Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.
[W. H. Auden]

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Austenized




You scored as Elizabeth Bennet. As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to.



Elizabeth Bennet


88%

Elinor Dashwood


81%

Jane Bennet


75%

Emma Woodhouse


66%

Marianne Dashwood


56%

Charlotte Lucas


41%

Lady Catherine


19%

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com


Fairly predictable, although I have taken two other, similar quizes and been dubbed as Maryanne and Elinor Dashwood, respectively, which seems a bit contradictory, but that's what comes from taking too many Internet quizes, I suppose...

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Sunday, June 25, 2006

New Yawk, Dahling...

Of all the blogs I enjoy living vicariously through, this may be my favorite. I don't read it regularly, but never regret it when I do.

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These

Are the leftovers of my madre's drinking. It looks much less appetizing in action than still life. It's also wasteful, but I don't particularly want to make a stew out of it. What can I say?--I'm American.

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Anniversary of...Something

You know it's the 21st Century when you consider your first blogging anniversary to be a day of significance (it's on the 25th, by the way), but it is as good a time as any to consider the implications of blogging.
In an act of blatant self-promotion (well, kinda), I shall quote from a post I made on my short-lived msn Spaces blog back in November:

"Blogs are strange things. Yes, I know, just as blogs are in style, writing extensive essays about them is also chic. But I really am fascinated, and not just in the cultural, global trend, but in how it has affected me personally. A few months ago, I wrote in my diaries (of which I have several) daily, nearly constantly, and penned lyrics to songs almost daily. However, once I started blogging regularly, I have noticed my journalling has decreased immensely, and it is rare that I pick up a notebook and start recording my thoughts...I spend less time in introverted contemplation and focused prayer and more time typing about life in general. It's a negative effect, and one that I don't take lightly..."

Somewhere along the electronic path of this blogging journey (about a month ago), I came to a crossroads, and I chose a different direction. See, blogging is a nice outlet, it's a good space for creativity; it can be inspiring, productive, humorous, or theraputic. There's a lot you can learn from it, reading different perspectives and joining a global community. But there's also a danger in letting it--and/or the Internet in general--distract you, or losing part of yourself by sharing so much, or relying on pseudofriendships instead of living in the real world.

Granted, this isn't a tragedy. All you have to do is step away from the computer, take some time for yourself, friends and family. It's not hard for me to spend time away from technology as I really don't employ it extensively in my daily life. I don't watch much telelvision, don't own a cell phone, blackberry, mp3 player, or iPod, play video and/or online games.

The internet in itself holds little attraction to me. It's mostly the people factor. I like communicating with friends, reading different perspectives, living vicariously through people all over the world, etc. But when you depend on technology to sustain friendships, or isolate yourself from real experiences, your quality of life is going to be damaged. You can learn, but not experience, vicariously. And without experience, knowledge is useless.

(Editor's Note: Three weeks ago, when I first wrote this post, I intended on adding to it, discuss the repercussions of technology, blah blah blah. However, I lost interest and Prairie Home Companion is on the radio, so my unfinished thoughts will have to do....)

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Thursday, June 01, 2006

Crunch Time

I've been studying for my SAT's this week (a bit late, but that's my life as a procrastinator), as I will be taking the test on Saturday, bright and bloody early. My friend (whoa, the Vanessa I mentioned in the last post...*hums theme to the Twilight Zone*) lent me a book to teach this ignorant highschooler how to outsmart the system. (: Push came to shove today and I took one of the practice tests, and the results...could have been better. They were very, eh, average. I was expecting low math scores, but Critical Reading was not even what I anticipated. Looking through the solutions manual, I figured out my biggest problems (like, say, rushing through the questions, even when I had that feeling I wasn't doing it quite right), and they are, thankfully, remediable, even within thirty-six hours.
Even though I will no doubt have cardiac arrest from anxiety on Saturday morning, I'm actually not too worried right now. I'm not planning on this being my only go at the test; I plan to work through some math in the summer and hope to improve on whatever foundation I lay this weekend. With college scholarships on the line, I'll have to make a good showing.
I've never liked what I view to be the very subjective questions of the Critical Reading section. I realize they know what they're testing, but it still seems, shall we say, idiosyncratic. Now that's a good word. One thing I found humorous, though, while reviewing my mistakes, was the repetitive advice not to choose "negative" answers. Translation: Anything that contains any hint of political incorrectness is NOT the answer EST is looking for. LOL...

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