342.January 24

Jerusalem

Sunday 24 0730- Breakfast. 0900- we left Ariel Hotel for the Holyland hotel's model of Jerusalem in Herod's time. It was grand, and imagining that it was actually a city that functioned is hard. There were steps in many places descending into David's city, and no path for wagons. Traders and wagons and horses could not have used this very easily if at all. I saw no other paths. One must have gone around the outside gates. 1030- Israeli Museum. The shrine of the book was visible outside as a large white Hershey's kiss. The Dead Sea Scrolls were there, interesting but my love of sculpture will only let me remember the Canaanite fertility symbols and all the Greek and Roman art. I was going mad with excitement at how they worked the stone. And one Venus was done in clay. Alabaster was the most impressive because of the variances in the material. A hollow alabaster jar shaped as a fish was beautiful. The mosaics were also wonderful. My favorite is of a lion attacking a gazelle from behind. After that part of the historical tour, Becca and I looked at illuminated bibles and then costumes from around the orient, but mostly Jewish. Then we saw an exhibit from New Zealand. Becca joined the group and I looked at sculptures and modern art until 1230. We took the bus to a Jewish Memorial of WW2 persecution. The children's memorial was a maze of mirrors, candles, pictures of some children before they died in concentration camps, and crying tourists. We went to Bethlehem (after stopping at the Hotel for jackets and cameras.) Becca and I went to the Milk Chapel and to the Church of the Holy Nativity. They were both disappointing, they were emptiness worshipping a spot, the Milk Chapel is where Jesus was suckled, it was dark. Dan bought Roman coins and we left at 1500. When we got back, a few of us went to the Old Town. I went to the place I bought my chess set and got the missing piece. Back to the Hotel Ariel, ate, packed, and drunk wine. I stayed up until 0330 talking to Dan, John, Brenda, and Jen.

1993

Nottingham, UK

I turned in my Rhetoric paper on e. e. cummings right on time, by catching a cab to the Trent Building. I turned in the script to the photocopiers at the library who photocopy stuff for classes. Each script will cost around 1.20 quid, and I ordered twenty-five. Money is already going down the drain. That is 30 pounds. Then I went to Clifton campus to pay 89 quid for the Amsterdam trip. Then I came back home, because I forgot to turn in the Bibliography of my paper. It was wonderful to be free of essays.

erin,

your name looks really runty if you type erin

you didn't, but since i just wrote a paper on e.e.cummings, i thought i would try your name similarly.

I am done. My essays are done. I only have a final in Chaucer on the 31st of January. Before that I am going to Amsterdam, I just paid the 89 quid today. Now I will go home and get some sleep. I can even read Wuthering Heights first I'll study critical theory, and then read Moll Flanders. Then I will be all caught up. Oh, I went to London two days ago and saw four of my best friends from Luther. It was great. I am excited about next year, but two of them will have graduated.

1994

I scanned the rest of my Black and White negatives from the UK today, and then I took all the ornaments of our tree, leaving the lights so we could enjoy them a little bit longer. I went to my parents house, and with the assistance of my mother, we took down one of her trees. I played piano, making beautiful chords progressing towards nothingness, all while baking an apple pie that we got from Rachel's mother's church. When that was done, John arrived, and Rachel and Jill showed up at Jill's house nearby. I was looking through family slides, many of me that I will soon scan and finally have some childhood pictures of myself. I met Jill and Rachel at Jill's house and we drank Smiling Loon Merlot and at Mabe's pizza to tide us over until dinner. I was eventually called to pick up John and Ole to come over, because Patty had not arrived from picking up Elyse, who had a fever of 102. I helped my father with some spreadsheets, it was actually his computer diary of dates and happenings since 1960 something. I should steel some of his material for my datebook. We went back to Jill's and ate beef stroganoff and cabernet sauvignon and watched a documentary on the American Eagle. Elyse and I played a little dress-up with masks and cats, and then we decided it was time to return home. Rachel told me I had to go to bed immediately, but I said I needed to play a video game for a bit first. She then played some reverse psychology on me and stayed up later than I wanted to, and now here I am, after she reminded me to finish my diary.

201.

I participated as narrator and the boatswain Abraham in the 6th grade musical Treasure Island in Spring Grove because two children were sick. Frida and I arrived and got a table and some NYcheesecakes at the dessert theatre. After that, we enjoyed the One Act Play over yet anothe dessert and coffee. Frida went home with Mara and Lindsay. I went home alone to clean and organize 2013 bills.

2014