Don't fix my smile, life is long enough.

I finished reading The Crucible yesterday. It's a play so I was able to read it much faster than The Scarlet Letter. (Thank goodness.) I didn't absolutely hate it, but I'm not going to recommend you read it unless you're like me and reading ahead for an English class. Next book is The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane about the American Civil War. Is it a snorefest? We shall see.

Since I had to check out Red Badge from the library this morning, I started Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury last night.
I love it and I'm barely 50 pages in. I think that's a good sign.

Here's an excerpt I found really profound:
They walked the rest of the way in silence, hers thoughtful, his a kind of clenching and uncomfortable silence in which he shot her accusing glances. When they reached her house all its lights were blazing.
“What’s going on?” Montag had rarely seen that many house lights.
“Oh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. It’s like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time — did I tell you? — for being a pedestrian, Oh, we’re most peculiar.”
“But what do you talk about?”
She laughed at this. “Good night!” She started up her walk. Then she seemed to remember something and came back to look at him with wonder and curiosity. “Are you happy?” she said.
“Am I what?” he cried.
But she was gone — running in the moonlight.

The rest you can read yourself!

See you later, alligators.

Open arms are prison cells.

The first week of mix tape posting has been awesome! Though words cannot properly express my gratitude, a huge thank you goes to all my lovely contributors and anyone who has followed and/or commented already!

West Side Story was great. I was completely in awe of the elaborate set and the dancing was superb. I wish I had more to say about it but I don't.

I finally finished reading The Scarlet Letter today. In retrospect, it probably should not have been the first book I read this summer. It dragged on the first 15 chapters and thus I got discouraged from reading further for a while. In spite of that, I liked it well enough. I wouldn't, however, be too upset if I don't read the word 'ignominy' again for a while. Just watch; I'll probably be plagued with the phenomenon (alliteration, anyone?) of seeing that word everywhere for the next week or so.
Now I have a little more than half a summer to try and read the other eleven on my list. Wish me luck. I'm about to start The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller about the Salem Witch trials. When my brother kindly checked it out from the library for me, he manged to pick up probably the oldest, most mangled copy there.
I wish I felt happier. I think I'll try to find solace in my small backyard in the blazing heat. You have no idea how deeply I envy those who live near wondrous forests and fields that are perfect for exploring and taking pictures in.

South Africa.

My oldest brother visited South Africa last summer.
This is what he saw.

I'm going to be starting a collab blog
and it's not too late to comment if you are interested!

Read more about it here.

Spotted.

My brother took this picture on his trip to South Africa last summer.
He went as part of a college scholarship.
He was studying abroad there,
and also help build schools, I believe.
There are a thousand more photos that I've tried to sift through.
I'll share the best of them at a later date.