And it's another quiet day in the Writing Center, so the boss decided to have us do endless grammar exercises.

Click on the correct sentence.

9.

a. It is important to study the grammar of English.


b. Is important to study the grammar of English.

I want to say yes, I know this stuff...that's why you hired me, remember?

a hundred days had made me older - since the last time that i saw your pretty face - a thousand lights have made me colder - and i don’t think i can look at this the same - but all the miles are separate - they disappear now when i’m dreaming of your face

Screw this. You are not going to commit any great literature tonight. You need to relax. After all, you've been busting ass all day. You check the fridge; no beer. A finger of vodka in the bottle on the sink. Maybe you will step out and get a six-pack. Or wander over to the Lion's Head, as long as you're going out, to see if there's anybody you know. It's not impossible there to meet a woman avec hair, sans tattoo, at the bar.

~Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

When I looked again at the dates of the latest posts on this so-fascinating work I realized why they seemed familiar; Paideia's a couple days past a year old.

Why is this important?

It isn't, really at all. Just an observation.

What have I done in all that time? Disregarding the "slight" hiatus during the summertime I've posted a hell of a lot of song quotes, some literary analysis and commentary, some productions of an extremely bored or tired brain, and a few character profiles of aid-seeking Writing Center visitors. Perhaps the occasional flash of half-assed philosophy where I find life in the form of a potato beetle. Excellent. I rather liked my weedbed inspirations and golden garden days.

A friend and I were discussing the foredoomed tradition of New Year's resolutions the other day. Really, how many people do you know who make resolutions, let alone keep them? It's easy enough to get caught up in the spirit of rebirth and resurrection and to want ourselves to take part in the new spring of life as well, be it through losing weight or getting fit or quitting smoking - always something designed to boost one's self-confidence. But then there's always something else that needs to be done and somehow we just never get to that gym session we said we'd make faithfully every week and before we know it it's New Year's again and we're making the same resolution over again.

New Year's resolutions are of course a horrible example to use. But why is it that only a lucky few succeed in getting to do what they really want?

Power and control, Francine

i can't go - you said so - but threads that are golden - don't break easily - i got me some horses - to ride on - to ride on - they say that your demons - can't go there - so i got me some horses - to ride on - to ride on - as long as your army - keeps perfectly still

and though i'll never forget your face sometimes i can't remember my name

erst wenn die wolken schlafengehn - kann man uns am himmel sehn - wir haben angst und sind allein

when they say - you're not that strong - you're not that weak - it's not your fault - and when you climb up to your hill - up to your place - i hope you're well

a bhui le ri na bhfeart go bhfeiceam - muna mbeam beo 'na dhiaidh ach seachtain - grainne mhaol agus mile gaiscioch - ag fogairt fain ar ghallaibh

home is behind - the world ahead - and there are many paths to tread - through shadow - to the edge of night - until the stars are all alight - mist and shadow - cloud and shade - all shall fade - all shall fade


It's cold. So cold the snow squeaks underfoot and the sky is bright and clear, an arc of blue so cold it's brittle, waiting for me to throw a stone and shatter it into a million million sparkling fragments. The face freezes and the lungs rebel at the onslaught of frigid air, so I cough reflexively after every deep breath. Students practically run to class, smothered in down and fleece, hatted and gloved, between the havens of warmth that buildings offer, bent forward as into a strong head wind in an effort to expose as little flesh as possible to the biting air. I walk tall and bare-headed, imagining the ice crystals forming on my cheeks.

I've never felt so clean.

I told you.

sailing down behind the sun - waiting for my prince to come - praying for the healing rain - to restore my soul again

It's truly amazing how quickly one settles back into the routine, no matter how different said routine may be from the one that governed your life a month ago. Different classes, professors, friends, possibly even living quarters, different schedule and pace of life, and yet overall it's completely and indisputably just another semester here at the university.

I have heard it expressed, by people whose opinions I respect, that there is a finite basis of circumstances and situations in life, upon which every experience of a person's lifetime is based. Therefore, nothing is truly new and surprising, merely a variation on something that has already happened previously, either to that particular individual or another, somewhere, somewhen. It is the Formalism of life, Boris Tomashevsky on existence. Ergo we are all linked as human beings through a set of shared experiences and memories that should, in theory, create a sort of empathy or harmony between all members of the human race.

I don't think that's happened yet.

...death is just another path - one that we all must take. the gray curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silver glass...and then you see it. white shores, and beyond, a far green country, under a swift sunrise...

And we're back.