Relaxation (or, forced hermitship).

Sigh.

Hello lovelies, 

Today is a day of homework, homework, homework. In one of my religions classes we're supposed to do a log for every lecture that talks about what stood out to us and what we found challenging or thought-provoking. I haven't really kept up with them. :/

So, here I am, doing my logs based on my notes. There are even additional ones based on assigned readings from the textbook and the Bhagavad Gita. Ughhhhh.

I guess I shouldn't complain, since it's cold and nasty outside today.

Yesterday, while it was still nice, my mom and I went to our local used bookstore to look around. 

Shirt: Forever 21 website, 2 years ago
Scarf: Forever 21, last year
Skinnies: AE
Shoes: Toms! www.toms.com
Bracelet: Found in my old jewelry box

I was looking for Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, the next Vonnegut I want to read, and Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth, which you guys may remember was supposed to be my second self-assigned reading after Slaughterhouse-Five. I didn't end up finding Dawkins, so I don't know if I'll end up getting to that one. :/ Rest assured I finished Slaughterhouse. 

I did end up finding Breakfast of Champions, though, as well as another of his titles, Slapstick. I'm a little obsessed at the moment, can you tell?

I also picked up a book by Carl Sagan, a brilliant deceased scientist that I've heard a ton about but never really looked into, and his third and last wife (an accomplished author in her own right) Ann Druyan called Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: The Search for Who We Are. It is an exploration of the evolution of and origins of modern mankind; how we came to be where we are, where we are likely to go from here. It came out in 1993 (the year I was born!), so I'm expecting it to be a little dated, but his ideas have always struck me as having a certain timelessness that comes with having respect for the forces of nature and the cosmos. 

I'll likely put off Shadows until Christmas break,when I'll truly have time to sit down and study it. For now I have two new Vonnegut novels to keep me busy. :)

I'll review Slaughterhouse-Five probably in my next post, along with anything else I end up dabbling in until then. 

'Til then, indeed!

<3, Ali

P.S. - I fell in love with Blue October several years ago when I first heard their song "Hate Me," but last night I missed them and went digging on YouTube. The result is a song I'm currently obsessed with:

The song is "The Worry List" from their 2011 album Any Man in America. Though it's rather specifically about the scars left on a parent after being separated from his child during a custody battle, I think anyone who has suffered from a fractured family can relate. Also, I have a phobia of masks, so I find the video a little hard to watch, but where it isn't scary it's artistic and lovely. Enjoy!