Random quote

"Look, Anne. Perhaps you're right. The whole idea is mad." He moved from his corner to her perch on a table behind Jimmy's terminal, took her hands and went down on one knee, not in an attitude of prayer but with an odd playfulness. "But, Anne! This is an extraordinary moment, is it not? Entertain, for this extraordinary moment, the notion that we are all here in this room, at this moment, for some reason. No, let me finish! George is wrong. Life on Earth is unlikely." he insisted. "Our own existence, as a species and as individuals, is improbable. The fact that we know one another appears to be a result of chance. And yet, here we are. And now we have evidence that another sentient species exists on a nearby planet and that they sing. They sing, Anne." She felt his hands squeeze hers. "We have to find out about them. There is simply no alternative. We have to know them. You said it yourself, Anne! Think of the theology."
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell

Imagine

This link may not work forever, but if it works today that's the main thing.
Happy Spring :)

Woman cold

So I have a cold. And it's my own fault: after showing this clip to my class (for no real linguistic reason) I can't really complain. At least not to them.

Paintings

Check out this website of David Cochran's work. I love his nature pictures and he has one called 'God' which is intriguing.

Fierce grace

I love the local library - it's free books. Free books. I got an armful of books the other day - I prefer real life stories, especially about women's lives, and so it was I borrowed a memoir about living on an otherwise uninhabited island in Alaska, salmon fishing. It's a great read, and I very much like the author's phrase 'fierce grace'. Doesn't particularly compel me to take up that lifestyle myself, but then that's the point - I can read about it instead.
Also reading 'Forgotten Among the Lilies' by Ronald Rolheiser, which is an excellent title for a book. His words are interesting, but I especially liked a quote he included from G.K. Chesterton:

"The swiftest things are the softest things. A bird is active because a bird is soft. A stone is helpless, because a stone is hard. The stone must by its own nature go downwards, because hardness is weakness. A bird can of its nature go upwards, because fragility is force."

Don't believe the conspiracy theories

I went to see The Golden Compass yesterday with some of my undergraduate students. It was fantastic. I'd read the books and was a bit concerned as movies are never as good as the books they're based on. But this one was pretty darn good.
There's all kinds of hullaballoo over here about this supposedly "anti-religious" movie written by an "atheist" (as probably most kids' movies are, by the way). Don't give any of it the time of day - especially not in regard to the movie version which is much 'lighter' than the books. It's a fantasy adventure with amazing special effects. I wouldn't take small children to see it because of some violence but it's a positive film about loyalty, believing in people, standing up for what you believe in, not having 'blind faith' and it has a fantastic strong, caring leader figure in the girl Lyra. The film is excellently cast too. The only thing is it doesn't really end, being the first in a trilogy. Just have to wait for the next one now!

Ends and beginnings

I guessed, moving house in December, that I might have to contend with pouring rain. I didn't anticipate a foot of snow - actually 14 inches. I had happy helpers (a colleague and 4 of my students, no doubt after an 'A', and all Californian, which tells you how clueless we all were about driving in the snow). We pushed cars and slid around alley ways and it was all a bit of fun, in the end. (We made snow angels.)In any case, I'm now moved and today, thanks to the end of the rain, I noticed for the first time that I can see the mountains out my front window. Marvellous.
Also, had my last class of teaching, and the final exam is done. I played them Aragorn's speech from Lord of the Rings as inspiration before their exam (my version of praying for them). Here is a picture of half my undergrad class, bless them all. I'm in there, hard to tell I know, given my youthful looks.