Seven Quick Takes, The Why Do I Always Break Myself? Edition

1. Let’s review, shall we? I got sick two days after my brother got here, and I was in bed for EIGHT DAYS. It was probably the plague. Then I got out of bed and wandered around feebly for a week, coughing like an emphysemic 80-year-old. Then I felt good enough to start running again, and I had four! whole! days! of normal activity. Then I twisted my foot. Not a serious sprain, but a “pretty bad swelling, Ace bandage, limping, feeling like a total idiot” degree twist. Eeeeexcellent.
2. In other news: We toured the Air Force Academy today! The weather was beautiful, and I love the mountains around the campus. I find the cadet chapel kind of…hideous…but the tour guide was sweet and knowledgeable. I like the fact that they tried to infuse the building with symbolism.
3. Speaking of which. Confession: classical education has turned me into a total Nazi when it comes to logical missteps in pretty much anything—advertisements; speeches; other kids’ papers; my own papers, even. (I am an equal opportunity Nazi.) I thought of this because today, the tour guide at the Academy was explaining the symbolism of the pulpit in the main chapel. It’s this round, white marble monolith with a sort of tripod base, and she asked if we saw any themes in it. Someone said a spaceship, and she said yes, and then she explained why, thusly: “There’s a Scripture verse around the top of the pulpit, and it reads, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ So therefore the spaceship.” Uh. What? That’s one enthymeme I just can’t follow.
4. While we were at the Academy, we also got to see the whole wing (which is Air Force lingo for all the cadets) parade around the terrazzo and into the (enormous) mess hall. It was an incredibly neat sight, especially in the context of the AFA campus, which basically looks like something straight out of a Heinlein novel. The only thing I don’t understand is why the whole student body is “the wing,” singular, given that they fly planes and whatnot, because: a one-winged airplane can’t actually fly. Anyone have an explanation for this?
5. In football news: the Army-Air Force game is tomorrow, and we have tickets. We’re going early to tailgate, so we made broccoli salad and brownies and the boys are bringing beer and grilling burgers, and the atmosphere should be a pretty lively. I am not going to take a book; I am determined to just relax and enjoy the game, the company, and the beautiful weather. I’m pretty excited.
6. I just discovered Sugarland, and I want to know: how did I just discover Sugarland? They’re delightful. I have an unnatural attachment to this song.
7. Baby goal for the weekend: to complete my reading and paper for Monday, and at least one entire graduate school application, by a reasonable time on Sunday evening. This is a long shot, given how little time I’ll have to study tomorrow, but I really want to do it. On the upside, having a bum foot that prevents me from exercising frees up a couple of extra hours! I’ll let you know how it goes.
   
   More quick takes here.