding parking lots. angst has receded accordingly. thanks for the concern, cat :) i love you very much.
bazaar in the place de marché today. finally got a wallet that holds all the jiving cards we need to survive here. and a crêpe with ham and cheese. and a waffle with chocolate. and a very very elicia scarf. thanks very much to katie for finding this glorious thing!
let's hope for a good week.
that being said, night went better than hoped. awesome indian food. we left before the real bêtises started. and the musee courbet rocks my socks.
world is very sunny. river no longer flooding parking lots. angst has receded accordingly. thanks for the concern, cat :) i love you very much.
bazaar in the place de marché today. finally got a wallet that holds all the jiving cards we need to survive here. and a crêpe with ham and cheese. and a waffle with chocolate. and a very very elicia scarf. thanks very much to katie for finding this glorious thing!
let's hope for a good week.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Je sens une grande bêtise.
I sense a massive stupidity.
Friday the 13th. It would have to be Friday the 13th, wouldn't it, to drive me to the brink of insanity and superstition. Frankly, I'm afraid. I don't know if it's warranted or not, but it seems to be the fashion for my brain cells and who am I to deny chemistry?
The class is planning something I don't agree with for Katie's 21st. Everyone knows I'm bad at sensing sarcasm, but so help me, if they're serious about any of it, there will be problems.
Right now, my brain is coming up with dashing plots that require a panache of 4 to pull off, and I have at most a 2. Add into that that this hasn't been the very best of weeks overall, and I might as well throw a towel at something. Most feasible plan at the moment: fake an attack. I might not even have to fake it, just hold it at bay long enough to make a nice explosive impact. Wow that sounds illegal and dangerous out of context...
Losing my English is fun.
verb: franglaire (to mix French and English in interesting ways)
je franglais
tu franglais
il franglait
nous franglaisons
vous franglaisez
ils franglaisent
What am I going to do with myself? I really need to find that French pirate, marry him, and set sail before anything panicky happens. Can one acquire psychiatric medications on the high seas?
I sense a massive stupidity.
Friday the 13th. It would have to be Friday the 13th, wouldn't it, to drive me to the brink of insanity and superstition. Frankly, I'm afraid. I don't know if it's warranted or not, but it seems to be the fashion for my brain cells and who am I to deny chemistry?
The class is planning something I don't agree with for Katie's 21st. Everyone knows I'm bad at sensing sarcasm, but so help me, if they're serious about any of it, there will be problems.
Right now, my brain is coming up with dashing plots that require a panache of 4 to pull off, and I have at most a 2. Add into that that this hasn't been the very best of weeks overall, and I might as well throw a towel at something. Most feasible plan at the moment: fake an attack. I might not even have to fake it, just hold it at bay long enough to make a nice explosive impact. Wow that sounds illegal and dangerous out of context...
Losing my English is fun.
verb: franglaire (to mix French and English in interesting ways)
je franglais
tu franglais
il franglait
nous franglaisons
vous franglaisez
ils franglaisent
What am I going to do with myself? I really need to find that French pirate, marry him, and set sail before anything panicky happens. Can one acquire psychiatric medications on the high seas?
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)