I have decided that further knowledge on the Ireland conflict is vital. Yes.
See, this talk is imperative, because it's quite a push to force me to pick up another book. I'm reading four George Eliot books right now, one Fitzgerald (though, it's made of such mixed literature media that it's really more like a compilation of stories), and two collections of Chekhov. The old Irish history book passed down in my family doesn't sound like the best addition, so I might just try to finish (or start) my tiny Celtic Mythology book. That gives me the very early history to build a basis on (all to study modern politics). If not, a couple Cuchulain stories are fodder for artistic movement. Like how he won Emer! How romantic!
Anyway, I've been trying to pick it up immediately, and it's not happening. Both sides are equally right and wrong to me right now. I believe in Irish nationalism (one Ireland, and a free one), but the IRA, as of late, is nothing more than a terrorist organisation that prevents this peaceful unification from occurring. But, Ireland has been oppressed, enslaved, murdered, raped, desecrated for nearly a millennium, and its rulers rewarded for unjust action. BUT Souther Ireland adopted the EU currency whereas England didn't, and I agree with Tony Blair on the point of universal currency, even if the Euro is doing well (because, so is the pound).
So, to get to the bottom of the problem, one must really dig to the bottom. That means every bit of history as far back as the neolithic farmers following Ireland's Ice Age, through all of the political cartoons depicting the Irish like monkeys next to the stoic and proud Bretons, through Oliver Cromwell, through Bobby Sands and the rashness of the new IRA, to today's unfamiliar names and faces. Somehow literary analysis of Yeats isn't cutting it anymore. I just know too much about American politics, I guess, and it's boring me. I'll tell you, the British House of Commons is great stuff! I didn't watch it tonight, though, because Tony Blair wasn't there. His stand-in didn't have the great reactions I love to see. Their party systems are bizarre... I love them... and the random Scottish judges and angry Irishmen who yell at eachother periodically. Good times, good times...
It's a good thing I have no desire to be a politician. I'd lose interest so quickly, it'd be ridiculous. And why I bother to learn about the Ireland conflict is beyond me. Perhaps it's because the American Republican Party is agreeing with the normally Liberal Labour Party of England and going against the Irish Republican Party. It's so confusing, and juicy, it's like a loser soap-opera.
Speaking of George Eliot, I'm very much looking forward to just settling down and enjoying the prudence of the Victorian Age of Literature, where my Whig sensibilities are cradled. Daniel Deronda is getting very good, and I don't want to finish it. I fall into this habit with good books where I feel inclined to read a paragraph a night, and never finish. Especially with this book, being 800 pages. But lately I have to read more than a paragraph because of the engrossing dialogue... ahh. Books. ...*whimper* I miss my English teacher! Must make her a painting! Yes!
But, first, I must clean my chamber. I think "chamber" is better than "bed-room", don't you agree? In any case, paints and paint supplies and paintbrushes currently litter the floor, and I have to hide all of my personal items (i.e. postcards and such that I keep taped to my desk), because they make the room look cluttered. That means my collection of miniature Disney toys and pictures of Paris and Nice and Lyon must be tucked away into my desk, which is currently occupied by piles upon piles of college letters.
Which, I've been thinking about this for awhile. I was going to attempt a film degree at whatever college would have me, but I really wanted to study acting in England. I mean, it's a good place to start out, London. Looks aren't as valued there as they are in New York or Hollywood, and acting jobs depend mostly on talent, and Cambridge is a *very* nice college to transfer into, if I could find the money (polysyndeton!). ...I guess I'll see what opportunities I get wherever I end up going. God'll put me in the right place. Sometimes you have to learn to walk on water!
**title is from Seinfeld
SILENCE, TRAITOR! - 2006-05-10
Irish History - 2006-05-02
Goodbye Bio! - 2006-05-01
DANCE, WATER! DANCE! - 2006-04-26
Gaaaaaah. - 2006-04-24