Still kicking

I have many excuses for why I have not yet finished Emma.

1. Trips to Vermont
2. Working daily
3. Using my spare time for other things, i.e. running/writing/washing the car/going to the movies/cooking
4. I've been knitting the ginormous and amazing baby blanket (beautiful basketweave squares of yellow, blue, and green)
5. I have a life
6. I don't often take lunch breaks at work anymore

I know this is disappointing! But I thought I'd update with a bit of what will be coming up after Austen.

Provided that nothing else occurs in the form of alien invasions, meteor strikes, hurricanes, nuclear war, etc, I'll be finishing Emma at my usual lightning speed. Then comes... TEXTBOOKS!!!

Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, there were exclamation points and capitalization involved. That's because these textbooks aren't just any boring old textbooks. Oh no. These are multiple versions of Malory's Le Morte Darthur!!!



I read a lot of the Norton Critical edition of Le Morte during my freshman year for a different class. However, this fall, I'm taking a class solely devoted to my beloved Sir Thomas Malory, and that involves new versions of Le Morte (Oxford and Signet) and a looooot of reading. The Oxford is written in Middle English (as in, nothing is spelled correctly or consistently and there are all sorts of weird phrases), while the Signet is in modern English. As soon as I get a notebook (to jot down family trees, character explanations--there are TOO MANY KNIGHTS to keep track of, and other thoughts as I read) and finish Emma, I'll be a scholar once again. I can't wait to dive back into Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tristan and Iseult, Merlin, etc.

Once I go back to school, I'll be doing something I've been eagerly anticipating ALL summer-- rereading the Harry Potter series!!! I like reading easier things during the school year, since the books I read for class are usually pretty difficult. So while I couldn't justify a complete series rereading this summer, it'll be happening come September 7th.

And you'll be hearing from me again in a few days when I finish Emma.