Défilé de Mode

Bonjour, guess who hosted a French fashion show today?

Well, I guess it wasn't a legit fashion show; it was for class and the literal translation is a parade of fashion.

But it was in French, and I and a classmate dressed up another classmate to be our model, and we talked about the outfit she was wearing.

In French.

Well, we talked in French. I don't know if the outfit was necessarily a French style thing or not. o_O

But we did have French music in the background. The beat was nothing I'd listen to for fun, but it served its purpose for our assignment and everyone else seemed to like it. I'm just weird that way.

Nous avons parlé à un sac à main et une jupe grise et des gants violet.

Je vais parler en français jusqu'à la fin du post. J'honore mon défilé de mode aujourd'hui. Elle est une bonne chose, n'est pas?

Bon, au revior! Bonne journée et bon week-end! =D

Free Books

My Kindle currently has about 75 free books on it that I have yet to read.

Who knows when I got some of them; probably months ago. I don't know why I read some of the free books I get but then just leave the rest sitting there unread.

But yesterday, I decided that's not going to happen anymore.

I am going to read at least a few pages into each book. By the time I reach page three or four, I can usually tell if there's going to be a lot of gore and/or profanity in the rest of the book. If there is, I slap the book into my "Unfinished" collection.

If there's not, I read on and try to see if the plotline is something I'm interested in and if the author's voice is one I want to hear in my head for however many hours it'll take to read the entire book.

This generally takes me at least two, usually three, chapters into the book. If by chapter five I'm still reading, it's a pretty safe bet I'm going to follow the book through to the end.

I've read quite a few awesome books this way. One of my favorites that I can remember getting for free is "Talon's Test and the Shield of Faith." This book is the first in a trilogy, so fortunately I'll get to read more. Unfortunately, the other books have not come out yet.

I feel like I maybe mentioned "The Journey" by Laura Long in this blog before. That was another free book that was totally amazing, also the first in a trilogy. Fortunately, the other books have come out. Unfortunately, I bought and read the second book and didn't like it enough to buy the third.

Anyways. That list of several dozen unread free books on my Kindle should be dwindling eventually, unless I get more free books faster than I can read the ones I have. Wish me luck!

Higher, Higher, Lift Jesus Higher

Want to know one of my dad's favorite songs?

"Higher, Higher, Lift Jesus Higher."

I think the first time anyone in our family had heard the song was back when we lived in Iowa. A man would preach for us on Sundays because we were at the time lacking a pastor, and he had a big family. That family, I believe, introduced us to "Lift Jesus Higher."

I remember when we moved to South Carolina, we didn't really hear that song again, at least for a while. Then the Sunday school went up and sang it as a special.

I found out later that that very same morning, Daddy had been flipping through the songbook, looking for the lyrics to that song.

They're really great. Want me to link you to them? I'd show them here, but I think I'd reach my general post length before I'm done.

Besides, my professor says linking is good for advertising, somehow. Not completely sure how, but I'm going to trust her.

Have a great day, lift Jesus higher, stomp Satan lower, and cast your burdens unto Jesus! =D

Interviewing

Yesterday I interviewed people for one of my classes.

I'm not altogether sure how it went...

I mean, they clearly provided me with fresh viewpoints, mentioning some stuff I had never even thought of.

I just don't have the experience I would've liked to have had by this point to know if I collected enough information to satisfy my professor and write something of appropriate length and quality.

Well, on the upside, both interviewees said I could get back in touch with them later if I needed anything extra. I'm just a worry-wort, I suppose.

Have any of you ever interviewed people before?

It's nerve-wracking, I think. It's a little easier when you know the interviewee pretty well, but interviewing a stranger is much worse. For one thing, strangers aren't as willing to divulge as much information. Meanwhile, the one you know is perfectly content saying whatever comes to mind, trusting that you'll "fix" anything that is worded strangely.

Well, final thoughts? I don't like interviewing people. I don't like being responsible for the wording they're entrusting to me. But I must do it, because the people with college authority say I must. =/

Loving Fictional People

I really love some fictional characters.

I don't even know how it happens, because when I read a book for the first time, or even the first book or two in a series, I barely know the characters.

I mean, of course character development happens along the way so I come to know them, and of course I always root for the hero(es).

But last week, I was reading the third book in a series, and I realized all of a sudden "I love that character."

I'll find myself talking to the book sweetly as I'm reading. I'll moan and call the characters "darling" when they do something stupid, or are on the receiving end of a stupid/ignorant action from a loved one. I practically squealed when one character remembered a first encounter that totally wasn't romantic at the time, but becomes romantic just because of the little fact that the character remembered it.

And then I just wanted to slap one of my favorite characters when she began falling for someone totally unworthy of her, and every single other character in the entire book knows it, and she would even know it if she took half a second to really look at the guy's personality and interests, rather than just his handsome face.

Whew. Rant over. Just wanted to say, it's interesting how I can grow to love some fictional characters so much; and I didn't even realize that I was starting to love them until they were thrown into the middle of a war that brought out the worst in each of them.

Sirens Again

I'm a little worried about last night.

I have no idea what time it was; all I know was I was in bed trying to sleep.

And then. Sirens. Very loud. Unceasing.

I tossed and turned, praying for the situation and waiting for the sirens to fade.

They didn't.

Finally, I yelled "Stop it!" and covered my ears. I couldn't hear anything, and when I finally removed my hands from my ears, the sirens had gone.

Later I dreamed that the sirens were just a joke played on me by my roommates, which is even weirder because I don't have any roommates.

But now I have a problem. Was I just dreaming the sirens? I'm pretty sure they were real, though. But can I really say for sure?

Maybe later I should check the news or something. I never check the news, but maybe I should make an exception just to verify if I was woken out of a deep sleep by sirens that wouldn't stop or if I was woken out of a deep sleep by my very loud and inconsiderate dreams.

French Play

Okay. So, French play.

I was told by some email that that play would have English subtitles, and by my professor that we would just get English brochures with a summary of the plot.

My professor was right.

Well, thanks to that and actor intonation and expressions, I could keep up with the context of the play pretty well, even if I couldn't understand a lot of the words that were spoken without pause for those of us still learning. I did manage to catch some words, though.

And I caught one of the humor points, too! One guy called a lady who ended up being the other man's crazy mistress, but the first guy thought she was his sister. The lady's last name was Sasseur. That name sounds a lot like "sa soeur," which is French for "his sister." I was so happy when I realized I caught how that mistake was made. x3

One thing I wondered about, though: that same guy messed up each and every call (until that last one) he ever made, yet the man who owned the place they were at kept letting the first guy make more calls. Why was that? I guess the reason must have been something I couldn't translate?

Anyways, there's my cultural experience for the morning. Have a great day!