Books

If you look down on the sidebar of this blog, you can see that I just added a link for my Shelfari page. Shelfari is a website where you can keep track of what you are reading, write reviews of books, and connect with other bookworms. I pretty much just use it a glorified list of things I have read in the last year or so. I had it in my head that I wanted to read 52 books this year, and I think I am well on pace to do it (it helps that I read a lot of children's fiction). Click through to see what I have been reading lately. Recommendations welcome!

Transition Begins

I have finished teaching in my tutorials for the year! Last week I gave my students a practice essay to work on, talked about symbolism in a film called Jindabyne, and then set them free to study for the exams. Some students left me with very polite and sincere thanks which was nice.

The family I often babysit for recently moved to Sydney, Australia. After church on Sunday I went over to play with the kids and say goodbye. They were both a little sick, but we still managed to jump on the trampoline, hide under laundry baskets, ride bikes, and throw balls around. Since I am planning to visit them when I go to Sydney at the end of November, it was really more of a 'see you later' than a 'goodbye'.

Did I mention that I'm going to Sydney? I will be meeting up with my friend Steve Yao (Hey Brother!) I am looking forward to seeing the city, surfing and catching up with friends.

But before I can even think about enjoying any of that I have to finish my thesis! Back to work...

Tired...

Taking a break from editing my thesis... At this point in my revisions I am looking at about 31,000 words completed out of a minimum of 36,000. It blows my mind to think about it, so I'm not going to for the rest of the night. I also have to prepare for my tutorials tomorrow but I think that might fall slightly to the wayside for now. Last week was great fun as I got to teach on Singin' in the Rain--best job ever!

I am following the baseball playoffs as best I can and I am nervously excited to see if the White Sox can pull a win out of this series against the Rays. Even if we don't we have still managed to do better than the Cubs, and that is what matters. Go WHITE SOX!

So a few weeks ago I played at a coffee shop event we had at church. I was originally told that I would be doing two songs. A few weeks later, on the day of the event I was told that I would be playing four to six songs. I ended up playing seven! Luckily I had been practicing hard all week. Here's the set list for those who are interested:
---Strength to Try
---Favorite Place
---Hope
(break)
---When You're Gone (aka Dysfunctional Love Song)
---Noah and the Banyan Tree (Ben Bishop cover)
---Smaller Than I Was (new version)
---Farther Along (traditional hymn)
When it was all over I jumped off an amp doing the windmill and scissors kick and then set my guitar on fire. Just kidding.

Exciting news: I received my absentee ballot in the mail! I showed it off to my German friends who would gladly fill it in and vote for Barack Obama if I let them. I was just disappointed there were no Communists on the ballot this year...

Random Rules:
Tombstone Blues --- Bob Dylan
Amy in the White Coat --- Bright Eyes
Thou Shalt Always Kill --- Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Farewell to Ernest --- Jyotrinda Moitra and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Second Chance --- Liam Finn
Daughters Will Tune You --- Danielson

Good night!

Spring Break

This semester is just flying by! Right now I am enjoying two weeks off for spring break. It's not really that much of a break for me since I have to grade essays and revise four chapters of my thesis. But I do get to sleep in everyday, so no complaints here! The other nice thing is that spring is on the way! We've been having increased amounts of sunlight and warmer weather which is a welcome change from the cold and rain we've had for months now.

Here are just a few last pictures from trip to the South Island. This is Milford Sound:

This is what happens when fresh water and sea water meet.

Recent Playlist:

"Let It Be Me" and "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne

"Creature Fear" and "The Wolves" by Bon Iver

"While You Were Sleeping" and "Ash Wednesday" by Elvis Perkins

"The Big Guns" and "Handle With Care" by Jenny Lewis

"I Will Explode" and "Better to Be" by Liam Finn

"Daughter" and "Grey In L.A." by Loudon Wainwright III

"Ne Me Quitte Pas" and "The Call" by Regina Spektor

Pictures from Trip, Part Four

So here are some pictures from Queenstown!

Take the gondola up for some sweet views...


...like this one!

This is a picture of one of the Mirror Lakes.

Get it?

Pictures from Trip, Part 3

Here are some pictures from my trip:
This is the Franz Josef Glacier on the west coast of the South Island.
The glacier cut this riverbed over thousands of years...


And today we get to hike on the glacier!





The ice was beautiful! It was almost transparent in some places...


Some crazy guys jumped into this pool of icy cold water in only their undershorts!

Pictures from Trip, Part 2

Here are some pictures I took during the train ride through the mountains from Christchurch to Greymouth:

Still more to come!