Last weekend my family went to grandparent's cottage. It was fun. My Grandma, Aunt, and I got a lot of knitting done, I read about 50 pages of The Witches of Eastwick, and two pages of my homework, and played find the hidden object games on my computer for about five hours. Of course, I had intended to get completely caught up on all of my homework, but I discovered that realplayer doesn't work unless you're connected to the internet. And hicktown (as my brothers call it), does not have a single internet connection. Just as well I guess.
One of the good things about this town is that there are lilacs everywhere. Simply everywhere. The smell wafts on the breeze. So heavenly. And the bushes are massive. Seriously; they are as tall as the cottages in the area. I love it.
And then I got horribly sick the day after I got home. It was bound to happen. The day we left, my brother told me he had a cold. So I might be exaggerating a bit, but I hate being sick. Wednesday night was awful. I can't remember the last time I had a night like that. Either too hot or too cold, tossing and turning, runny nose. I probably only got three or four hours of sleep, but I still felt better the next day. Maybe the germs were boiled out.
But... I woke on yesterday with eight pages of papers due at midnight and by about noon I only had two pages due. I love the history prof for that class. The t a for the class on the other hand.... She's absolutely bonkers! She wants assignments, mind you assignments, to be a formal paper. With direct and indirect quotes and plethora of examples. These are only one to two page papers. Nearly everyone in the class has a one point and it's only three weeks in. A girl I know does more than I do in the same class, and she is having the same problems.
So, on to quotes I guess. I've been reading this book. Absolutely hysterical. Although, I guess you have to understand history to think it's funny. My roommate doesn't find it funny at all. I had to explain it to her. Anyway, here are some quotes to tantalize you.
"...the Mayans, were constructing a culture down in Mexico featuring a calendar so advanced that it can still, to this very day, tell you where various celestial bodies such as Venus and the Moon will be at any given moment. They will be out in space, states the miraculous Mayan calendar."
"When Columbus returned to Spain with the news of his discovery, everybody became very excited and decided to have an Age of Exploration. Immediately, a great many bold adventurers- Magellan, de Gama, de Soto, Chrysler, Picasso, and others- set forth on Voyages of Discovery, only to have their ship bang into each other and sink at the harbor entrance."
"The two sides quickly learned to communicate with each other using a stripped-down bartering language, as shown by this painstakinly researched historical re-creation:
French Trader: How does this look?
Native American: Honey, that pelt is you!
French Trader: Really, Red? You don't think it's too bunched at the hips?
Native American: Listen, bunched at the hips is the look in the New World.
French Trader: I'll take it. "
I guess that last might be taken a tad offensively, but I nearly died laughing when I read it. The entire book is full of similar humor. Well worth at least a glance.
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