Beauteous

It's March and the sun is shining like the middle of July. The sky is cloudless, the mountains are sharp in the distance, and the stars shine clear in the night. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Not much of excitement has happened recently. There's been the pre-Spring Break crunch of midterms and projects, so I've been studying a lot. Pretty boring.

It's been nice, though, so I've been reading outside a lot lately when I get the chance. I've rediscovered Vonnegut (who is seriously funny), finished Kite Runner (which is heart wrenching but really good), and started again on Divergent (the next movie book). It's been delicious.

Lent's started here. I went to Ash Wednesday mass on the stage by the student union, which was a cool experience. There were a ton of people there for such a small space. Ash Wednesday is one of the few times a large group of people publicly, quietly declare their faith, and it's interesting to see people's reactions. It's a sign of solidarity, if nothing else.

Another really interesting thing about Lent here is that almost everyone seems to be giving something up, even if they're not remotely Christian. Maybe it's a second chance at a New Year's Resolution, or just an excuse to make a goal, but all I know for sure is that cussing in the dorm has gone down dramatically. Me, I'm giving up soda, ice cream, and fried food, and have made an effort to run more.

This weekend is the Tucson Festival of Books, so, once again, flagged white tents have taken over the Mall. This is huge. The likes of Lois Lowry, Cornelia Funke, and Sandra Day O'Connor will be in attendance. This looks about three times the size of the festival of books we used to go to at Goldenwest College and everything and anything seems to be represented.

I'm officially going to Ohio for the Rube Goldberg Competition in April, which, if I can stand 30 hours in the car both ways, should be a ton of fun. I'm really looking forward to it.

Hoping for a good week to come. I've got to get better at posting on time :-/