XI: Rewind to Narcissus and Milk

As promised, I was heterochromic today. Do you guys prefer turquoise (left) or grey (right)? I already polled all of my coworkers. And that's the extent of my narcissism...or is it?

Every night since I've gotten Chloe, I've been going to bed quite late. I don't even have anything to do on the computer other than write this blog. So I had to find something to occupy myself with and I went through some of my old emails. I found some that I had written to various professors during my third and fourth year at UBC, and I was actually quite impressed! I didn't remember ever being so insightful or sounding as articulate. And I'm only saying this now because things have obviously changed. I am no longer the essay writer/researcher I once was. See the excerpt below from an email paper proposal for my Roman epic class:

I have been thinking about Narcissus and self-knowledge more than his sexual desire per se; in addition, I'd possibly like to compare his self-knowledge to that of Scylla, Echo, and maybe Medea, and the consequences of their actions. The reason I hesitate about Medea is because she is much more in control of her fate than the other women of the Metamorphoses, and if memory serves me correctly, she escapes from her crimes and does not need to deal with their repercussions. In this way she seems like the black sheep of the scorned lovers.

I guess that my main concern is whether the link between self-knowledge and sexual desire is strong enough for me to write on topic #6, or whether I should just focus on self-knowledge by itself; however, while I am writing this I am realizing that for all the characters I wish to talk about, self-knowledge and sexual desire are synonymous--the characters know themselves through their feelings for another person, as ironic as it sounds, and the risks they take when in love cause themselves harm and growth. I see Ovid as using this psychological/emotional growth in a symbolic way through physical transformation to make it more concrete, poetic, and mythical for the reader.

Wha? Now I feel like digging up the essay and reading it over. How I miss going to classes, reading ancient works, and coming up with ideas/theories. Classical studies was/is a perpetual fountain from which one can draw inspiration. But how I don't miss essay deadlines or studying for exams, and appreciate having a job and making money.

And this is life. It is a give and take, a push and pull; you take the good with the bad, the past with the present, you make concessions, you take risks, you make mistakes. You forget, regret, aspire, achieve, love, lose, ache, mend. Live.

The important thing is to always grow. Grow all ways.

And how fitting to refer to a milk commercial when today marked the end of an experimental two weeks of giving up milk. Here's another good commercial. I'm sorry, but I really love milk. And I had to reintroduce it back into my life with some fanfare.