Sunny life

Well it's been a while since I've updated. I've been reading a bit, and also the Crockers and Matt and Mary (Becca's boyfriend and friend from college) came up to visit this past weekend, so things were pretty hectic and busy--fun, though! :) Let's see...well, I finished The Idiot, and my Dostoevsky kick continues as I begin Poor Folk and House of the Dead next. I also have Notes from Underground, The Gambler, and The Possessed on my list. Who knew I was embarking on a solo class in Russian literature when I started this? But it's all enjoyable you know, because his books combine things I really love to read about and ponder: namely, philosophy, religion, and politics. Yes, even politics! (Or should it be political science?) I don't much care for current events, mostly because I don't know when I have all the information and I just don't know enough really to make judgments on those things, but I do like thinking about how things ought to be, if we were to just start everything over. Working this summer has been really fun to observe all the forces of economics even here, even though the vast majority of people don't even realize it! It's fun to see the theory play out sometimes :) But yeah, I'll write another post about The Idiot soon--I want to go back and read the introduction first because at the end of my reading I wasn't quite sure if I liked it or not. I was loving it throughout, much more than Crime and Punishment, and actually there were several bits that I could have written myself because they were so in sync with what I've been feeling and thinking about lately. But then the ending really threw me--not entirely because I disliked it, though it did enrage me, and I realize that there may not have been another way for it to end. I wonder about writing a novel these days...I want to know whether it's as they say, that the book takes on a life of its own, that the writer ceases to have control over what's said and how things resolve themselves, that he's merely the scribe that sets forth the story. But, as I say, The Idiot is for another time, and a possible novel is as well.

In other news, this weekend was really fun with everyone here. We skiied and tubed almost all of Saturday and Sunday, and by Monday I was momentarily confused by the fact that my back and shoulders were so sore. I really like being out on the boat, so I'm really looking forward to the Muellers' visit next weekend (they'll actually be here this weekend too, but I'll be in Chicago for Lollapalooza and to see to Laura and to celebrate Colleen's birthday). After everyone left on Sunday, Grandma and Poppa and I also went to see Mamma Mia! in the theaters (for $3.50 a ticket! What a steal!), which was REALLY good. I honestly wasn't expecting much out of the girl who plays Sophie, but she was great! Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan were less than ideal singers, but overall I was really entertained and the scene where all of the women are going crazy and singing their song on the way to the dock just made me realize that I feel most free when I'm surrounded by friends and loud music to which I know all the words and I am exhilarated enough to dance without embarrassment. Oh, if only real life were a silly musical, where even fights were sung in rhyme and by the end of the number both characters realize the folly in fighting at all. Sigh...

Well, I should really get to work here, though honestly there's not much for me to do. Everyone is going crazy in preparation for the Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, but my part for that is done, so right now I'm just coasting and standing by for any catastrophes. Until later!