I realize that it’s been quite some time since I have blogged. There is a reason for this. Yes, I’ve been busy. The end of the semester was the usual crunch-time-during-which-you-want-nothing-more-than-10-hours-of-uninterrupted-rest, and after-which-you’re-too-exhausted-and-exhilarated-even-for-sleep. And yes, I’m home now, without the preccciousss high-speed internet connection (*cackle*) that makes blogging oh-so-convenient. And yes, it’s been Christmas time, and a very unusual Christmas at that. (My grandfather was in the hospital until the 23rd. I got very sick on the 24th with a high fever and was throwing up for almost 24 hours straight, after which my fever and cold lingered uninvited for four more days. And, my sister and her husband were not able to come spend Christmas with us after all. But there were wonderful things too, like the Christmas Eve services at our church [I played for the two on the 23rd, but had to cancel on the 24th because I couldn’t stand up without throwing up], which were amazingly wonderful, spending time with my family, all of whom are amazingly wonderful, and just the fact that it’s Christmas, which is amazingly wonderful in itself. Oh, and our annual family watching of The Muppet Christmas Carol. A true classic!)

Yes, life has been busy. But beyond that, there is a reason I haven’t blogged.

I am considering retiring my blog.

Yes, really.

Someone was telling me a few weeks ago how weird he thinks my blog is. He had found the link in my buddy info on AIM and he apparently read quite a bit of it one day. (Which feels weird to me. Sure, anyone can read it, but when it’s one of those quasi-friend-quasi-acquaintance people with whom you have a jesting and bantering relationship but don't really talk to very often about real things, it's weird…) So, this guy tells me that it’s weird and disturbing, my having a blog, and then he asks me, “Why do you do it? Are you, deep down, just really desperate for attention?”

Now, I thought about this hypothesis, and I think it is incorrect. I blog because I am by nature a verbal person who loves reading and writing and has a vast appreciation for language. Yes, I really just like to write. Further, some people enjoy reading my writing. I like it that they like it, and a blog is a fun way for me to write and them to read what I write, and hey, it’s just plain fun. When I first started blogging, I thought that I blogged because I was lonely, but now I don’t really think it’s that, either. I just like writing. That’s all. And a blog is a fun place in which to write. (And if I was desperate for attention, I’m sure I could come up with a better way to get it than by keeping a blog.)

But now I’m just wondering if it’s really weird that I have this electronic medium through which I voice my thoughts and feelings about my life and various other matters.

This same guy had also told me once, on hearing me mention that I had a blog, that if I had a “real life,” like maybe a significant other or something, then I wouldn’t need a blog. At the time I dismissed it as ridiculous, but since then I’ve noticed how Jon’s blog as dwindled noticeably since, well, Jon and Libby because Jon and Libby. So maybe there’s something to that after all.

And maybe blogging is an exceedingly strange and disturbing sort of thing to do.

And maybe I should stop.

And maybe I will stop.

I haven’t decided yet.

I got an email yesterday from a girl who happened across my blog and really liked it. And an old friend from Wheaton told me recently that she reads my blog and really likes it and finds it “insightful.”

I’m curious…who reads my blog, anyway? Use the links on the right (guestbook and/or email address) and drop me a note and tell me who you are. Or, just make up a name if you don’t know me and don’t want to give out your identity to random strangers over the internet. You know, whatever. Even if you think I know that you read my blog, still, send me an email or something. I’m curious. My SiteMeter shows me general IP addresses, but in general I have no idea who reads this thing, or why they would do so. So, enlighten me, people.

And meanwhile, I shall be deciding if I am going to continue to indulge in my blogging habit or if I’m going to quit.

My SiteMeter lets me see what links, including search words, lead people to my blog.

*ahem*

To random Googlers searching for strange and vile things who happen to find themselves here due to the appearance of certain words, wholly unrelated to one another and found in entirely different contexts, within this collection of thoughts that is my blog:

Alas for you, Googlers! The saying is not, as many erroneously hold, "if you must sin, sin boldly." Oh yes, this is everyone's favorite Martin Luther quote... quoted not only out of context but also incorrectly.

What Luther actually said was, "Esto peccator et pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide (crede) et gaude in Christo, qui victor est peccati, mortis et mundi," and he wrote it in a letter to Philip Melanchthon in 1521. Here's a bit of context for you:

"If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness, but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God's glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly--you too are a mighty sinner."

I guess "sin boldly" is just the part that everyone remembers best. License to sin? Says the wisdom of the Apostle whom Luther studied and loved, "May it never be!" Luther, along with the great history of God's Church, always insisted on good works and a holy life in imitation of Christ as a necessary manifestation of faith.

Simul justus et peccator... but please, folks, the goal is still to go and sin no more, eh?

excerpt from a conversation while studying theory last night with Brian and Jaana:

Sarah: Well, Brian, I know you have a limited vocabulary, but I'll try to explain it so you can understand...
Brian: Hey, the only reason you have a vocabulary is because all you do is sit around each evening reading The Oxford Concise Dictionary for People Who Are Lonely!

I thought that was hilarious... even though it was at my own expense!

There were also many other really funny conversations last night... :)

We're such music nerds. :)

Theory exam today... oh, fugue! Exposition... subject? answer! real or tonal? Development... augmentation, diminution, melodic inversion, stretto. entries and episodes. false episode! sequences and segments. Coda!

juries... finals... papers... projects...

*gasps for air*

ehh... no worries. I'll survive.

I know I'm generally a fascinating person, but I can't really think of anything fascinating to say at the moment.

Hmm... I'm tired.

I've been listening to Szeryng and Rubinstein playing the Brahms sonatas while I've worked on my homework this evening... ahhhh... Brahms.

Goodnight, world.

I'm waiting for my laundry to finish drying so I can go practice some more. In the meantime, why not blog? Why not indeed.

I've had a brilliant idea. Two of them, actually.

1) I am going to exert minimal effort in every aspect of my life, or perhaps no effort at all, until people's expectations of me drop to ground zero. From that point, I'll start working again, beginning with small achievements. Then, people will be really impressed, no matter how little I accomplish or how pathetic I am. This way, I can start getting some encouragement and affirmation for even the smallest of things that I do each day already, like practicing or doing my homework. People will be thrilled with my small successes! (This plan could backfire, though - while I'm in the process of leveling people's expectations to nada, it's quite possible that my teacher could kick me out of his studio, I could fail all my classes, and I could lose my scholarships. Hmm, is it worth the risk?)

2) I'm going to start telling people that I'm quitting the violin. Darcie, a cellist here, is thinking about not taking lessons or playing in orchestra next semester, and everyone's being so nice to her! Her teacher and our orchestra director are full of nothing but encouragement. Meanwhile, my teacher tells me that I sound like a cow and he feels like he has to babysit me. (This second idea has the same possible problematic result of a backfire... possibly, people will encourage me in my decision of quitting, saying something along the lines of, "I'm glad God has finally helped you realize what we've known all along... you suck... you may as well give up.")

(By the way, I'm not complaining about my teacher... I'm really complaining about myself. I'm only upset that I'm not the kind of student he deserves or the kind of student I could and should be. And, he really is a very encouraging teacher. He's so kind to me. It just that he really sees me and figures me out. Sometimes his honesty in my lessons, about me as a violinist and me as a person, can be overwhelming.)

I feel loserly. I hate the way I am. It's the same every year, every semester. I promise myself I'll work hard, stay on top of things, get ahead even, but by the time the end of the semester rolls around, I have a million things to do and I don't know how to do them all.

I miss the days when my ego was stroked a bit more often, and people thought I was bright and clever and talented. And my music teachers praised what work I did do and didn't expect a whole lot more. Okay, okay, I KNOW I'm better off with my teacher now, with his higher expectations and my higher expectations of myself... I'm just whining because I'm feel terrible and I'm worried that I'm disappointing people and not living up to all that I could be doing with my life.

I also miss the days when I was eager and curious about life. When I asked big questions and actually wanted to find out the answers. At my lesson this week my teacher was talking about motivation and initiative and curiosity, and it was upsetting to realize that I don't have that curiosity about life anymore. I check out books from the library, but when it comes down to it, I'd rather sleep than read them. I've been meaning to read Les Miserables again in my spare time this year, but I've barely made it through four chapters. I drag myself to my classes and force myself through my homework assignments, putting them off until the last possible moment. I'm enthusiastic about violin, but even that sometimes feels like I'm just pushing myself through it... one more hour, 30 more minutes, 15 more minutes...

What has happened to me? I talked to a friend and she said she felt the same way. We both just want to sleep. *yawn* Maybe it's normal, as a junior in college approaching finals, to feel this burned out. But I hate it. How can I regain some enthusiasm?

I miss being at home and feeling special just because I was me. I miss laughing until my stomach hurt. I miss the things I used to do. I miss the way I used to be... some aspects of it, anyway. In some ways I like who I am now a lot better, though. But... yeah. I miss a lot of things.

On the other hand, I have a lot of wonderful things now that I wouldn't want to give up. So, I'm reminescing and missing things, but I wouldn't necessarily want to go back, you know?

I've been thinking a lot about love lately. I am generally the sort of person who likes most people - all sorts of people - and feels a broad sort of love for all of humankind, for God, for creation, for all sorts of things. That being said, I can also be an extremely guarded and sarcastic person. So I have been wondering what it means to walk in His love, to love others the way Christ commands us to.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God... if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us." ~ 1 John 4:7

I've always had the sort of witty sense of humour that loves to make clever, stinging comebacks and enjoys laughing. When is this appropriate? Or, is it ever? Is it ever funny, or is it just plain mean? Maybe I should try being a more uplifting, kind, encouraging person. I think I would hardly know how to begin; I'm so accustomed to being silly all the time. Why am I like this?

Also, when is it appropriate to discuss a person in a negative light? Is this always gossip and thus always wrong, or is there a time within the confines of a close friendship that you can talk about other people?

I wish being good were easy, clear-cut, defined.

Okay, my laundry should be just about dry now.

I'll leave you with something funny, taken from the away message of my funny and inimitable friend Jaana:

*to the tune of Jingle Bells* "Homework sucks, homework sucks, It makes me want to hurl; I just want to go to bed, cause I'm a sleepy girl, OH! Homework sucks, homework sucks, when will the homework cease? I just want to throw it out and go to bed in peace!"