Ohio Is Within an Area Mother Nature Lovingly Refers to as 'The Wind Tunnel'

With my first week and a half of summer break complete, I’m still finding it hard to believe that I don’t have classes on Monday or a paper due Wednesday! It’s nice to have a break, and I’m glad that the holiday is here at last, but now I have Ohio weather to grapple with for a nice summer! I am glad that the colder, fall-like weather held off until I was able to get my garden mostly into the shape I want it, minus the delay on seeding, and the frost hopefully won’t cause too much of a problem. My dad and I were able to get our vegetable garden planted as well, and we had to be careful to cover the little pepper and tomato plants to prevent death via the frost, but they survived, and our corn, beans and peas are even popping up now!

Not only have I invested my free time in gardening, but I’ve also thrown time into getting some reading for pleasure done. It’s nice to be able to read a good book for just the joy of it and not have to worry about having major quiz or journal and in-depth discussion/analysis on it. My reading roster currently has Ohio Wesleyan’s own Dr. Olmstead’s latest release, Coal Black Horse at the top, of which I’ve polished off the first few chapters. It’s very interesting to read a novel by someone you know from class, especially when you hear his voice, like he’s sitting there reading it aloud to you over your shoulder. My favourite part still has to be the upside-down boy which amused everyone at his afternoon reading in the library, but I’ll withhold a full review until I’ve completed the book, which has been quite enjoyable thus far. Next up is a lighter read, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. My tutorial class and I sped through the first two novels of his Dark Materials series, and not finishing it seems more than criminal. After that I plan to read The Song of Roland in its entirety since the exert I read for a course first semester touched me so deeply. (Saying that one reads a lot of good and interesting books while in college is a gross understatement, seriously.)

Besides reading I’ve also indulged in getting some art started now that I have more time. I’m working to get the lines finalized on a new painting, and I have several other drawings/paintings in mind as well. My creative writing is also getting more attention, but I’m still hovering over my final project for my tutorial, which was a creative writing piece that’s actually quite close to my heart. I impressed myself with being able to crank out its fifteen-and-a-half pages in such a short amount of time, especially since I’m very OCD about my writing, particularly the fictional sort. Being able to write a fantasy story to end our children’s fantasy tutorial was a dream come true, and it felt great to have that to look forward to compared to the exams offered up in other courses, so it also served as a bit of a stress reliever if one ignores all the worry I put into every detail.

German Phrase of the Moment
Es schmeckt or lecker are both ways of saying something tastes good, and are pretty much pronounced how they look. Es schmeckt directly translates as ‘it tastes,’ but it’s idiomatic and fun, if I do say so myself. Lecker is simply ‘tasty.’ Good phrases/words to have on hand while enjoying various treats this summer. (Or ‘Sommer’ ;) )

And now some pictures for your viewing pleasure, all taken from my home here in Ohio. I'll look into getting some of areas popular to visit from good ol' OWU soon!

The Average American Has a 1 in 714 Chance of Death by Fishing

Hello again from the deep depths of nowhere time! These past few months (it’s been that long??) have been pure chaos with insanity lovingly sprinkled on top for good measure! A massive German translation project, plenty of essays, and a healthy helping of easilly 2+ novels a week has kept me busy on top of everything else, and despite thinking daily on updating, I somehow never found the time to take my mental blogging and turn it into the official stuff found here! In exchange for my long absence, I offer up a liberal helping of pictures from campus, which has been beyond gorgeous this spring. If anything helps to soothe the nerves, it’s definitely a nice lunch and a good book over by Grey Chapel coupled with a stroll amongst the trees.

MARRCA Update: elections were held earlier on, and though I didn’t get the position I originally set out for, I’m more than happy to announce myself as the official MARRCA secretary, AKA person that deals with all the paperwork and anything the president doesn’t feel like bothering with. I’ve actually enjoyed myself quite a bit, and even helped to update the club constitution! I’ve also been hard at work translating an original text for the organization, but that’s really as part of my German class. (Or is it part of my German class that’s really for MARRCA?) I also was knighted by Milady Susan, this year’s lovely president! So, if I see you about next year, I’m Lady Courtney of the Guiding Flame! (Susan, you have no idea how happy that has made me!)

And now a moment of super-special thanks to a few super-special people! My name was put forward for a Golden Bishop award by some super awesome ladies, so if you see Susan, Jen, Amanda, or Sam about, do be sure to give them a Roman salute and a HAIL CAESAR! from the heart for me. They deserve that anyway, but just make it extra-special for now.

Another massive THANK YOU!!! must go out to the German department here at OWU as well for choosing me as one of the students from the advanced level German to receive an award. And I’m not going to lie about how excited I am about what I’m getting! I wasn’t sure if it was going to be plausible, but Herr Wolber assured me that it is entirely possible for them to order a Middle High German dictionary for me! High German is what is most commonly taught, and Ohio Wesleyan doesn’t even offer any Middle High German courses at this time, but the translation work I’ve been doing for MARRCA is in Middle High German, and I’d really love to have a dictionary for it, so I’m beyond excited about that, and cannot wait for Herr Wolber to order one for me! Vielen, vielen, vielen dank!!!

Super nice people randomly exist all over campus!! Really!!! I have proof that they are not like so many elusive Keebler elves, only to be spoken of, never to be seen! I was in need of a pencil yesterday at the library, and not only did this kind maiden offer to let me borrow it, she kindly said that I could keep it!! Shocked, humbled, and not a little appreciative, I thanked her kindly and do so here again! Thank you!!!


Fun Facts!!!

~The small, adorable bunny that lives near University with waterfront property has a jacuzzi. I swear that bunny has it made.

~Mr. Roboto is an excellent song with which to walk to an early morning exam. Domo arigato indeed, Mr. Roboto.

~ You only need five computers and three printers to print out your final papers, and that’s only in one library trip with everything already typed and saved on a jump drive.

~The new Smith dining hall is open, and it’s hot, shiny newness has drawn in enormous crowds. It’s pretty tasty.

~The Mean Bean can make any day better. If that fails, go to Rocky’s, too.

~Sleep is friend and enemy. Beware his stuffed animal-clawed allure!

~ $0.55 can sure make your report look all cool and professional with one of those report covers. It also adds a burst of colour!

~Blogger is very picky and will be angry with your images if you don't use the perfect quotation marks. I'm serious.


German of the Day, False Friends Edition
This may seem like a really simple and obvious one, but Sommer is definitely just ‘summer.’ Just add a slight accent and put more of a ‘z’ sound to the ‘S’, and you’ve got it, by Jove! German indeed shares many a word with English, but one has to be cautious of the false friends as well, those tricky words that look like they could be English, but mean something completely different!! The word breit (pronounced just like ‘bright’) actually means wide or broad.


Massive Pictures Attack

As promised, many a picture! Most of these are near University Hall, where it is absolutely gorgeous!