First Published: 2018 November 16
Today I had the amazing experience of touring a chocolate factory. It was great and informative, and we got free samples of chocolate, including 100% dark.
First Published: 2018 November 16
For some reason, writing that title made me think of the song by Jon Svetky, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”.1 But, as I wrote a post for today, I got more than 500 words in when I realized it wasn’t something I could post.
Most of the time, I know that I won’t be able to post a writing before I even start it. Or, in some cases, I get a paragraph or so in before I realize that it shouldn’t be published.
But, maybe because of discussions I’ve had with my class in the Diary course I’ve been taking, I reflected today on what we don’t write. Obviously, despite my disclaimer, I’m not going to post things that I think will reflect horribly on me in my immediate future. So, I’m not going to write about how much I may hate a certain person, or how frustrated I am about a certain event that I have the wrong amount of control over, because it doesn’t help me at all to write about it.2
But, there are other things that don’t go here. As one of my classmates mentioned, we don’t mention the everyday. Of course, since I’ve been scraping the barrel sometimes to get a post, I do mention some of the everyday.
We don’t mention what we’re ashamed of. Obviously, this is something that is different now from the typical image of a diary. Here, I’m publishing my work with the expectation of others reading it, much like early diaries. So, I can’t put personal information that might be hurtful to someone near me, because that’s unfair to them.
All this is to say, I’ve realized that, much as my inspiration did in his third essay, I can’t always publish how I feel, because it may not be appropriate to the facts and realities of relationships I have. Anyways, before I start sounding maudlin,3 I’ve realized how helpful it is for me to force myself to write something every day, and to publish it, even if I’m not ready to release it. This has definitely been4 a good way for me to grow myself, both in terms of introspection and presentation.
First Published 2018 November 15(ish)
As I mentioned a while ago, I’ve been meaning to go to the London Uillean Piper’s club. I finally made it.
It was really fun, and I’m glad I went once, if only for the chance to try the instrument. However, since I didn’t get back until nearly 12:15 in the morning, I don’t think it’s going to be something I go to again. But, I’m glad I had the chance to try it once
First Published 2018 November 14
One of the things I tend to forget is that I have somewhat of a fear of heights. More than that, I have a fear of jumping off tall heights. Maybe that isn’t a fear, the more that I think about it, and just a reasonable reaction.
Nonetheless, since I was never afraid of one meter, seldom of three, and not at all afraid of jumping off of five meter platforms, I decided that I would try jumping off of the 10 meter platform tonight. I got to the 7 meter, and began climbing up to the 10.
I didn’t realize how close to the roof I was, especially since it seemed so high before I started. Wow that was scary.
But, I jumped. I was in the air way too long. And then I hit the water. Next week I’ll try going in head first.
First Published: 2018 November 13
As most of you alleged readers know, I have somewhat bad vision. And, since we live in the future, we have wearable technology that corrects for that. Most of the time, I correct my vision with glasses. On occasion, I correct it with contacts. And then there are the nights like tonight.
While going about my day, I paused in my room to do some homework.1 Upon preparing to leave the dorm for a talk about maps that shaped America,2 I realized I couldn’t find my glasses. So, knowing that I knew how to get to the talk fine without seeing detail, I set off.
London is a much different city with poor vision. Crowds of people, who normally I didn’t register, suddenly seemed so much more sinister. My own shadow, distorted by street lights, gave me pause, as I thought I had a pursuer.
But, I made it to the talk safe, oddly enough. Today was nice, if only to remind myself both how blessed I am to have correctable vision, and how even the smallest of changes can drastically affect how we see the world.
First Published: 2018 November 12
Tonight, I had the lovely fortune of seeing George Furth and Steven Sondheim’s Company performed at the Gielgud Theatre. It was a show where the main character’s sex was flipped. No longer about Bobby, this show was about Bobbi.
It was incredibly enjoyable. The set mostly took the form of small, modular pieces which were surrounded by neon lights. They moved back and forth and up and down stage, and in some instances even up and down vertically. The music was beautiful, as is to be expected.
Interestingly, the orchestra was above the actors, rather than in a pit. The actors and actresses all performed brilliantly.
As to the production itself, for most of the show I’m unsure how different it was from the original script. I went in mostly blind, as I do for most musicals. However, I had seen a recording of the song “Barcelona.”
In this version, where the main character sleeps with a man, rather than the original which had the genders switched, there were some differences in how I felt as an audience member. Despite the fact that the staging seemed almost identical, it’s interesting how different some of the lines and blocking felt when delivered from a person of the opposite sex.
Overall, it was very enjoyable
First Published: 2018 November 11
Mark 12:44-44 “ A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, ‘Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.’”
Today’s Gospel gives the message that I’ve always had the hardest part reconciling with the teachings we see in daily religious life. The Lord says that the widow’s gift, though small, means the most, as she has the least to give.
As a Catholic, I am taught that faith is a call to action. The sentiment that “faith without action is dead” is not an uncommon one. So, why is it that we see good deeds done by the faithless as anything but the miracles that they are?
When a faithful person performs a good deed, it shouldn’t be remarkable. They are simply doing what their soul tells them to do. When they make the choice to not do good, it takes an effort. But, someone who doesn’t believe doesn’t have that call. For those without faith, if we believe that faith is what calls you to action, there is no call to do good.
And yet, the faithless still do good. To me, that’s the most beautiful part of life
First Published: 2018 November 11
Assuming anyone actaully reads my daily posts, they might have noticed that yesterday, for the first time in more than 70 days, I didn’t update. In a way, it was sort of a relief. I knew that at some point, I wouldn’t be able to update every day, so getting it out of the way was a relief. I had visited Belgium to see a friend, and didn’t find the time to make a post. I also didn’t write for NaNoWriMo, but since I was well ahead of schedule,1 I’m not too worried. Anyways, now I have the difficult decision: do I keep with one a day, or do I write two today?
I’m unsure which I’ll do
because of my competitive nature↩
First Published: 2018 November 9
Today is Friday. It’s also the Friday ending what my host university calls “Reading Week.” As class ended last week, my professor made a note of that, before commenting that little to no reading happens during reading week.
I planned on reading during reading week. But, Monday turned into Tuesday turned into today, and I did no studying. Somehow, I even read less of my pleasure reading than I tend to do. But, I did destress, which is important, since I didn’t realize how ragged I’d been running myself. So, I guess I read the right amount?
First Published: 2018 November 8
As I mentioned earlier, I’m doin NaNoWriMo this year. But, I’m also competitive with myself. So, around four days in, I figured out how I’d challenge myself. Each day, I’ll not only write more,1 but also increase the rate with which I’m writing more. Since I didn’t think ahead, that means that each day I need to write more than 3% more than I did the day before. So, by the end of the month, I’ll have around five thousand words to write a day.
On the bright side, if I can do it, I’ll have certainly made papers in the future much easier.
like a try hard↩