Spring Break Pictures

Here's a sample of my trip pictures. I had an AMAZING time, and honestly I still can't believe that the trip is over already.



The rest of my pictures can be found here, here, here, and here.

Maybe if I offer a reward....

...someone will help me find my erstwhile mind. It's been gone a few days now (ever since I stopped getting enough sleep), and some important functions are starting to fail. Coordination, memory and recall, and abstract thought are all declining.


My bags are packed and DoRena has helped me do a second-check for any forgotten essentials. My family is taking me straight to the airport after church, and the plane will be taking off at 4:00.

I've been so exhausted in the last few days that, for once, traveling doesn't sound like any fun. Usually I get the urge to go somewhere every time I see a plane flying overhead. For tonight, though, I'd rather stay curled up in bed for a while. (Not that I'm having any doubts concerning the trip or wishing that I wasn't going to Europe.... It's just the getting there that's the problem!)

I've been incredibly scatterbrained in the last few days (scatterbrained AND tired...hmm, I wonder if there's a connection!) I'm almost positive I've forgotten to pack something, but as I said, Bean helped me check already. I DID make a major slip yesterday, though. I had a 1,000 word literature midterm due Friday via email. I wrote the paper last weekend and since then it has been sitting on my computer waiting to be sent. Apparently, when I composed the email to send the paper to my professor, the email didn't send. It could have been a problem with my internet connection or my email program.... or (more likely) it could have been me being spacey and forgetting to hit "send." Either way, I realized this afternoon that the paper hadn't been sent. I emailed the professor (with the file attached!) and explained what had happened.... but who knows what he'll do about it.

On a happier, classier note, DoRena and I went to see the Philharmonic tonight, which was very lovely. Our friend Emily was playing with them, and she gave us her pair of complementary tickets. Surprise surprise, I spaced out for about half of the concert, but the part I did hear was quite nice.

The sky is falling!

First this:

Then this:

Then this.

Favre gone, naming rights to Wrigley up for grabs, and Bobby Knight being paid to talk.
The foundations of American sport are shaking! Honestly, I'm not a huge sports fan, but these three hit my midwestern self pretty hard

Research for Fun

Since I'll be spending a few days there over Spring Break, I've been reading up on the history and culture of Prague. I know very little about it, but my parents gave me a nice travel guide for Christmas, and I picked up a stack of books at the library.

The best one is Prague Pictures by John Banville. It isn't so much a travel guide or a history book as it is the authors reflections on the city, his "handful of recollections, variations on a theme." The writing is beautiful and evocative, giving you a good feel for the atmosphere of the city itself. He throws in some historical tidbits to add depth and color, and gives tips on must-see places as it fits his narrative, but he mostly provides texture and feeling.

For practical purposes, I love my Eyewitness Travel Guide for Prague. I've been trying to figure out a plan for my free time in Prague...which areas of the city look the most interesting, which museums, etc.

Marxism, Schmarxism

Yes, this is another Austen-related post, but I'm annoyed, so bear with me. It's also extraordinarily long, so unless you're as nuts about Jane as I am, you'll probably be lost pretty quickly.

I'm taking a class this semester focusing on 19th century British novels. Naturally, the first thing we read was a Jane Austen novel. Emma was what the professor picked as the most appropriate to our overall discussions, so for the last 3 weeks we've been working our way through the book. Wednesday brought us to the end of the book, Jane married Frank, Harriet married her farmer, Emma married Mr. Knightley, and there was much rejoicing.....



....or not. This is where my annoyance comes in. My professor (who admits to being a Marxist critic) finds the end of Emma, "depressing" and "creepy." He feels that, in marrying, Emma completely loses her identity and is "subsumed" by Mr. Knightley. She no longer has the ability to function on her own, her wonderful feminist autonomy is lost, and she becomes, "the good little wife." ('Cuz, you know being a good wife is such a horrifying fate.) On top of this, as he stated, this was a loveless marriage and contracted for purely economic reasons. Mr. Knightley marries Emma to enlarge his estates, and Emma marries Mr. Knightley to secure her place as the queen of the neighborhood.

Now, this morning as I was brooding on the disagreeable sensation of Marxist criticism being perpetrated on Jane Austen, another "proof" against this particular theory came to me. It's actually part of the text that the prof used to prove his own point, but I think it makes much more sense in terms of the way Jane Austen actually seems to have thought and wrote.

The Prof pointed out a line in which Hartfield (Emma's home) is described as, "inconsiderable, being but a sort of notch in the Donwell Abbey estate, to which all the rest of Highbury belonged." The prof took this as meaning that, in allying himself with the Woodhouse family, Mr. Knightley (the wicked wealthy white male....slightly paraphrased for the sake of aliteration....) is completing his "takeover" and enriching himself, while simultaneously overcoming the only person who ever argued with him-- Emma.

So, I'm a silly, slightly flightly, romantic chick, but I take this passage to mean something completely different. Emma, like Hartfield, is independent and not in a bad position. She is happy as a single girl and, believes that her situation, "cannot really change for the better." However, she is also deeply flawed and she has a penchant for messing things up. She needs Knightley's judgment and advice to keep her in check. Like Hartfield, she is not meant to exist on her own.

Donwell, on the other hand, is a great estate, encompassing the entirety of the neighborhood, excepting only Hartfield- the missing "notch." Likewise, Mr. Knightley seems to be doing just fine on his own. He has many friend, business to keep him occupied, and more money than ANYONE could know what to do with. Despite loving his home, however, he is constantly to be found at Hartfield visiting Mr. Woodhouse and Emma. Like Donwell, Mr. Knightley is incomplete. He is also not meant to be alone.

It is only with their marriage that Emma and Mr. Knightley are made whole, no longer missing any pieces or attempting to stand on their own. At the same time, the Hartfield and Donwell properties are rejoined, completing the property. There are so many directions in which this idea could be taken.... Personally, I think all of those potential directions make far more sense than the anachronistic Marxist reading we were given in class.

It should not come as a surprise that we disagree on this. Everytime I speak in this particular class, the professor disagrees with me. NOTHING I say seems to make any sense to him. I get the feeling that I've already exposed myself as a sexist, bourgeois, conservative, pro-marriage type. (Ooops, I think I said in class that being married was preferable to working as a governess. Bad, bad emancipated female.)

I had known for over a year that there were new Jane Austen adaptations in the works, had heard about them from acquaintances who were privileged enough to see them when they premiered in Britain, and I had even written down the US airing dates on a sheet of paper...somewhere. I checked the PBS Masterpiece website a month or so ago, just to make sure I knew exactly what was coming. With all of that anticipation and preparation, I still managed to miss the first two adaptations. Very annoying.

Last night, however, I remembered that "Mansfield Park" was going to be showing. Bean and I had to get some studying done....the sort that can't compete with Jane, so my mother set the TiVo to record it. Rather than doing the responsible thing and watching the State of the Union address tonight, we watched "Mansfield Park." (And drank chocolate tea, of all things.)

I was pleasantly surprised. MP is probably my least favorite of Jane Austen's novels, and I have always had a hard time warming to the main characters (especially Edmund) , but the movie allowed them to be charming and likable. The movie was a little too short and thus a little shallow. There was very little off Jane's original dialogue, which was definitely missed, and I am ambivalent about the casting of Fanny. The actress was a little too awkward and gawky, and the running around (hair wild!) bugged me a little. Someone in my literature class this afternoon had complained that, although the movie was good, Fanny Price was too "pretty." I have to disagree....she was far from being too pretty, either by Regency or modern standards.

Edmund was lovely. Something about the way he was played really charmed me, and I still can't figure out what it was.

Over all, I have to say that I approve. It was by no means a perfect adaptation, but I enjoyed watching it, and I felt like I got a good dose of Austen

Next Sunday evening will bring "Miss Austen Regrets" with the lovely Olivia Williams (who will always be Jane Fairfax to me, although no other casting from that particular version of "Emma" has stayed with me.)

A New Way to Waste Time

I have already spent too much time this evening doing this, and I anticipate that it will become a splendid way to avoid doing homework.

From my mother's blog:

Directions:
1. The first article title on this page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the last quotation on this page is the title of your album.
3. The third picture on this page, no matter what it is, will be your cover artwork.
4. Take the artwork, your titles, and use a photo-editing program to paste them together.


Here are some of my albums, although I can't imagine what some of them would sound like.

Better Yet.....