The portal of the pen

Welcome to my site! Please comment also if you like something you read here, or if you have some suggestions on how to improve things (It's also just depressing to imagine that what I put up here might be only wasted breath). If you must know who the heck this person is that you're reading, go to my profile page.Please subscribe if you have any interest at all! You can also contact me via caroline.hogan@houghton.edu. 

Something fun to do when you have a long ways to go on the NY state thruway?  Count woodchucks.
Final Tally: 9 live chucks, 1 dead, plus 3 muskrats.

Happy Valentines Day, if you care about that. If not, have a happy Non-Valentine's Day.

New Poem.

The End

 

It's my name! Only not...
Still, it's flattering to think that this name was going to be Caroline; but then Neil Gaiman made an amazing typo (but then, Gaiman himself is amazing).
Well, the reason for this picture being here is that I just saw this tonight, 3D glasses and all. Such a beautiful experience. The stop-motion style makes it feel so real; and I kept thinking I was looking into a dollhouse. And between this movie and 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' which I saw in December, I can never see buttons the same way again!
On another note, I just turned in the first 10 pages of my screenplay late last night. I'd like to put it up here later, but it won't look quite the same, since the screenwriting format is pretty insane.
Rehearsals have begun for The Tempest! It's going to be a fun ride, I think.

"My empire is of the imagination." - from She (H. Rider Haggard)

  

Well well, the first update in a little while...
The biggest news is that, next fall, I shall, God willing, be in the great city of London. Yes, I will be in school, so there will be work to do of course. But whatever happens, this is one of the biggest events in my life, so I'm bubbling with excitement. I've wanted to go to Great Britain for years, and make my quest to the places where some of my heroes wrote their books. It's also like a trip to my ancestral home, since a good deal of my family came from England. Another exciting thing about this is that I will be flying for the first time. That's probably when the reality of this sets in - when I say goodbye to my family and get on the plane in Boston or New York or wherever.
<flood of London-squee ends here>
I am back in school for my 4th semester (geez, it's been that long?) and have 6 classes of varying length and level of interest. The best ones are definitely Salem Witchcraft, and Victorian Literature - great stuff. THe book I quoted at the top of this paragraph is one of the ones we will read later in the class - that quote was on the back of the book and I really liked it, so I can't wait to read the book. Another cool class I'm taking is Screenwriting, though, frankly, I'm rather intimidated by the thought of sharing my fiction with the class as early as a week from now.
A great friend that I just met this year has been giving me loads of music - some old favorites like Steeleye Span (picture on the left), and some cool new stuff. We've also been watching a huge number of movies. Tonight we saw an interesting Korean film about a girl who thinks she's a cyborg. It was cute (picture on the right).
I guess I am thinking in pictures tonight.

I am at peace tonight.

For the first time in a while, maybe ever, I am content with the way things are.

Every once in a while, I have a really good day. Not just an un-bad day, but a really good day. Days like this come no more than once a week, and I can't say I know what triggers them. At the moment all I can tell you is that this is not one of those days. This is not a happy day, it is a peaceful one. One of still, sleepy contentment.

Another thing that makes this day different from the others is that I can find some logical reasons for my contentment. Usually the only thing I can connect with my "happy days" is a good cup of coffee that kicked me up into the clouds first thing in the morning; but then, it's not like coffee does that every time either. Today, my reasons are somewhat more sensible that the high-on-caffeine explanation: I just came back from break; I have another, longer break in just three weeks; my one class scheduled tomorrow was cancelled; and I am catching up on homework.

This state of mind makes me ready, even eager, for what's coming. You wouldn't think this possible, since I am expecting very very little from a test two days from now. School is the same as ever, so why am I content? Why am I even a little excited for next year, something that hasn't happened since I-don't-know-when.

Yes, school is hard. I don't know how long my time here will be. Yes, I am very unsure. Trusting myself does not sound like a good idea most of the time. Yes, I have tests and final projects that sound pretty scary. But I feel that whatever comes along, it will not be a problem. I am at peace, and content with life. God has made me ready for the future.

 

New poem on the poetry page. Very quickly written up, for once. The one before it is also quite new, developed over the past summer.

 

Phew! Lots of new things coming up on the 'Unrelated' page. I've done a ton of sewing and other things like that lately. Writing, unfortunately, is not coming along so fast. I've had some fun experimenting with poetry, etc., this summer, but I'm not too confident on putting it up any time soon.

As for the summer new, not much - but I am very very glad to be home. I love having time to work on projects, think (you'd guess more of that would happen at school...), not to mention have lots of nice civilized teas with my wonderful mummy. In less than 2 weeks I'll be going to a renaissance faire with friends - very exciting! I'll put up pictures of my gypsy costume later, when it's complete.