1.22.2011
Emergency
My computer took sick. I am backing up all important files online in a last-ditch attempt to save him. Alighieri may rise again yet. But in the meantime...
7.18.2010
Trip -SPLAT- Just Keep Swimming
It has been a very long time since last I wrote here. Everything more or less dropped off in the first quarter. But here am I, a rising Senior at my little college, preparing for post-graduate life and wondering what will happen next. But instead of making a detailed, productive entry concerning my hopes, fears, and plans for the future, I shall write a list of things I should like to do everyday when I have leisure - that is, when I shall be in school, for only 30 hours a week will be spent in class or studying. Thus, given sufficient leisure, I should like to daily
- Read
- Journal
- Study music
- Write letters
- Run
10.04.2009
Long is the way…
Well I struggle on. As Milton said, “Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to light.”
It is not becoming of a man.
9.08.2009
The End of the Hiatus
And five months later I return. I spent the summer at HoneyRock again, working as a wrangler. I met some great people, reconnected with some old friends, and had a blast working at the barn. The odds are good that I will return next year.
All that ended the third week of August. I tore home on the bus, and left for Santa Fe a few days later. And here I am, back in the desert. I know I made the right choice. I do not regret transferring to Annapolis, but now I know what I missed whilst I was away. I suppose such knowledge comes with maturity.
And speaking of, I am now 20. I am no longer the crazy, enthusiastic 19 year old boy - I must pass that by and put away childish things. I want to grow up and become a man. It's not exactly the easiest thing in the world, especially on a college campus, but I am resolved to do so. Whilst studying at St. John's, I am working on theology, music, and hopefully exercise and language. I do not want to return to the horrors of freshman year, when I could not manage time to save my life. I am a little older and a little wiser (not nearly enough of either); I have discovered (no great surprise) that all it takes is self control. So....don't become distracted by StarCraft or the Internet; if you do, you will feel disgust towards yourself. It's simply not becoming of a man.
That, then, is my quick resolution. Let's ignore the past two hours and put it into practice. Cha.
All that ended the third week of August. I tore home on the bus, and left for Santa Fe a few days later. And here I am, back in the desert. I know I made the right choice. I do not regret transferring to Annapolis, but now I know what I missed whilst I was away. I suppose such knowledge comes with maturity.
And speaking of, I am now 20. I am no longer the crazy, enthusiastic 19 year old boy - I must pass that by and put away childish things. I want to grow up and become a man. It's not exactly the easiest thing in the world, especially on a college campus, but I am resolved to do so. Whilst studying at St. John's, I am working on theology, music, and hopefully exercise and language. I do not want to return to the horrors of freshman year, when I could not manage time to save my life. I am a little older and a little wiser (not nearly enough of either); I have discovered (no great surprise) that all it takes is self control. So....don't become distracted by StarCraft or the Internet; if you do, you will feel disgust towards yourself. It's simply not becoming of a man.
That, then, is my quick resolution. Let's ignore the past two hours and put it into practice. Cha.
4.06.2009
Musical Madness
Hey, s'been awhile.
I have been very tardy with respect to posting regularly. I blog in the same manner as I write to Justin. There is but one item of interest for me right now: the Fantasticks.
I got myself involved in performing for a a musical this month. Shortly after Christmas break, a freshman girl approached me and asked me to play. I said yes, for refusing her would have felt like clubbing a baby seal. Thus did I seal my doom. I unknowingly accepted the task of learning 90 pages of music in six weeks, and with five days left till Opening Night, I'm still a ways off. I should be sleeping or practicing right now, instead of going on my second sleepless night in a row, but here I am.
At any rate, I have learnt a very valuable lesson. After this musical is over I will be a selfish pianist for a while. I will learn a Chopin Ballade, confound it. A Chopin Ballade, another Beethoven sonata, Bach polyphony, Schubert transcendence. I seek to learn enough music to construct a small concert or recital senior year, in the late spring of 2011. But now I am racing through the weirdest songs I've ever heard, trying hard to learn them well.
I'm off to bed; hopefully my efforts will be rewarded.
I have been very tardy with respect to posting regularly. I blog in the same manner as I write to Justin. There is but one item of interest for me right now: the Fantasticks.
I got myself involved in performing for a a musical this month. Shortly after Christmas break, a freshman girl approached me and asked me to play. I said yes, for refusing her would have felt like clubbing a baby seal. Thus did I seal my doom. I unknowingly accepted the task of learning 90 pages of music in six weeks, and with five days left till Opening Night, I'm still a ways off. I should be sleeping or practicing right now, instead of going on my second sleepless night in a row, but here I am.
At any rate, I have learnt a very valuable lesson. After this musical is over I will be a selfish pianist for a while. I will learn a Chopin Ballade, confound it. A Chopin Ballade, another Beethoven sonata, Bach polyphony, Schubert transcendence. I seek to learn enough music to construct a small concert or recital senior year, in the late spring of 2011. But now I am racing through the weirdest songs I've ever heard, trying hard to learn them well.
I'm off to bed; hopefully my efforts will be rewarded.
1.15.2009
New Year, New Semester
It is the Year of Our Lord 2009. Hallelujah! Welcome, New Year, and farewell 2008! 2008 was about the best year of my life; let's see if this year can top it.
I am changing, rapidly changing. My my mind has undergone tremendous changes (largely due to my tenure at St. John's), my emotions are more tightly controlled than ever, and my opinions on the world and its contents have changed more than I ever thought possible. Thankfully my faith has remained constant, though its expression has not. I have been blessed beyond belief; trials and difficulties have been withheld me, so I am grateful, and pray the same on those I love.
By the grace of God, I will finish sophomore year and become a rising junior on 15 May, then head up to northern Wisconsin and work as a wrangler. Beyond that, who knows?
I'll keep this quick for I must eat lunch, work, and study for seminar tonight (Dante's Comedy). I have a short list of things to accomplish this semester.
I am changing, rapidly changing. My my mind has undergone tremendous changes (largely due to my tenure at St. John's), my emotions are more tightly controlled than ever, and my opinions on the world and its contents have changed more than I ever thought possible. Thankfully my faith has remained constant, though its expression has not. I have been blessed beyond belief; trials and difficulties have been withheld me, so I am grateful, and pray the same on those I love.
By the grace of God, I will finish sophomore year and become a rising junior on 15 May, then head up to northern Wisconsin and work as a wrangler. Beyond that, who knows?
I'll keep this quick for I must eat lunch, work, and study for seminar tonight (Dante's Comedy). I have a short list of things to accomplish this semester.
- Read Aristotle's Physics, Metaphysics, and On the Soul
- Study Chopin's Ballade No.3 in A flat
- Translate a verse from the New Testament every day
- Begin and maintain a disciplined exercise regimen
- Ace my classes.
11.05.2008
Politics From Cicero
Those who propose to take charge of the affairs of government should not fail to remember two of Plato's rules: first, to keep the good of the people so clearly in view that regardless of their own interests they will make their every action conform to that; second, to care for the welfare of the whole body politic and not in serving the interests of some one party to betray the rest. For the administration of the government, like the office of a trustee must be conducted for the benefit of those entrusted to one's care, not of those to whom it is entrusted. Now, those who care for the interests of a part of the citizens and neglect another part, introduce into the civil service a dangerous element — dissension and party strife. The result is that some are found to be loyal supporters of the democratic, others of the aristocratic party, and few of the nation as a whole.
All this the citizen who is patriotic, brave, and worthy of a leading place in the state will shun with abhorrence; he will dedicate himself unreservedly to his country, without aiming at influence or power for himself; and he will devote himself to the state in its entirety in such a way as to further the interests of all. Besides, he will not expose anyone to hatred or disrepute by groundless charges. but he will surely cleave to justice and honour so closely that he will submit to any loss, however heavy, rather than be untrue to them, and will face death itself rather than renounce them. {87} A most wretched custom, assuredly, is our electioneering and scrambling for office. Concerning this also we find a fine thought in Plato: "Those who compete against one another," he says, "to see which of two candidates shall administer the government, are like sailors quarrelling as to which one of them shall do the steering." And he likewise lays down the rule that we should regard only those as adversaries who take up arms against the state, not those who strive to have the government administered according to their convictions.
All this the citizen who is patriotic, brave, and worthy of a leading place in the state will shun with abhorrence; he will dedicate himself unreservedly to his country, without aiming at influence or power for himself; and he will devote himself to the state in its entirety in such a way as to further the interests of all. Besides, he will not expose anyone to hatred or disrepute by groundless charges. but he will surely cleave to justice and honour so closely that he will submit to any loss, however heavy, rather than be untrue to them, and will face death itself rather than renounce them. {87} A most wretched custom, assuredly, is our electioneering and scrambling for office. Concerning this also we find a fine thought in Plato: "Those who compete against one another," he says, "to see which of two candidates shall administer the government, are like sailors quarrelling as to which one of them shall do the steering." And he likewise lays down the rule that we should regard only those as adversaries who take up arms against the state, not those who strive to have the government administered according to their convictions.