Word of the Day: woolgathering Appropriate word of the day. M-W, I commend you. I'm becoming less technologically advanced [regression?] as the weeks flow by. Pen and paper? Had to learn to use that again. Translating things from Italian to Spanish to English? Well, that's a rather new skill as far as the languages themselves are concerned, but the translating is old business. Being freezing cold all the time. Ah me, what horrors. In Lit Trad [which I'm beginning to love thoroughly], we have an option of writing journals instead of papers, and I'm opting for the journal. Dr. Roper was tellng us the difference between showing and telling, and this seems what my life is revolving around; that, and the development of character and it's connection to fate. Themes! Yes, themes! Any road, I try all the time to think of things detailed, not using general adjectives like 'beautiful' and 'grand' but it's really hard when those are the first things that come into my mind. Case in point: Wednesday afternoon I went to an ordination mass at Santa Maria Maggiore, and I still can't get over how powerful it was. These things are happening to me too quickly, I can't always keep up with them. There are quotations coming at me left and right that are so close to my heart, my legs are tingling nearly all the time. Apart from experiencing the beauty of Rome and the Dui Santi countryside, nearly all my classes are wonderful. Listmania-- Lit Trad: I'm really warming up to Dr. Roper. He's got two little kids who are so energetic and rambunctious, very endearing little people, and he seems to be a really great professor. We're doing Greek theater at the moment and though it's not my favorite type of written media, I'm finding myself enjoying it a whole lot, thanks to Dr. Roper. Good man that he is. Western Civ: Dr. Hatlie lives in Rome, and he told us he's never been to the Irving campus of UD. He's so European, but he was born in Minnesota [so his accent is really really strange]. He decided to let us change our names if we wished, and some people took advantage of his kindness [we have Hottentot Frank, and probably the obligatory Adam 'Can I change my middle name from Douglas to Bomb']. Along with him being really funny etc, he seems to be a pretty good teacher. He follows the book well and explains things when he has to. And he reads great things out loud. Yesterday we were talking about ancient Sumerain proverbs, and here's one of his favorites--'My wife is at the outside temple and my mother's at the river; therefore, I will starve.' Great great man. Western Theo Trad--I had Mrs. Frank for Under the Bible last year and although I didn't really know the Bible too well, she didn't really help. It's probably going to be my easy class of the semester, but I'm really interesting in the prospective material--Ignatious, Polycarp, Luther, Calvin, etc. Good stuff, there. Art and Arch in Rome--Dr. Flusche is so awesome. The class is going to be hard for me since I've never ever taken an art class like that before. So far, however, things are pretting interesting. We're going over the background for Roman art and architecture, so we're doing Greek stuff at the moment at I think it really rocks. I don't know if it's because I don't really know the stuff or if I'm just turned to beauty and art, but I'm just fascinated with the subject. And Dr. Flusche, like Dr. Hatlie, lives in Rome and seems very Italian. She also, like the class, rocks. Phil of Man--Dr. Frank, in class, reminds me a whole lot of a happier, more optimistic version of Agent Smith. His facial expressions, like Hugo Weaving's, are hilarious. Since this is only my second philosophy class on record, I don't quite know how I feel about philosophy in general, but we're starting out slowly with Plato, and how can you go wrong with that? Actually, Dr. Frank just came up to me [after playing a little game of ping-pong] and asked me what I was doing and we had a little conversation about journals and things. He's the academic dean of the Rome program, so it's his job to know the students a little, but I think he's just naturally that friendly. The both of them, Dr. and Mrs. Frank, seem to be down here in the student lounge quite often to fraternize with the lunatics. And that's a short summary of that. I'm also in the semester Rome play, Moliere's 'The Learned Women'. It's perfect, it seems, for this semester. We all get to make fun of philosophy, perfect for all UDers. I auditioned on a whim, and it turns out I have one of the biggest speaking parts. I have to get back into the swing of memorizing lines and stuff, and I haven't done that since high school [oh, the long ages!]. We had our first real rehearsal last night, me and Becky, and it was absolutely wonderful. I've forgotten how great it is to cooperate with people to make a great and wonderful thing. It seems to me strange that there can be sorrow in the world when men can make such beautiful things.