Where B.L.'s Writing Desk Resides

Trespass at your own risk.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Good Morning, Sunshine! Or Snow . . .

A brief word:

Today when I went to my dad's bank to get travelers checks for my upcoming trip, I saw a TV screen flashing some random bits of news on various subjects. One newsflash said that excited scientists believe that they will be able to locate Earth-like planets in the next few years.

Yeah, just like when my parents keep promising that we'll go to Paris 'next' summer. I'm not holding my breath.

It's coming down to crunch time and I feel rather unprepared. Which is bad, but I'm not ready to freak out yet. Right now we're figuring out if I need to buy my books for my independent study now and carry 20+ pounds of books on the plane, or wait to rent them from the library or have them sent from home to London once I'm there. Some of the books I know I can get at any library or bookstore - novels, mostly. The others my mom hopes she can order from Amazon and have sent to me overseas - the main question is the extra cost for shipping.

I've also been reviewing my independent study proposal, which now appears more daunting than a few months ago. Guh. I'm to conduct a study of Scottish history and research family history and somehow fit the two together. It'll mostly be what my advisor calls a "culture shock" experience. But as intimidating as it still seems, I really am excited about exploring the countries (Britain as well as Scotland) of my ancestors. I feel I've had more contact with British culture than Scottish culture, so the latter will be more new and maybe more of a challenge to take in.

But, for now, I'll focus on the immediate present. Right now we're all watching a movie about Florence Nightingale starring Jacelyn Smith, Timothy Dalton, and the ever lovely, ever wonderful Jeremy Brett. I don't really know anything about the historical figure, but the movie portrays her as a young woman who wishes to be more than a lady of high society and eventually pursues her passion to help the poor by practicing medicine. It's kinda of an age-old story by contemporary standards, but I'm becoming more and more aware of how challenging it can be to pursue one's dreams. It's more than just dreaming about them, but about going out there and finding opportunities to fulfill them. That takes an amazing amount of courage. Go, Flo, go! And give Dalton a good mack from me. ;D

Anyway, I'm figuring out if I can do anything on here regarding my stories. I have still more fiddling to do with the blog.


"D. It is written" - Slumdog Millionaire

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