Let's recap a little, shall we? This blog comes to you in four parts...
I got to go to Maryland to visit my Gramma for her birthday!
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| You should be jealous that your grandmother isn't my grandmother! She is a classy lady. |
I had such a good time! We did all of the normal things one does at a grandparent's house: we played cards, we ate good food, and we went to bed early. Duncan summed it up nicely when he said, "We talk about what we're going to eat, and then we eat, and while we're eating, we talk about what we're going to eat next." (Hah!)
January happens to have a cluster of family birthdays, so on Sunday afternoon we went to my great aunt's place to celebrate!
I got to play with the latest addition to the family, wee little 9-month-old Juliana.
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| I LOVE BABIES. (Don't know if you knew this.) |
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| People were duly impressed that Duncan and I weren't (and aren't) at each other's throats. (He's my best brother.) |
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| We ate DELICIOUS brunchy food and then gathered to watch Gramma and Carol open presents. |
Later, when we got back to Gramma's house, Duncan and I went outside to watch the sunset. I stole my mom's camera to take photos, because in my opinion there is nothing more beautiful than a sunset!
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| The sun sets over the Wye River. |
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| Isn't my brother a handsome lad? |
Mike came out to see what we were up to and he very obligingly let me photograph him, too.
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| The silhouette is so flattering. I love the little piece of his glasses you can see. |
And then I got to take one of my favorite photos EVER:
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| Duncan is ALL LEGS. It's not exactly a forced-perspective photo, but I love the size-difference due to proximity. |
I did have something to look forward to at the end of my first week of school, though... and that is the "Great American Tour de Nerdfighting 2012" on Saturday! You might remember that in 2008 I roadtripped up to Plano to see the Vlogbrothers, Hank and John Green, and then again in 2010 I saw John at Book People when he and David Levithan came to town after the release of Will Grayson, Will Grayson.
This time, though, they had a totally BOSS van!
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| Someday when I write a book, I want a bus like this! |
Ally came with me and we flashed the Nerdfighter gang sign behind the back of the van!
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| DFTBA = Don't forget to be awesome! |
Hank came out and sang a few songs.
And then, after a short segment of John answering questions from the audience, Hank came out and Hankroll'd us. (John fed us this bit about his wife coming out to talk, and then Hank came out and sang the Rick Roll. It totally got us, too!)
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| It was awesome, made all the more amazing by that outfit! |
Lastly, I want to share two of my favorite quotes from Dickens' Great Expectations, of which I have read 130 pages today. (My braaaaaain wants to melllllllt)
"Bentley Drummle, who was so sulky a fellow that he even took up a book as if its writer had done him an injury, did not take up an acquaintance in a more agreeable spirit." (Chapter 25)
I can't tell you how much this quote makes me giggle. If there is something Dickens does well, it is character description, because I swear I can understand exactly what kind of person this is!
And another one:
"I said I had always longed for it.
'Never mind what you have always longed for, Mr Pip,' he retorted; 'keep to the record. If you long for it now, that's enough.'" (Chapter 18)
I don't know that I can articulate exactly what strikes me about this quote, but I'll give it a go: It isn't that you can disregard the past, desires or dreams you have had before, because those are the guides that have gotten you to the present, but there is something to understanding and keeping in mind what you want now. It's not about being fickle, changing your mind or desperately clinging onto the dreams you've always had, it's about having conviction in those dreams.
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