Though It Be But Little...

It is definitely fierce, and has been ever since the first one rolled off the line August 26, 1959. The unique styling of the Mini Cooper has become one of the most iconic images of the 20th. century.

The Mini was primarily developed by the mastermind employee of the BMC (or British Motor Company), Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis.  He was later promoted to Technical Director of BMC and served in the motor industry until his retirement in 1971.  

Understanding the power of pop culture, BMC made sure that Mini's found there way into the hands of the movers and shakers of the age, actors, musicians, models, etc.  These cars were particularly effective for maneuvering crowded city streets, and thus became wildly popular throughout London.  Figures such as members of the Beatles, Princess Margaret, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Twiggy all joined the Mini craze, solidifying its position as the "it" car.  Such was its influence that British fashion designer Mary Quant was inspired to create the "mini" skirt. 

In 41 years, over 5 million Minis were sold and their success has shown little signs of slowing down.  These bite-sized speed machines, with their iconic design have definitely made their mark on the automobile industry. 

Happy Birthday Mini!

Mercy.

"Ever let mercy outweigh all else in you. Let our compassion be a mirror where we may see in ourselves that likeness and that true image which belong to the Divine nature and Divine essence. A heart hard and unmerciful will never be pure."

—St. Isaac of Syria

Web Site Story?

Ok, generally speaking the majority of things that come out of College Humor.com are not the post edifying pieces of material, let's be honest.  However, I must say their recent parody of West Side Story is quite brilliant and sad all at the same time.  It is entitled Web Site Story and is a 21st. century parody of the classical musical.  I hope you enjoy a the silliness of it all.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

One of my favorite songs.  Words so true.

Morning by morning I wake up to find 
The power and comfort of God's hand in mine 
Season by season I watch Him, amazed 
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways 
All I have need of, His hand will provide 
He's always been faithful to me. 

I can't remember a trial or a pain 
He did not recycle to bring me gain 
I can't remember one single regret 
In serving God only, and trusting His hand 
All I have need of, His hand will provide 
He's always been faithful to me. 

This is my anthem, this is my song 
The theme of the stories I've heard for so long 
God has been faithful, He will be again 
His loving compassion, it knows no end 
All I have need of, His hand will provide 
He's always been faithful, He's always been faithful 
He's always been faithful to me.

-Sara Groves

Red, White, & Blue

For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.

-William Faulkner

The right to freedom being the gift of God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.

-Samuel Adams

How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy.

-Paul Sweeney

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

-Thomas Paine

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

-The Declaration of Independence

e-mail in motion

Thankfully e-mail doesn't really work this way.  I think I would miss my Mac.

Mac Attack!

Do Re Mi

A little Julie Andrews to brighten your day.  This video was recorded in Antwerp at the Central Train Station on March 23, 2009.  At 8:00 am, without warning, "Do Re Mi" began to play on the public address system.  As bewildered passengers watched, about 200 dancers slowly begin to appear from the crowd and train stations.  Enjoy! 

Practical Architecture

Or something like that....

London-based Levitate Architects developed this ingenious plan to deal with some space issues in the shared top floor apartment of a Victorian mansion block.  They created a new loft bedroom, accessed by a "secret staircase" hidden from the main reception area.  In order to accommodate the client's desire for a library, the architects developed an idea where both English oak shelves and treads are lined with books.  Also, since 

there is a skylight directly above the staircase, there is ample light for this unique library. 

Some brilliant planning, in my opinion. 

Alas, Alack

I have been completely remiss in keeping up with the blogging world.  Partly because I have only had internet one other time than this, but excuses, I know.  What I have decided to do is as soon as I get home, I'm going to start posting my journal entries from Germany, so that I can catch up on what I have not filled in the internet world with.  

In the meantime, here is a little story that served to only confirm my love for Great Britain.  Upon leaving Frankfurt, I flew directly into London, whereupon I would take a train to Chester later on in the day.  As a result, I had an afternoon to spare in Londontown.  Dropping off my worldly goods at the bag check in Euston Station (for quite a hefty fee, might I add), I ventured out into the grey and fog.  After purchasing my underground pass, I headed straight for what any good English major would, the book alley just off Leicester Square.  Barely containing myself in the utopia of antiquity and dust, I dug through shelves, crates, and bins of gorgeous book after gorgeous book.  Amidst one shelf, I came across a book with a white slip sticking out of the top.  Generally speaking, any slip of paper sticking out of a book in a shop like this is a good sign, because it's making some sort of distinction concerning the work.  As I went to pull the book out of the back corner, my heart skipped a beat (that might be a little dramatic, but I must say books do have a powerful effect on me)...Needless to say, it was one of the most exciting finds I have ever made in a bookshop.  The book was a first edition, autographed copy of one of Dorothy L. Sayers plays, The Devil to Pay, and it was in mint condition might my add.  I would have loved nothing more than to pack it up and take it home with me, but considering it was a grand total of  ₤250 I thought I had better pass.  However, I feel better having experienced such a piece of art, even if I could not take it with me...

Thus, solidifies my love for British book shops, I think you can understand why.

Step by Step.

Pray for us.  

We are climbing the cathedral tower at Ulm today.

Graffiti is the word.

Well, our group escaped for the weekend and spent the past four days in Berlin.  There are so many things to say about that city, but I must refrain myself for now, because we are heading into a lecture.  However, one of the words for the weekend...graffiti.  

I'm not sure I have ever seen so much of it in one city in my entire life.  What is amazing is these artists are truly talented, what they can create with nothing but a can of spray paint is absolutely astounding.  Unfortunately, they do it on some of the worst places, which may just be the point of it all.  Sadly, basically every monument we saw had some form of marking on it, whether it was stupid tourists, feeling the need to scratch their names into various walls, or sub-cultured graffiti artists, almost nothing in that city has escaped unblemished.  One can maybe draw all sorts of cultural commentaries from that, but I will refrain for the moment of going too far with that.  However, Berlin is a city that has waded its way through some of the darkest hours in history, and although it has survived, one can definitely still see the scars.

I have not had a chance to download my 2400 pictures yet, so this is not a picture of mine, but they will be coming soon.  

Travel.

I am doing a little bit of reading before we head into lectures, so I thought I would just put up a few little thoughts until I can write a full post later. 

The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. 

Samuel Johnson

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.

Martin Buber

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.

Seneca

Catch Up

Ok, so I've been a little remiss in my blogging concerning my current trip to Germany.  Ok, a lot remiss, but it seems as though whenever I sit down to it our internet decides to be ancient, and then I never get around to it again.  But enough excuses, I am here now, and I am writing now. 

Germany.  There is a lot to say about the past 10 or so days.  It has been an absolute whirlwind, to say the very least, but an enjoyable one at that.  First of all, I could not have asked for a better group to travel with.  Dr. Lahaie has been wonderful, and I have no idea where any of us would be if we had not had a professor that was a) German and/or b) completely fluent in the language...I do not care to think about that possibility, all I know is that I am incredibly thankful for her and her knowledge.  In addition, my fellow students are equally delightful, and even though some of them aren't well-versed in the arena of travel (one of our girls had never been on a plane, before our 8 hour flight here), they have proven to be open for adventure and full of excitement and joy to be here.  

How to catch you up?  This just might prove to be the most scattered blog post to date, but thus far we have spent about 2 1/2 days in Wittenberg, a day in Bad Wimpfen, and a day in Worms.  The other days have been filled with lectures, visits to museums, a castle, one very interesting theatre experience, and a few organ concerts.  I stood on the world's largest wine barrel that has ever actually held wine, walked through Medieval streets, climbed towers from the 12th. century, and have not been in a car in 10 days (of which I am thoroughly happy, until I look at some of the prospects here, and then I wish I was able to test drive them all!).  I have eaten white asparagus larger than my head, eaten a pretzel equally as large, and have walked more miles than I care to count, of that, however, I am thoroughly grateful, considering how good the food is.  

Well, that should be somewhat of a good start.  Tomorrow morning we are heading to Dachau and Munich, our taxi is coming at 5:30...I'm praying the alarm will go off, and that I will hear it for that matter. 

And so I begin...

Currently, I am sitting amongst all my worldly goods, deeming certain things necessary and unnecessary (even though I could, most assuredly, make a case for anything here to be "quite necessary"), to a 6 week adventure in Europe.  

My main dilemma always ends up being with shoes and books, in no particular order.  They are of equal issue to me when it comes to traveling.  I like to think that I will always have a wonderful assortment of footwear when on trips, and likewise I feel as though I must have a small library with me so that I can choose exactly what I feel like reading on any particular day.  I just do not find it appealing to lock myself into any particular "genre," in either my reading material or my foot covering.  Maybe it's an issue of commitment, and thus something I should work through, but I like to think that it is my "creative" side that wants to be sure that the whole world is her oyster, incessantly.  

I'm beginning to think it is a bit of both, but regardless this trip has stipulations...one bag and one backpack.  So however claustrophobic I might feel in having to pigeon hole each and every one of my outfits and decide (beforehand) what my whim and fancy might be in terms of books, I nevertheless must make decisions.  The boundaries of fascist airline baggage weight stipulations, combined with the fact that I am going to have to lug said baggage across a portion of Germany and the better part of England, dictates that I better make some very decisive, productive slashing of materials in the next few hours.  Thus, I better be off, but I am now beginning the series of blogging over the next 6 weeks, centered around my travels in Germany and England.  I have always had grandiose hopes of maintaining this blog in a timely fashion (and never really have), but this time around, I will.  

Word Spy

Finding new words or phrases, wordspy.com:

mindcasting pp. Posting a series of messages that reflect one's current thoughts, ideas, passions, observations, readings, and other intellectual interests.  

zombie bank n. A bank that cannot lend money because its liabilities are greater that its assets, but remains in business because of government support. 

kettle v. To maneuver protesters into a small area using a cordon of police personnel and vehicles.

Interesting, eh?

We Shall Build On

We shall build on. On through the cynic’s scorning, On through the coward’s warning, We shall build on. Firm on the rock of ages, City of saints and sages, Laugh when the tempest rages, We shall build on. Christ, though our hands be bleeding, Fears, though our flesh be pleading, Still let us see Thee leading, For we shall build on. 

-studdart kennedy

Thought.

O Christ my God, shine forth on me and on all who dwell in the darkness of sin; show me the glorious day of Thy Passion, that with all men I may cry: Arise, and have mercy!

Graduation...or?

The Voice of My Heart

Although I am not known for my lack of words, there are moments where I find myself just simply without them.  This may be as a result of my indifference to the subject in question, or really that I just don't feel the need to communicate.  Lately, I have been wanting to get back to blogging; however, I inevitably question my reasoning behind it.  Yet, last night I was reading Sir Philip Sidney for my Renaissance, non-Shakespeare, literature course and came across a line I found to be profound.   This one sentence comes from Sidney's sonnet sequence Astrophel & Stella, and states: 

Fool, said my Muse to me, looke in thy heart, and write.

Simple enough, but I believe Sidney touched on something profound for those of who are infatuated with words.  I say infatuated, because that is precisely what I mean.  There are some people that are just consumed, haunted, and fixated by words, I am one of them.  They fascinate me.  Their formation, their meanings, their structure, no matter what language, I love words.  And so, inevitably, if one looks in a heart or soul, like mine, you are bound to find nothing but those strange things we refer to as "words"

Thus, I have to write.  Not for anyone in particular, not to be published someday, not for anything other than it is the expression of my soul.  And even though that expression may not be polished, intellectual, or sophisticated, I really don't mind...the purpose of the words I may write is simply for them to be...

As Confucius said, "Words are the voice of my heart."

Books

A book is a fragile creature, it suffers the wear of time, it fears rodents, the elements and clumsy hands.  So the librarian protects the books not only against mankind but also against nature and devotes his life to this war with the forces of oblivions. 

-Umberto Eco

Words

"When words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain."

-William Shakespeare

My words have been scarce as of late.  I have every hope of continuing the precedent of this blog, but one can never know what tomorrow brings...