Why I'm taking myself to the Christmas Banquet (and no, I'm not just a shrew)

Bluntly put, it's because on the whole, I'm not impressed with the Ambrose boys. (yes, I say "boys", not "men". Not that I have an opinion, or anything.) Also, in this community, you only attend "with someone" if you're dating, a relationship I share with no one, especially these guys I've known for less than 2 months. Why cheapen what it means to be a couple by casually going with a guy I'll probably never promote over the level of friend? It's silly. Besides, according to Brian, I'm too skinny for anyone to ever love me anyway. ;)

Why then do I still go? It's a chance to attend a masquerade and enjoy a formal social event with friends (not to mention food a step above the usual cafeteria fare)! Of course, since it's a Christian school, there is to be no dancing. (cough) We'll see how that goes.

At least I can finish my book.

 I'm presenting in my history class on some writings of this dashing gent (Sima Qian) sometime in the next week or so. He's the Chinese version of Herodotus, and was the first to write out any history of the Chinese people. Qian was so devoted to his work, when given the choice between the death penalty and castration (for supposedly disobeying the emperor), he chose castration. He is credited for saying something along the lines of, "at least I get to finish my book that way". It's a "glass half-full" way to look at the situation. Specifically, I get to talk about the life of Meng Tian, the general responsible for building the great wall of China. Of course, this is especially interesting to me after getting to visit it. This is good, because otherwise, the motivation to do homework is not very high.

Rudeness or flattery?

In my Lit. class, we're working on a lot of early English poetry, full of hopelessly romantic ideals and silly notions. So when you run across something like Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 it stands out:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Really, it's quite interesting ( not to mention I'm currently writing an essay about it, so I can't get it out of my mind). It does raise the question, well posed by Charlotte Brontë : Do you prefer flattery or rudeness in love? Or do you hope there's a middle ground because neither are ideal? Either way, this poem, for the period it was written in, leans dangerously to the honest side, with a touch of sarcasm. It's a personal favorite. Well said, Bard.

Recently, I've been trying to help some friends choose meaningful and clever names for their new blogs, which has begged the question: Why "Ramblings of a Reformed Romantic"? While the answer doesn't really need an explanation if you've actually read the blog, I'll try to explain it (she said without a hint of arrogance).

As becomes readily apparent when you read it, my natural writing style does not necessarily follow a logical thought progression, in fact one might call it wandering and random. By definition then, rambling is a fitting description of what I do, often or habitually roaming; wandering; lengthy and/or digressive. The analogy isn't perfect..."rambling" does seem to imply there's no point in the writing. (insert clever joke here)

Reformed is for my firmly held theological beliefs. I love God and long to know Him more. One of the most crucial kinds of knowledge is the knowledge of what God is like in salvation, which I believe John Calvin to have explained very well indeed for a fallible human. I believe God is sovereign and I can cast aside all anxiety in the knowledge that he has foreordained what is it be and it is working out for His glory (so many things I could say here...but I'll leave it there).

And last, and probably least, I am a hopeless romantic. I can be an idealist, a sentimental dreamer, imaginative and fanciful. Going through love poetry for school right now is just about a as good as it gets. ;) By definition, I am person who allows feelings of love to override common sense, though I hope that's not entirely true. A Romantic can also refer to someone who appreciates that period in history, literature and art, which I enjoy greatly.

All in all, a fitting title for my blog.

But you can call me Kels...

Growing up, my family shortened my name to the mono-syllabic "Kels". It was totally natural, and I don't mind it at all. I never really noticed that it was a nickname until moving to Minneapolis. Then, through making new friends, I realized that it was a pretty good indicator of when people were comfortable around me. Usually, about a month or so into a relationship, people start using "Kels" when talking to/about me, even if they have no contact with my family or people who use "Kels". I usually never tell people this, because I'm still testing my theory. So far, the data has been very consistent, and as I assume the only people that would even think of reading this have known me for at least a year, I'm not too worried about spoiling the social experiment. How does this relate to the present? (I'm glad you asked.) In the last week, people in Res. have finally started calling me "Kels".



Not totally related, but somewhat interesting: I also answer/have in the past answered to "Kelso", "Ryn-Ring", "Ke-Ru-Shi", "Dawn", "Lady Rosalyn", "YOU", and "Elsie" (to name a few).

After losing blood flow to three of my fingers for about 20 minutes yesterday, I decided to do some research on Raynaud's syndrome to see if there was anything I could do to help prevent the symptoms. It was actually quite interesting. I already knew it had to do with poor circulation, but I was unaware it was related to overstimulated blood vessels; basically, being exposed to cold or stress causes them to constantly constrict, causing the blood to drain from those areas. Naturally then, habits like smoking or caffeine dependencies (here's where it hurts...) aggravate these conditions. So kicking that coffee habit might not be such a bad idea after all.

3 days after I started, I finished my first blog post for work. Apparently having my writing represent the English department means I'm very meticulous. We'll see if it pays off.