i’ve done a lot of stuff in the last 5 days. i don’t remember exactly what now, but it’s cool. here are some highlights:
this last weekend was admit weekend, and oddly enough, i got an e-mail from my second cousin (my grandma’s sister’s daughter), who was at stanford with her husband and daughter, who’s been accepted here. i met them and ate dinner and told them my thoughts on stanford. they seem like a nice family, and i hope she goes here–it’d be cool to have a relative on campus, even a distant relative.
i’ve been running quite a bit. i did 4 miles saturday, i think i ran on sunday, 3 miles monday, and this morning i got up at 7am and ran 8 miles. the farthest i’ve ever run before is 5, so 8 is an accomplishment. the only downside is that i ran it really slow…averaging a 9-minute mile. normally that wouldn’t be cause for disappointment, but everyone at this school is so freaking athletic…even an 8-mile run is weak at 9:00/mi. whatever. the best part is that about 5-6 miles, i totally felt like i was just floating along…my breathing steadied out and i felt like i could run forever.
the most annoying thing for me right now is writing vocals. i have 4 or 5 songs that i have music for, and i think they’re great songs…but i can’t think up any good vocal lines. i can think of tons of vocal lines–don’t get me wrong–but none that really draw me in. and i hate boring/sucky vocal lines. this is always my curse.
school is going well. i have two big projects due at the end of next week, and that’s about it, apart from the tri-weekly intensely hard greek reading homework, and the negligible readings for spanish.
yesterday i felt myself slipping into mediocrity and blandness, so i took a walk to the quad and laid in a quiet mosaic of shade and sun in front of mem chu, watching the leaves above me rustle in the breeze. it was the most beautiful day of the quarter thus far, with the perfect combination of temperature, sky-blueness, breeze, and lazy ambient noise. i closed my eyes and prayed that i wouldn’t slip into old boring patterns of laziness, indifference, running from god, and having meaningless thoughts.
then i took off my sandals and walked around, savoring my few minutes of meditation and hoping they had effected some change.
in other news, i have been accepted to the co-term program in philosophy, so i’ll be here for two more years! i’m excited about the opportunity, even though it might mean i will have to take more units. some more thoughts about the recent future: i’m probably going to be at stanford over the summer, working. don’t know exactly what yet, or where i’ll stay, but i just wanted to stay out here and get a good job if i could. i’m also now planning on applying to go overseas next spring to oxford, if i can manage the classes.
i’ve been hanging out with people a lot more this quarter than i have historically. dan and i decided that we should put more time into hanging out with people and doing stuff that has more lasting value than problem sets. so if you ever want to hang out, just give me a call.
listening to: “affectionately yours,” | jonathan lipps
