Snowy Beginnings

Snow & Book Hill Park, January 17th, 2016

I've been back in DC for less than a week, and on two separate occasions have enjoyed the beauty of falling snow! The snow isn't sticking yet, but it's still beautiful.

My first three days of classes were fine and even interesting, despite just being the introductory syllabus week. This semester will be extremely busy, and to stay on top of things, I'll have to work very hard. I'm considering dropping a class so that I have a little more time to breathe, but we'll see how everything turns out.

On my plane ride back to DC, I listened to the musical Hamilton, which I highly recommend. A blend of hip-hop, rap, R&B, and musical theatre, Hamilton follows the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant who "[wrote] like he's running out of time" and rose from poverty to fame through determination and hard work. The musical was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the son of an immigrant who also works insanely hard. Listening to such an inspiring story by and about hard-working people was a great motivator for the beginning of this semester. Over the past few days I've often said, "Alexander Hamilton would have started and finished that by now," and, "Lin-Manuel Miranda would do this immediately." It's always a pleasure and a gift to find new sources of inspiration and motivation.

I am currently writing this post from the Georgetown Public Library, an old and beautiful building that looks like it could have been a plantation house once upon a time. I can't imagine the history that must have occurred here, the people that have been here, and it's an amazing place to work and think. The collection of books is quite good as well, and I have five books I'm going to check out and hopefully find time to read. I don't want my life to be all work, all the time. I doubt I could survive that with my sanity intact.

My classes are quite interesting for this semester! Already I've learned that the human tongue is a muscular hydrostat (meaning it has no bone, cartilage, or other structure) and its "closest biological analogs are the trunk of an elephant and the tentacle of an octopus" (from Sounds of Language by Elizabeth Zsiga). I've learned about Hinduism, fairy tales, native languages in Latin America, and the complications of "justice" and its meanings. I'm confident that this semester will be interesting and engaging; I'm hopeful that I'll escape in one piece!

Be well, warm, and happy on this lovely Sunday!