Summer Reading…well, I suppose

I finished The Brothers Karamazov, and I must say, Ivan and his intercourse with the ‘Devil’ was by far the most intriguing aspect. I shouldn’t laugh, but his fervour over proper evidence struck me as, shall we say, amusing.

Anyway, I read ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus again over the course of a day by the pool….lazy Saturday’s…. Camus’ books, being as compact as they are, never manage to amaze me at their ability to produce distinct emotions. I speak for myself only on the topic, since we all vary while reading fiction.

I finished ‘Reading Lolita in Tehran’ by Azar Nafisi today. Originally, the book was bought upon the pretext that Nabokov (my favorite author) would be discussed. I learned so much more, in particular, my ignorance about foreign affairs. Though I did miss the discourse of Nabokov I found that the author has another book over the topic, hoora! I don’t want to tread over boundaries while discussing the book, but the insight I gained is invaluable. Perhaps different sources should be read to validate the description, but nonetheless, it was a good read by all accounts.

I believe Gogol’s ‘Dead Souls’ is next on the list, whenever it shows up on my doorstep from half.com.

…and Sir Edward Dyer’s poem ‘My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is’ is worth looking into.

Hurricanes

Tropical storm Cristobal is creeping its way up north, but I don’t think it will hit Hampton Roads, or, that is not its projected path.  Strange, I’ve never had to worry about tropical storms and hurricanes before, only tornadoes.  We attempted a trip to the beach this morning but it was unfortunately raining…so we hung out at the local pool instead.  I am now sunburned, dang.  I’ve got a nice hand print on my back from where I attempted sunscreen.  It’s pretty awesome.

We learned how to surf last weekend at Virginia Beach.  That’s me below:

Haha, just kidding.  I totally got you.  I’m actually quite terrible, but hopefully with some practice I will actually be able to stay up longer than 1/2 a second.

We went and saw the new Dark Knight movie this weekend.  Not bad, but I’m still partial to Jack Nicholson as the joker.

3 weeks and the internship is up.  Time to start writing that technical paper….*sighs*…..

The Fourth and Rain

It rained here for the fourth, so no beach, no fireworks, no holiday festivities. It has rained here a lot lately come to think of it. Also, to the south of us lies The Great Dismal Swamp (I capitalize for emphasis, what a great name for a swamp eh?). This swamp has been on fire since we moved here so we have been subjected to occasional smoke-induced hazes. This also plagued our fourth of July holiday. Not that I’m complaining. I stayed occupied, with so many books in the world, it’s hard to ever find oneself bored.

This is in my hands at the moment:

This is in my ears:

And these are in my stomach, because I made them … what an exciting life I lead:

The holiday is over tomorrow, back to work. It’s hard to believe my 10 week internship is halfway over.