7 Quick Takes Friday (#1)

These "quick takes" are hosted by Jennifer at ConversionDiary.com... I highly recommend you go check out what she has to say for the day as well! Click on the picture above to link to her blog.

1. Last night, the thunder storms coming through my area were truly magnificent. Lighting up the entire sky, drenching rain… it was a true definition of the word awesome. I especially love after the thunderstorm, when the ground has a certain glow and you can hear the birds calling out again. Just a beautiful natural experience.
2. I love Friday. I know, everyone says that, but I really do. And lately, I’ve had another reason to love Friday: the airing of the second season of Merlin on SyFy Fridays at 10 PM. I know it’s crazy, but I love this show, and I honestly look forward to every Friday night at 10 PM. Good thing I have a minimal social life so it doesn’t interfere with my television schedule...
3. I tutor high school students in chemistry. There is one student that I have been working with since about November, and since she misses so much class, I basically have taught her more than her teacher. I am sure I will do a post on some of what they have taught me eventually, but I got some good news this week. She passed her statewide standardized exam for chemistry! It was a very exciting moment for her teacher, her mom, and me. A lot of hard work went into that!
4. I just finished reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. It’s based on Hamlet, but unlike most adaptations of Shakespeare’s work, I still found myself wondering “What’s going to happen next!?!?!?” It’s placed in the American plains area on a dog breeding farm, and how the author works in characters like Ophelia and Polonius is quite interesting. I highly recommend reading it, and I’ve posted a review of it here.
5. Speaking of reading, I just started People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and I LOVE IT. First off, the main character works in the preservation and study of old manuscripts, but she also has a fictional degree in chemistry, so the little snippets of chemistry knowledge that filter their way into the story are quite refreshing. You will probably hear more from me on this.
6. We’ve re-started Bible Study for the summer out at the Newman Center on campus. We are doing “The Great Adventure” series with an 8-week study through the timeline of the Bible. I’m really enjoying it so far… one thing I picked up from this week’s lesson is that man and woman were created on the 6^th day, just like the animals and beasts, but unlike the beasts, we were created for the 7^th day - so let us work toward the 7th day!
7. This week, for some reason, has seemed unreasonably long. So I am very glad that it is Friday and I have a long weekend ahead of me. Sometimes these long weeks have a tendency to pull me down spiritually… what do you do when you feel yourself getting weighed down by the drudge of the work week? This week, I went to Mass every day, and I think that helped make each day go by in a manageable fashion.