Loooooooong Monday

It started with morning prayer at 6:30, and I only got back to my tiny house for good an hour ago...!  Thankfully, the coffee shop in the student center has "Mocha Mondays," where they give out free mochas to the first however-many people who come up there on Monday morning, so that helped me get in the mood for going strong all day. :)  Now, though, I am ready to be done.  Goodnight!

Sibling Performance Weekend

...but before going to see their shows, I learned to play 500; here's Katie, displaying our wonderful first hand (we won every trick!):

That night, Amanda slept over.  We had a great chat, but let this be a reminder to everyone of the risks involved in taking pictures on other people's phones:

(Love you, sis! [even if the feeling isn't currently reciprocated...] :))

Next morning, I attended a talk on art and environment in the liturgy at the Basilica, where they were also having an icon display:

(The miter [is that what it's called?] above is actually very sparkly!  The icon in the middle has Mary and the Burning Bush: two things that I never put together, and I'm still not sure exactly how they fit, but I'm sure there's some cool symbolism or something there.)

This one is from UST!

On Saturday night, Amanda, Daddy, and I went to Dinner Theatre.  This is the first time that I have just been in the audience, and after three (four?) years of performing in it, the sensation was rather strange!  However, Davey and Nathan were both in it and did a great job -- way to go, boys!

Today's performance was by the AR choirs, with Amanda singing in them.  They sounded great, especially on Bernstein's Chichester Psalms: a monster to learn, but they pulled it off spectacularly.  Great singing, Amanda -- way to be a well-rounded ballerina! :)

Sunny Thursday

There's something oppressive about a completely cloudy sky that I almost forget about until the sun comes out and I realize how much I had missed it!  (I feel like that sentence needs a comma or two, but I'm not sure where to place them... hopefully you can interpret it without them. :))

Latin scholars: one of our choir songs is in Latin, and the title is on the board below.  The ending is covered up; can you tell what it is? :)

I also had dinner with Daddy tonight; great to catch up with him and hear the news from the home front! :)

Time for night prayer; hope your week is going well!

Another Snowy Day

Though it comes with so much cold, there is something so beautiful about snow; it struck me every time I walked out of a building (ha, pun unintended but happily accepted ;)).  However, it can be hard to make the transition from fall to winter.  Take, for example, putting away one's bike for the winter: you want to ride it as long as possible, but how do you know when it's time to finally hang it up?  At risk of being considered overly conservative, I suggest that, when you reach the situation pictured below, the time to put your bike away has come:

But to each their own!

Veterans Day

No picture, but two points:

First, the stretch of sidewalk with the American flag on it was blocked off with two military people (sorry, there must be a correct term but this is as close as I can come -- I'm guessing they are ROTC) patrolling it, walking up and down (again, not the correct term; this would have been a great opportunity to let a picture speak for itself).  But it was a great reminder to stop complaining about the snow and cold and be grateful for all the sacrifices that have been made for me and my freedom.  Thank you, veterans!

Second (and switching gears slightly), I cooked for house dinner tonight, and it turned out great!  I made chicken (Mama, there wasn't as much topping as I would have liked, since, even though the tenderloins were smaller, the surface area was greater -- they were very flavorful and tender, though), corn muffins and glazed carrots -- the latter on a whim, but they were delicious. :)  I am feeling quite proud and accomplished, but am also suddenly very appreciative of all the work that goes into making a meal for more than one person.  So thank you, Mama; you're amazing! :D

...and it's winter!

It amazes me how the seasons can change just like that: fall one day, winter the next.  How can that happen so quickly?

I digress for a moment to discuss the importance we place on appearance in our culture.  Take a look at these two photos -- the first is doctored up by Google, the second is my picture as taken:

Granted, things typically look better in real life than in a plain photo, so the early morning wasn't quite as gray as it seemed in the second photo... but no, I take that back; it was pretty gray, just exciting in spite of the gray, because there's snow for the first time this year!  Even if the real thing was a little better, it wasn't as cool as it looks in the first photo.  And that's fine; the first one is much more enjoyable to look at, which is what pictures are for.  However, it's fake, and what bugs me is that we tend to forget that.  So much of life -- all of social media -- is this front that we put up to make our lives look better and more exciting than they really are, better than other people's false fronts.  This constant comparison with others and ensuing search for greater excitement can only lead to discontent.  We spend more time trying to look good and appear happy on FB than we do simply appreciating the good that is already in our lives: no wonder we're unhappy!

Social media isn't evil, but I think that the times that we truly use it for good are the exception.  So instead of pinning that recipe, bake it; instead of taking that picture, appreciate the real live moment.  Get off your computer, turn off your phone:  life actually lived to the full is better than a million quotes (in cute, colorful fonts, of course!) encouraging you to do so.
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Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. :)  This is just something that I've been thinking about this semester, and those pictures are the perfect example.

And now, in the spirit of practicing what I preach, I will turn off my computer and turn all of my attention to sleep. :)  Hope you have a good, bright, snowy night!

Not-particularly-productive Sunday

But I did some epic researching, trying to find an article for Music History.  I didn't find the lights until the end, and without the lights on the periodical stacks would be a good setting for a horror movie:

When you first walk in and have no idea how many rows are behind this one:

And then there are not too many. :)

Anyways, that's probably enough pictures of bookshelves for now.

I also attended an organ recital by Nathan Laube; he's very good -- to give you an idea: Kevin, our phenomenal organist, turned pages for him (if only I can squeeze in a comma, I think that this sentence will include nearly every type of punctuation except a question mark!).  We also had a Schoenstatt Skype meeting; it was great to touch base with them. :)

And now it is time for some sleep.  Goodnight everyone; stay warm this week!