Lately

A Study of Michelangelo

It's been an artful month for me. I've picked up visual art (sketching) and learned a couple of new songs on the guitar. Not that I haven't been reading.

Colin and I are both enjoying Ulysses (though the amount of enjoyment depends on the chapter). I've also picked up The Elements of Style and The Elements of Expression. I've finished most of the books listed in the previous post. I'm not sure if I'll write reviews of each of them.

Currently it's Reading Week and I hardly have any idea of what to do with myself. Today I volunteered with Let's Talk Science. That entailed some bizarre activities, not limited to: eyeball dissection, examination of freeze-dried lungs, and gawking at a human skeleton. The children visiting the University were about thirteen, all of them grade seven students from Stanley Knowles school. I was thoroughly impressed by some homeschoolers who tagged along.

These children were a few years younger, but much better behaved and more interested in the topic at hand. I also found that their attention span was longer and they asked better questions. One of those questions which haunts me was asked by one of the younger boys just before we entered the lab. "What's a nuclear melt-down?" he asked, very innocently. My heart broke a little.

My winter term classes began in January. It's been difficult to get used to them. The most difficult of the classes is chemistry. I feel frustrated that I didn't pay attention to the sciences in high school. If I had, life would be much easier now. Another new class this term is Personality Psychology with Dr. Trapnell. The course material so far has focused on the research methods and popular areas of scientific investigation. Dr. Trapnell and I have had a couple of excellent discussions in his office. I appreciate his willingness to answer my sometimes outlandish questions.

Memorable quotes from earlier today:

"Why do you think these dried lungs are so light?" "Because they're dried."
"Why does Joe have only one boob?" "Jo can be a girl's name too."
"Can I lick those eyeballs? I already licked the hearts."