An E-Holiday in England

For at least the last two days I've been submerged in online books, sleeping at odd hours, and nearly entirely lazy. At around two o'clock this afternoon I emerged, in a very good mood, and with a strong determination never to do that again.

I've reached the authors whose last names begin with V at gutenberg.org. Mostly I've been reading books about young ladies in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. They are surprisingly relevant to real life, since a central theme is finding employment and coping with pecuniary difficulties. Though I can't say that I came away with any great insights on those points, it's nice to read about people (imaginary though they be) in a similar boat. And I do like comparing the past and present. But I haven't read any books lately that have led to any wise resolves or moral enlightenment (and I guess I could use both).

At the same time I have been thinking, as usual, what I should do next. I've already done enough research to get a general idea of what I must do (immatriculation forms and German proficiency tests) in the case that I'm accepted to university. And every two days or so I check online job listings (Meinestadt.de, Craigslist, and sometimes the Berliner Zeitung), not only to see if there are reputable-looking jobs for which I am qualified, but also to get a general idea what jobs are out there and what qualifications employers are (or should be) looking for. As for getting out more, I'm beginning to think of ways and means. But the self-education question is looking very doubtful; much as I wish that I would learn something, I still need a strong example, or strong compulsion by circumstances, to rouse myself to do it. If I do become a student this year, these problems would be, for the most part, solved. It even seems to be easier to find a job when one is a student. I cannot, however, rely on such a solution.

Anyway, T. made a delightful dinner today of pasta, chicken, and sweet-and-sour sauce (Mama did the shopping -- twice!). Then she and I played pieces for the piano and recorder again: the two movements of a Marcello sonata, and Telemann's Suite in a minor. After that I tried to practice the piano part of cello duets, where I whistle the cello part. The whistling was decent but exhausting. Then Papa offered to play the cello part, so we went through "Klassische Stücke für den Anfang" and Saint-Saens's "The Swan," and the pieces sounded nice.

With th'impending dusk, I went off for a quick walk to the Kleistpark. The few remaining blossoms included pink hydrangea and purple butterfly-bush flowers; there were also yellow flowers, including the fluffy dark ones that I mentioned in my Easter blog entry. But the dark purplish-blue Oregon grapes are also out, the snowberry bushes are decorated in white berries and tiny pink blooms, and one rose bush is full of red hips. Besides the flora, the fauna were also in evidence: dedicated joggers and conversing friends, of the species Homo sapiens. Spare droplets fell from the sky, but the grey cloud-cover otherwise retained its watery contents. Altogether, given the beautiful flourishing green everywhere, I see no reason to change my mind that the loveliest summer weather is cool temperatures and a lot of rain.

P.S.: The "E-Holiday" is short for "electronic holiday." It is rather lame but, hopefully, descriptive.