7 Quick Takes: Volume 3

-- 1 --

I have my eye on this Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens that costs almost four hundred dollars.  I figure if I put a little money away each week, I will be able to save up.  Does anyone know where or from whom I could buy a gently used one for a marked down price?

-- 2 --

I need more prayer and reflection, and a casual conversation on Saint Augustine made me dig up my copy of The Confessions from college.  At the time I read it in a philosophical-educational context, with a not-so-orthodox professor, so I want to take a second look at it.  It is organized into easily digestible sections.  Keeping an account of my reflections here will motivate me to keep it up.  So that is forthcoming, if all goes as planned.

-- 3 --

I want to introduce the art of acting to my pupils.  Naturally, my first instinct is to plunge into Shakespeare, but he is a daunting project for little readers.  So I was wondering what people think of the No Fear Shakespeare series.  Are they written in play format?  How true are they to the originals?

Do you have any other suggestions for quality beginning theatre for an eleven- and thirteen-year-old?

Do you know why my spell check wants me to spell "theatre" as "theater"?

-- 4 --

Since our free trial for Gymboree expired months ago, the baby has lacked quality peer interaction.  I want to find a once-a-week play group for him to socialize with children his age (which will most likely take the form of poking each other with sticks, but you know).  However, there is nothing available in my area.  Is anyone around here interested in starting something with me?

-- 5 --

At the suggestion of my sister, I've signed up for My Fitness Pal to help me keep track of what I am eating and consciously lower my calorie intake to--fingers crossed--loose weight!  Thursdays not included of course, because Thursdays are tea party days!

Should I put a little tracker here on my blog?  It could be a good thing because then people could hold me accountable.  But it could also be a Bad Thing because, you know, people could hold me accountable!

-- 6 --

I never did get to call my BFF before she went into labor with her second baby.  Welcome, little E.T.G.!  I wonder what it feels like to have two children.  My heart is already so full to the brim with one.  Just when we think we couldn't possibly have any more joy, love surprises us again.

-- 7 --

The 31st Annual G.K. Chesterton Conference is coming up in August!  If anyone from the Tampa Bay area is driving to Reno, Nevada, would you be interested in carpooling and maybe even sharing a hotel room?  I would love to go.