My Major Decision

It probably would have been more professional to mention this vacation from blogging before I took it, but at that time I didn't know the past couple of weeks would unfold in the fashion they have. I haven't really been on vacation, but I've been putting my mind into matters other than the blog. One of those matters has resulted in me picking a college major to focus on for the next four years: Literature.

A diaspora of people have influenced this recent decision. My former literature teacher, Mrs. Atkins from Borah High School, inspired a love of literature in me that I haven't fully realized until now. My excitement for that class and the books we read, from Homer to Shakespeare and Heart of Darkness to Song of Solomon, has been unparalleled in all of my education. Just before I graduated she made a list of books for me to read. I'm only just beginning to tackle it and it's been too long since I've felt this zeal toward anything but music or politics. Another influential individual, behind a table at some activist event, shared with me the passion of Hugo's Les Miserables. His own passion for the text was contagious, and I immediately needed to read the book. I've since bought it, and will embark through its pages soon. The passion for literature this individual exhibited is a driving force now, and was also injected into me by Azar Nafisi, someone whom I do not even know. I am, however, reading her book Reading Lolita in Tehran. Nafisi remembers Iran through the context of great works of fiction, such as Nabokov, Fitzgerald, and Austen. The passion and urgency with which she learns and teaches from these books stirs my soul. So I've decided; it will be literature.

In light of that, I'm going to incorporate my New Years Resolution into this blog. I decided I'd read at least one book for every two weeks of this year, not including school books. This has nothing to do with music, but it is another form of breathing. Each page becomes as essential as a single breath. Music and literature are both endeavors that let one live, no less important than breathing itself. When I finish Reading Lolita in Tehran, I won't quite review it, but I will contemplate it lightly in this blog. My hope is that, just as I try to spread the word of wondrous music, I can inspire a need to read in someone.

I haven't had any music to review for the past couple of weeks, but I'll be back soon. It's about time for my third in a three part review of Bright Eyes' Vinyl Box Set. I'm visiting the Boise Weekly office tomorrow, where I'll also pick up more CDs to review. I think they have some African music for me, which should prove to be, at the very least, interesting. Don't give up on this blog just yet!