Reading?

(No, but I've got the "knitting" down)

(knit knit knit purl purl purl)

Books read since I've been home? Zero

(Although I have managed to digest a combination of five or so pages)

Scarves completed (knitted)? Four

(I can't tell you the last time I actually finished something I started)

So much for those reading goals...I have managed to visit a couple bookstores though--including the one I lamented about last month. It was a bit depressing to see the "We Will Be Closing Dec 31 at 6pm, Thank You for Your Business" sign out front.

I've been a little obsessed with the Salvador Dalí exhibit I visited last Sunday. Especially the huge painting-- Santiago El Grande. It's the largest work of art I have ever seen in person. You can go HERE to see what it looked like when it arrived in Atlanta and how they were able to "hang" it.

Local beers tasted/consumed:

Boscos Original Alt
"Alt" means "old" in German. The reference is to the days when Germany brewed ales before the invention of lagers. Still brewed in the area around Dusseldorf you can think of this beer as Germany's version of England's brown ale. Facts: O.G. 1054, I.B.U. 25

Pilsner Pale Ale
The name Pils Pale Ale is an oxymoron. Pils is a lager style and Pale Ale is, of course, an ale. What we have done here is brew our usual pale ale formula but add the hop varieties that would typically be found in a Czech style pilsner. If you ever wondered what Saaz hops really taste like, this is your chance. Facts: O.G. 1055, I.B.U. 35

In addition to time spent at Boscos, I've also "hit up" Fino's (most favorite lunchtime place) and la baguette --I believe the almond-crusted croissants are going to be a coffee time staple.

I guess I have been busy....too busy to read? I gotta get on that.

~~J

Hello Dali!

For the love of high art
I am going to the High Art
to see the "late work"
Salvador Dali exhibit.

There are a few rare
painting, including a couple
that haven't been seen
in public (or the U.S.)
in over 50 years!

This will be the first time
I've visited a museum in
Atlanta--okay, not true.

I did visit the
Margaret Mitchell
house about ten years ago.

But this will be my "last" Georgia adventure of 2010 because then it's off to Memphis...(after I go back through Alabama and Mississippi).

To-Read Over Break list:
(finish) Where I'm Calling From (stories) by Raymond Carver
Runaway (stories) by Alice Munro
The Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf
All Aunt Hagar's Children (stories) by Edward P. Jones
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Jones and Diaz will be at AWP in February, so that's the big motivation there. The other three have just been calling out to me lately.


I also plan on knitting up a storm. Needles and yarn, beware! I hope you're cold because I see a lot of scarves in your very near future.


~~J

P.S. Click here for information about Dali's "Meditative Rose."

Five More To Go....

(semesters of grad school, that is.) Because I've completed my first!!

It took a marathon-style 48 hours of working diligently on my most scholarly (researched) paper, which may be the reason the middle of my back feels like a wall of bricks.

While on campus yesterday, I stopped by a couple offices to get a few things in order before I leave town (that's when I snapped this photograph).

Grades? I've already had a couple people ask me "how" I've done--give me a break, already! This is graduate school and I'm done for the semester. I'm not concerned with grades. I don't think there is time to really think about such anymore. (Really).

And what's really ironic, is this paper had a section discussing historical aspects of grading in the American higher educational system. But let's get out of my academic mind.

Best Gifts of the Season Thus Far:

A jar of homemade Apple Butter

A tin of homemade Chocolate-covered Macaroons

A roll of toilet paper

I'm not kidding. This roll has saved me a trip to the store...it's a miracle.

Speaking of the holiday season, downtown Milledgeville really likes their decorations. I'm practically living in Whoville (before the Grinch, obviously). There are lights and wreaths and red ribbons everywhere. I'm a sucker for tiny white lights (so star-like) and they seem to be everywhere.

"Front Campus"--named so because it faces the main street through historic downtown, features three large, majestic buildings (like the one pictured above) and the monstrous wreaths all feature tiny white lights.

I have yet to see any of those large plastic figures (usually lit from within) that seem to be all the rage in suburban Memphis. It's strange and pretty all at the same time.

(Realization: I moved here on August 9 and I finished the semester on December 9)

Most of my classmates have already left for home. The ones who have not are second or third year and are still finishing up grading papers (that will be me next year).

Last night seven of us went to the movies--we saw the newly released Narnia film.There is something quite humorous about a packed theater filled with people in 3D glasses.

I'm spending the rest of my day cleaning (what?) so when I return in January, it will be all sparkly and new again.

~~J

It Is Written--

I guess I have to get back to work on the other squares now...

(or I have 3.2 assignments left to complete)

~~J