An english major who doesn't read

I have never been incredibly good at anything. Only recently have I developed some skill in baking, I'm able to draw fairly well if I put my mind to it (I have an amazing memory- you can ask Graham to verify this) and I sing pretty well, or so i've been told, but i'm not REALLY good at any of these things on this very short list. I have only ever been really good at reading books. (Embarrassing though it may be) I'm proud to say that the awards I got in school were for reading. I was on every book general knowledge team there was throughout school. Reading was what I looked forward to every break time and at the end of every school day. sheesh I was the girl who had read her matric set-work in the first year of high school and when she felt like she needed some challenging reading decided to spend some quality time with Chaucer. I was the girl who other girls didn't understand- because who reads anything other than magazines- and the girl that intimidated the boys by being as knowledgeable about Sci-Fi and fantasy worlds as they were. I was the girl who preferred books to people because books were safe and you could always rely on them to take you into another world.

   

With my obvious love, no, passion, desire, hunger for books the day that I discovered that I could get a degree in reading (by becoming an English major) was a very exciting day. And now here I am, living the dream only now I don't read. 

Looking back trying to figure out what happened I instinctively blame my studies. In the past 4 years I already have to do so much reading for university that any reading outside of my degree is limited to magazines (what up high school girls). But if I'm honest the reason I read less now is because I'm lazy. I would way prefer to spend an afternoon on our couch watching The Style Network or E! or anything really trashy and exciting than doing something as strenuous as reading Charles Dickens (something my teenage self would have laughed at). 

Enter my very patient and long-suffering husband, the reading champion, the man who has read 30 books this year so far. For almost 3 years he has gently nudged me to read, clearing my dish-washing schedule, making a set reading time for both of us, giving me books he thinks i'll enjoy, encouraging me to "talk literature" with him. But I've been more set in my television watching ways than either of us anticipated.

   

But then something happened. This week I read this post: http://sixtywinters.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/things-i-lovewantneed-right-now/ and was inspired. Not even the whole post, just the first part. To see how many books someone can read when they make time for it because they love it made me want to immediately change my tv slob ways.

 

Today I begin a new book. And I'm excited about it, I haven't had a new book in a month and a half. Hopefully this re-kindled passion will set me on the road to becoming an english major that my child and teenage self would have been proud of.

beautiful things

happy sunday. Another dreamy un-productive day. [I watched the latest pirates of the caribbean last night and my goodness that syrena mermaid is beautiful- here she is, minus the fish tail]

I have begun reading Forsters' A Passage to India and I found this beautiful quote [you should take the time to read and marvel in it]

"The sky too has its changes, but they are less marked than those of the vegitation and the river. Clouds map it up at times, but it is normally a dome of blending tints, and the main tint blue. By day the blue will pale down into white where it touches the white of the land, after sunset it has a new circumference-orange, melting upwards into tenderest purple. But that core of the blue persists, and so it is by night. Then the stars hang like lamps from the immense vault. The distance between the earth and them is as nothing to the distance behind them; and that further distance, though beyond colour, last freed itself from blue."

lunchtime posting

heck, its 2pm and I havent figured out what to eat for lunch yet... can you even call it lunch when you don't eat it at midday? Incase you're in the same predicament this might help:

12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first. [http://www.marcandangel.com/]

Happy saturday! its a wonderful day here but I've spent most of the day inside doing productive things like watching True Grit and eating food. Its going to be a lovely evening so the family and I are heading down to the beach for the sunset and fish&chips.

continue being rad

a jelly monster

Happy wednesday. Goodness, I can't believe the week is more than half way to being over. It's been a long week. I've been in bed with a throat infection since Monday [this is not all bad as my mother has made an endless supply of jelly for me] but after 2days in bed I felt bleh. So this afternoon I went crazy with nailpolish and hair masks and face masks- in the hope of making myself feel like I look better than I do.

[many episodes of the metalist and sex&the city has helped too]

And I've made some headway in Maia by richard Adams- which was painful in the beginning (mostly because It's all about the life of girl sex slaves- not the most amazing topic)

[tries to think of something witty to say but hunger gets the better of her, jelly and red velvet cupcakes are not an ideal breakfast!]

an obligatory post

so. its pretty much cupcake monday. [and this is all for peter]

singing: the everlasting God. loudly and very badly.
eating: chocolate bicuits
waiting: for the wind to stop and the moon to rise.

the november swing

[hello november]
where on earth has this year gone? all i have are memories, memories of pizza at the beach and wind and freezing lecture rooms and nervousness and studying and brown boxes and new places. which I guess are good memories to have.
in other news,i am sick. i hate being sick. I have to drink corenza c all the time whichwas probably used as a torture method 100 years ago. However lying in bed today gave me a chance to finish 'a room of one's own' which is such an amazing book.
[could i have 'marshmallow tuesday'? or should i leave that for someone else to do? at any rate. tonight is the perfect night for hotchocolate with marshmallows]

"Now my belief is that this poet who never wrote a word and was buried at the cross-roads still lives. She lives in you and in me,and in many other women who are not here tonight, for they are washing up the dishes and putting the children to bed. But she lives, for great poets do not die; they are continuing presences; they need only the opportunity to walk among us in the flesh." - A room of one's own

yay its almost wednesday. night children x

its just another monday

goodevening dear blog readers
i havent forgotten is cupcake monday [how good does this cupcake look?]

however, most importantly today i started reading a book [to give my brain a break after vanity fair] called the Shoe Queen. yes indeed it does seem like the book was written for me. It is essentially about one womans quest for the perfect pair of shoes, and its set in Paris which makes it even more beautiful and decadent than before. ah. lovely

Today I also...
listened to: mozart
bought: 2010 soccer gear at half price
ate: a spur burger with that yummy white sauce
loved: sleeping in late
college tomorrow. fan.tastic.

listening to: my mom packing files away

i wish i could be in the english countryside, reading my book and dreaming away the hours

[scarlett johansson for mango summer 2010]

"The night was clear and frosty, all ebony of shadow and silver of snowy slope; big stars were shining over the silent fields; here and there the dark pointed firs stood up with snow powdering their branches and the wind whistling through them." - L.M Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

have a lovely english day :)

my weekly dosage of beautiful*

this is the cutest sign ever. and the sky, looks exactly like the sky outside my window [haha im talking about weather, again] so today would be the perfect sleep in morning, very much considering that i was up superlate watching the breakfast club. however i now have to go and pretend to be interested in driving and have an aimless 2 hour driving session. who drives anyway?

lovely pictures :)
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained" -Mark Twain

close your eyes and think of me

dear bestfriend,
you remind me of happy-silliness,

and love letters*

and beautiful eyes (behind sexy glasses)

and the most indulgent chocolate

... and sleepovers, where sleep never happens

, and millions of bracelets, and nailpolish

... and effortless beauty

and the smell of freshly-baked vanilla cookies*

and dancing :)

... and pinky promises

and the beach, in the middle of summer

and of america (p.s. i havent forgotten our road trip)

and the sugar rush you get when you have icecream and sprinkles

and of princess ballerinas

and beautiful shoes*

and the intoxicating smell of roses

and this song;
When your down and troubled
And you need a helping hand
And nothing, whoa nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest nights.
You just call out my name,
And you know where ever I am
I'll come running, oh yeah baby
To see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You've got a friend.

and you remind me of old books*

... and the rays of sun that light up a room on a winters day

and the excitement of being a child

... and, well, cupcakes. obviously :)

x
p.s i hope you feel better