Time to Breathe

So... yeah, I've been ignoring this blog for a while. Sorry. Of course, Mom and Dad came to visit, so they didn't need the blog...

I'm done at Borders. It's empty. Closed. Signs torn down and everything. When we passed it last week, there were a bunch of guys in suits having some sort of meeting in there... I wonder what will take over the space?

I'm also almost done with school - just one more week. All my major projects and papers are done. I just love this feeling: for once, I don't have dozens of things due, overdue, or almost due all hanging over my head. What's more, Mom & Dad took me grocery shopping and helped me get my laundry done when they visited for Easter (thanks guys!), so none of that needs to be done immediately either.

I cleaned off my desk today. I know it looked like piles and piles of random junk, but believe it or not, that was my "inbox," which was overflowing. So cleaning my desk off meant completing dozens of minor (and not-so-minor) things that I'd let slide. I vacuumed too, and washed the stove and the microwave. And the dishes. Really, I've been quite productive considering how late I got up.

About that: I got up very late today. I've been sleeping 10-12 hours straight each night... hopefully this means I'll soon be caught up on all the sleep I missed this past month, and can go back to 8-hour nights.

 

Walden Pond

Awesome Day

1. I got an internship.

2. It was about 60 degrees out - ie perfect.

3. My new shoes came.

4. I got an internship.

5. I finally got a response from one of the magazines I contacted about my final paper.

6. My printer passed its last test - it worked perfectly, with no hassle & no wait, after having been left on all night. Epson: 3 HP: 0 (or should I give them a point for being pretty?)

7. I got an internship.

8. My group's magazine project presentation went really well, and the class let out early.

9. My new issue of Ploughshares came in the mail.

10. Did I mention the internship?


Also: I got off the T, thought, "It smells like rain," and two seconds later it was raining. Which... is less awesome, but at least proves I'm awesome.
 :-D

What Makes a Translation

My book editing class attended the "Writer as Translator: Translator as Writer" panel today.
Some thoughts gathered there:

1. A translator is like a musician, and the original author is the composer.
          Or, in other words, they're both artists. What's more, ten different musicians could play the same piece in ten different ways, but it's still the same song. It's kind of cool to think about. I have 3 or 4 different versions of the song "Gypsy David" (one of which I barely recognized). What if I wanted 3 or 4 translations of Dante? Or Beowulf? Or, for that matter, Harry Potter in Spanish? Actually, what about just the fact that I do have two versions of Harry Potter - Spanish and English?
         Just look at the Bible (Isaiah 11:9):

לא-ירצו ולא-ישחיתו בכל-הר קדשי כי-מלאה הארץ דעה את-יהוה כמים לים מכסים
"They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
"Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD."
"No one will harm or destroy on my entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is filled with water."
"They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
         ....and that's just one verse.

2. Writers are translators. They translate reality.
         Well, cool. And here I am, translating my memory of a seminar into a blog post.

3. Conversations are translation.
        Just think about it. If you ask someone how their day went, and they look at the floor an mumble "Good, I guess," you ask what's wrong. If you ask someone how their day went, and they look you in the eye with a big smile and say "Good!" you smile back and want to hear all about the fun they had. So what does "good" mean?




"You always should do what you cannot do" - Willis Barnstone