forget april...

November is the cruelest month.

I've won a few [$1000 in an essay scholarship contest] and lost a few [student federation campaign]. I've cried a little [poor pam!] and laughed a lot [oh, dwight!]. I've had alone time [hi, God] and plenty of friends time [midnight adventures in the arb, anyone?]. I've turned in plenty of homework [yay good grades] and had plenty of free time [i'm done with all my reading for the year, and only three papers left!]. I have had a lot to say [in person] but not much to blog [neglected would be an understatement].

You wouldn't believe me if I told you...Let's just say that college is amazing. It is so good for me to be two thousand miles from home. I am becoming the girl I want to be. It's difficult and always uphill, but I like a challenge. I like life the same way I like my literature: something you have to sink your teeth into.

I'm thinking that a week in NYC [starting tomorrow] might get at least some pictures on here. Some words would be great, too, though. I guess some days life is just too big to live and recreate on a blog. Every day seems like a week, and yet, it's that point in the semester where everything is same-old-same-old.

My two most frequent classes are almost always disappointing these days, with professors wasting way too much time on things that don't apply and don't have any life impact. It's frustrating. I've never had to work so hard to get myself to go to classes and too many notebook pages are filled with doodles of my name [and yours] rather than actual information. My favorite class, Jewish Lit, is mostly amazing because of the reading we do outside of our once-a-week meetings. I've never had a class that has brought up so many life questions or forced me to think outside of my normal everyday life. I'm excited for my Christmas Break Reading List. It'll be a doozy, so I think I should get a prize if I get through it all:

Gilead [marilyn robinson]
A Soldier of the Great War [mark helprin]
Peace Like a River [leif enger]
East of Eden [john steinbeck]
The Crossing [cormac mccarthy]
*The Short Stories [ernest hemingway]
*Collection of Stories [edgar allen poe]
*Eight American Poets [various]
[* indicates book is in progress]

If that doesn't keep me busy for four weeks, I'm not sure what will...Oh, I might need a job, too.

The weather has been flirting with us, but no real snow yet. I'm ready for it. If it's going to be this cold, I want there to be snow on the ground.

Anyway, I'm off to Manhattan tomorrow for an entire week to visit the World Trade Center Memorial, go to a jazz club, see a Broadway show, the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Times Square, Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty. Oh, and possibly sit in a corner cafe with a copy of Pride and Prejudice and a red rose to see if my Joe Fox walks through the door...