busy nothings

I think we can safely say that the amount of memes/quizzes/nonsense I post is in direct inverse proportion to my academic productivity.

A meme from The Muttering Muse
Quote: “Take no heed of her,” explained Jones apologetically. “She reads a lot of books.” The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
Book: Mrs. Dalloway
Favorite line from the above book:
For having lived in Westminster—how many years now? over twenty,— one feels even in the midst of the traffic, or waking at night, Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable pause; a suspense (but that might be her heart, affected, they said, by influenza) before Big Ben strikes. There! Out it boomed. First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. Such fools we are, she thought, crossing Victoria Street. For Heaven only knows why one loves it so, how one sees it so, making it up, building it round one, tumbling it, creating it every moment afresh; but the veriest frumps, the most dejected of miseries sitting on doorsteps (drink their downfall) do the same; can’t be dealt with, she felt positive, by Acts of Parliament for that very reason: they love life. In people’s eyes, in the swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwich men shuffling and swinging; brass bands; barrel organs; in the triumph and the jingle and the strange high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved; life; London; this moment of June.
Dessert: turtle cheesecake
Place: the state park near my house
Person: probably S. at the moment.
Song: "Red-Haired Mary", Dervish
Smell: Lilacs
Time of day: dusk and dawn. Those in-between times
Word: bildungsroman. Such a quintessentially English word, with its mish-mash of German and French. And it's fun to say. Bildungsroman. Bildungsroman!

That 200 Things meme that's been going around is mostly a list of what I haven't done, but here's the stuff I have managed to do:

3. Climbed a mountain
9. Hugged a tree
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
16. Gone to a huge sports game
18. Grown and eaten my own vegetables
21. Changed a baby's diaper
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
32. Had a snowball fight
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Rode on a roller coaster
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
53. Had amazing friends
61. Midnight walk on the beach
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
69. Alphabetized your records
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
98. Made cookies from scratch
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
157. Rode a horse
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
196. Dyed your hair