Just like C.J.

Jason briefing from the podium.

North and South: so far

I’m reading Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, and anticipate starting the miniseries this weekend.

My thoughts so far:

1. The cousin-goes-to-live-with-the-wealthy-relatives set-up reminds me of Mansfield Park. In both books, the heroine becomes accustomed to the high life–while not sacrificing her humble ways, of course–and subsequently deals with the disappointment of returning to life with indifferent parents in near-poverty. (I should qualify that the father in N&S doesn’t appear completely indifferent, but the mother is a basket-case). Fanny’s life follows a reverse-parabolic riches-rags-riches course; it will be interesting to see if Margaret escapes Milton. I doubt it, since I think something will go on with Thornton.

2. Mr. Hale’s religious doubts seem daring for the time. Margaret, at least, seems duly shocked. It’s interesting that her mother is more troubled by the thought of leaving Helmstone than by her husband’s spiritual crisis. I wonder whether his doubts will be resolved, or if the Hale family will continue in secular employment.

3. Is Henry Lennox (I think his name is Henry) the literary foil to Thornton? I’m interested to see his role as the story progresses.

I’ve heard the film adaptation of North and South is quite good, but reading the book is making me want to re-watch The Forsyte Saga.

Hey, I know that guy!

Trade Deficit Date

Jason called last night while I was doling out leftover apricot chicken pasta for supper and talking to my mom on the phone.  I assumed he was letting me know that he had decided to just stay on campus between his late class and a Patterson lecture.  Not so!  He suggested we meet on campus, grab dinner, and then go to the lecture together. 

We ended up going to Firehouse Subs (do they have those in Utah?) and to the lecture, which turned out to be about U.S. trade with China.  The speaker was really interesting; when I go to things like that, I realize that I should spend more time thinking about important things. 

 The walk home was just a little cold and reminded me of when we used to walk home from BYU campus together on winter nights.  It was nice.

He’s gone AOL!

One of the announcers for the BYU vs. TCU game today (which BYU won–go cougars!) accused one of the players of going “AOL”. Apparently he meant AWOL. It was kind of funny.

We’ve had a great, low-key Saturday.

We planned our menu for the week and purchased groceries.

Jason did some reading.

We watched the aforementioned BYU vs. TCU basketball game.

I went running.

We both planned church lessons.

We washed the whites.

We cleaned the kitchen.

I love these lazy days.

What is it about the third week of February?

I’ve been meaning to make our DC blog into a book for almost a year now.  As soon as Apple devises a program that does so, I’ll get it done fast; in the interim, I hate browsing through potentially shady online businesses that offer such a service. 

While reading through our old blog today, I idly wondered, “What were we doing last February 17th.”  I found the post:

Today while walking to work, I passed a homeless man (at least, I assumed he was homeless) carrying a sign that said “Obama is a cannibal.” What a city.

We both had good/long days at work today with not too much to report. We’re working on our reading responses right now and then will perhaps listen to the BYU basketball game. Tonight we had navajo tacos and cornbread for dinner and Jason (who did the shopping this evening because he’s just that great) bought me some gummy tummy penguin candy from Trader Joe’s!!! They are delicious and (as promised) have gummy tummies!

Well, I think that’s all for now!

That’s a lot of exclamation points.  What is very interesting to me about this post is that we were eating navajo tacos, which we are having tomorrow night for dinner.  I guess there’s just something about February that makes us long for deep-fried bread. 

Beautiful day

I think the Groundhog was right; spring is (hopefully) on its way to the Bluegrass.  The high today is supposed to be 65 degrees, which seems like shorts weather after last week.

We had a great Valentine’s Day.  Jason gave me chocolate and popcorn (clearly he knows me well) and a very sweet card.  We went to Puccini’s for dinner and watched The Social Network. I think it was the best–so far–of our four February 14ths.

…and they’re nice people, too.

In which Jason turns 25 and we eat cake.

Yesterday was Jason’s twenty-fifth birthday.  Unlike last year, I went to work.  Also unlike last year, Jason went to school.  I’m glad we celebrated over the weekend.

He requested lasagna and breadsticks for dinner–both of which turned out pretty well–and I brought home an ice cream cake.  When I called in my cake order, the Baskin-Robbins employee asked if I wanted any decoration.  I asked what kind of decorations they are capable of adding to cakes.  He named off a few (ice cream cone clowns, polka-dots, soccer balls, etc.) and I selected a soccer ball.  I would’ve (probably) picked something more appropriate to a twenty-five-year-old if given the option.

We watched a West Wing episode and Jason did a lot of reading.  It was a pleasant way to celebrate living for a quarter-century.

Reaction: "Yeah! I can start this as soon as I finish 'The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers'!"

The Frosts go to Nashville

We headed out of town on Saturday morning.  The purpose of our trip was twofold: celebrate Jason’s birthday and see The Head and the Heart (a band we really like).  I guess those purposes aren’t mutually exclusive.

The weather was really crazy on the way down.  In a half-hour period, we enjoyed snow, rain, hail, sun, and fog.

Is this Kentucky or New England?

We passed Dinosaur World (didn’t even know that existed) and the historic birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, though we didn’t stop for the tour.

ROAR!

We also passed Kentucky Down Under, which advertises “Exotic birds, caves, and kangaroos.”  Random.

We got to Nashville in the early afternoon and–to our great delight–were able to get a live feed of the BYU vs. UNLV basketball game at the Marriott.  After the game, we walked down to San Antonio Taco Co. for dinner.  Two thumbs up.

The concert started at 9 PM, so we headed over at 7:30ish to find parking and wait for the doors to open at 8 PM.  We were some of the first people into the venue, so we were really close to the stage–approximately three rows back.  The first band, Buried Beds, was a pleasant surprise.

The Head and the Heart played second.  They were fantastic and played all the songs we wanted to hear.  I think Jason and I may have been the only people at the show who knew all the words to their songs (everyone else seemed to be there to see Dr. Dog–an artist we hadn’t heard of).  The band played for an hour or so and then we left (stopping on the way out to pick up a t-shirt for me).

The Head and the Heart!

Before leaving Nashville this morning, we headed to the Parthenon replica and drove around downtown.

We ate lunch at Calhoun’s, where my barbecued chicken sandwich patty was shaped like a heart, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Now we’re home and (very) tired.