The name Alaric is apparently derived either from the Gothic Alareiks or from Germanic elements, ultimately meaning "noble ruler"

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is finally winding down a bit before it climaxes yet again in the excitement of New Year’s Eve. Hopefully everyone had a good time, gaining some nice things and memories without the holiday pounds hitching a ride on cookies and pies and such. I know that I got not a few cool things and memories this past week; I’ve been on the run nearly every day since I got home from exam week! Saturday I was in Hocking Hills for celebrating with one side of the family, Sunday over at a family friend’s, Monday I opted out of a trip to Amish Country for a short reprieve, Tuesday was pure chaos, and today I went to the archery range with my father to test out my new bow before heading to an outstanding sushi lunch.
I was not at all expecting to find a new bow in my hands this season, but upon spotting the suspiciously shaped box, I had to entertain hopes, and they paid off in the form of a late sixties, early seventies Kodiak Bear recurve bow. He’s lovely and gorgeous, and he even has a special bowstring that Chuck kindly made custom to match him as a gift! (Didn’t I tell you he was great? Even though the bow’s been fired before, it’s rather touching to be the first to fire the first arrow off of a string made by such a man.) I’m also getting new arrows to go with him, but Chuck had to order the correct sort of shafts, so I’ll be getting those within the next couple of weeks.
In other news, I now have a delicate glass teapot that is excellent for showing off flowering teas. Flowering teas are something best experienced in person, but these teas come packed in tight little balls that open up and bloom not unlike an exotic flower before the eyes of anyone with a glass and boiling water. My grandmother was rather excited at having found a glass pot perfect for this, so I’ll definitely have to have her over again this week to test it out again and let her get some use out of the teacup I found for her in one of the Delaware antique malls.

German Word: Es ist mir kalt! I’m cold! Seriously. But it’s my fault for wearing wooden sandals around the house without socks when I know how cold it gets in here. Just remember never to say Ich bin kalt, which would be the direct translation of “I am cold” to avoid an awkward faux pas. If your house is hot, unlike mine(warm, perhaps, if I commandeer the cat, much to his displeasure), you could say warm(pronounced ‘varm’) instead, unless, of course, you’re just fine and dandy, in which case you could just casually say mir ist gut.

Photos!
Making tea with my new teapot. That questionable-looking, dark ball thing is actually some of my blooming tea stuff before the blooming action.


Just add some boiling water and….


This one is called faerie blossom or some such nonsense, but it’s gorgeous. The other one I tried out took about a minute to open, but this one rocketed out, shooting up that streamer of white flowers. Very pretty in person!



Last but certainly far from the least, Alaric Frederick, my new bow! He’s a bit tall to easily get in a photo easily by himself, but perhaps next time I go shooting I can get some shots of us together.

The traditional day for St. Nick's Day is the night of Dec. 5, when he'd drop gifts in children's shoes or leave coal. Also check out Krampus.

Apologies for the total lack of updates for so long! Things got a bit crazy before Thanksgiving break, and having multiple exams and papers (sometimes on the same day) make things ever so fun and exciting, particularly when one becomes ill at the start of the week. Still enjoying coughing spats from that on occasion. Luckily I have plenty of work in our last two weeks to keep me company through the joy of pseudo-illness, which is never fun all alone.
In my English course we’ve been working with Milton’s Paradise Lost, which I adore, and might even beat Spenser’s Faerie Queene, which I had not a little fun reading. It’s always heartening to know that not all of the literature one is required to read for classes isn’t as dreary and tedious as it often may seem! Things in-class are shifting to finishing PL off and looking towards review for our exam and also our large, semester-long projects. We’re each compiling our own poetry anthology with a variety of texts based on a theme of our own choosing, which has been an interesting experience, as we must ‘get off the tour bus’ as Dr. Prindle puts it. This involves us poking about online and in books other than the text we’re using in class to find lesser-known texts that will really shine. I’m working an angle with weaponry and swords (surprise, surprise), and I’m so far using familiar things like Hamlet all the way to obscure things and sword manuals one would rarely commonly read anywhere outside of interest groups.
Archery has been going very well as well; we’ve been going just about weekly, with only a few exceptions. A few new people from the dozen or so that responded with interest have gotten to go with us, which is always a lot of fun, if only to see what interesting ways with which they attempt to nock their arrows. (One would be surprised, trust me.) Chuck, the proprietor, has unofficially adopted us and is beyond amazing when it comes to helping us out. It is beyond words how amazing he is. If you have any bow, gun, or hunting needs, go see him at Delaware Sports Center on 36/37.


German Word: Kaese is cheese. What? Exactly.


Pictures!
Bartok, a resident King of Cute on campus. He belongs to someone in a SLU, I think, but no feeding him or letting him in the dorms! Forbidden!!


Yes, my aloe has grown unspeakably huge. I’ve had him for a year, and I think he’s tripled or more in size.


A rainy day on campus… it was so lovely out! I love walking about campus in the rain; it’s gorgeous. Now it’s covered in snow and slush and ice and more slush. Not as fun as the rain.


Straight out the glass roof of Ham Will… it was such a nice day. =)