I have done a lot that I hope I can sum up... it follows a random flow of thought, so I hope there's some coherency here. I've magnified my love of words into a lexicon of verbosity. I haven't traveled out of Utah or Idaho very much, but I have traveled within my self, within my mind. I have worked on knowing myself & discovered many interesting & delightful things. I have gone from believing in God to being an atheist to finding another God who (both) suit my tastes better.I have gotten into mindless debt, paid it off, & gotten into more debt of worthier reasons. But, school loans suck. I left high school for Snow College... I was a music major there... stage fright got the better of me... I then dropped out for a few years. When I started my college studies again in 2002, I pursued Latin at U of Utah, after which I attended 1 year at SLCC where I decided to pursue a French Major, taking French & Japanese. I then transferred to Idaho State U... I studied Latin (once again, because I gotta keep it up or lose it), Russian, Ancient Greek, German, Spanish (ever try to do a semester of work in 4 weeks? It was intense.), Eald Englisc (with a guided reading group, I read all 3,000 lines of Beowulf: "Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,/þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,/hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon./Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum," )... I attempted Old Icelandic... but that only lasted for a summer...
I won a scholarship to study in France from Pi Delta Phi, c'est-à-dire, the French National Honors Society... it helps to have an academic advisor who is your chapter's advisor and who is also the vice-president of the national organisation. Sometimes it's not a bad thing to be at a 3rd rate, backwater university. I was impressed with the rail system in France. When I was there, I discovered excellent coffee, wine, cheese, & bread! My host family had a "father" who was only 7 years older than me & 2 host "sisters". The 9 year old made fun of my exact French that I had worked so hard on. Do you pronounce every consonant when you speak English?
I sang in the ISU Concert Choir 2 different years... a year ago, I sang with them in an excellent concert hall, a surprising & blessed addition to little Pocatello, a town of 60,000 . Our director demanded the best from us... we grappled with literature that professional groups tend to do... each rehearsal was a physical, psychological workout... I was known by the name Longlocks by those in my Beowulf group, but I have since donated that hair to Locks of Love. I graduated from ISU with a BA in French, minoring in Linguistics. I'm glad I attended college, because I don't think that I would've learned about linguistics... I still study & read a lot... with interests ranging in religion, language, linguistics... I expect if I am to find a wife, I will have to change my modus operandi.
I have gotten to know my grandfather a lot better; he has been my religious mentor... funny thing, since my parents divorce during my 1st year of college, I found other "parents", counselors who have helped my cultivate a desire for a love of life, a love of God, a love of self. I count 3 mothers & 3 fathers in my life: my biological parents (of course)... Cathy (Scott's mom), Sahmiel (my grandfather & Patriarch), Mahaleenah (my Matriarch), & Azrael (my spiritual Teacher).
I have traveled a little on the political road... I left high school being conservative (without really thinking about issues) to espousing the far left, to returning to a conservative-just-right-of-center position, to abandoning the whole thing altogether... I voted for the Green Party my 1st election... I didn't get to vote in the last presidential election, because I forgot to file for an absentee ballot for Utah (I wanted to vote in the Utah governor race)... & didn't register in Idaho.
I have stopped being a rabid, nationalistic Canadian... I have grown to deeply admire the Constitution of the United States & the Declaration of Independence... I am now less interested in whether I'm Canadian or American... I am a citizen of God's Country, being a "...sojourner from afar, walking through a native land in which [I am] a stranger."
I was a vegetarian for 8 years of the last decade, but have only returned to omnivore-hood fairly recently. I have discovered wonderful films, like V for Vendetta & Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain . I haven't gotten an ipod yet, though I have broadened my CD collection with wonderful music with the likes of Yann TIERSEN... I have thinned my collection, getting rid of dark music that I once had need of. I have just recently bought the excellent CD Maudite Moisson, a Québécois group called Le Vent du Nord.
I have started cultivating a love of writing... beginning this endeavour with a poem to God about my feelings resulting from the attacks on 11 September 2001... in bad French--I hadn't had any classes in years... I have written haiku (they're pretty easy) & have gone on to the harder sonnets... I've written 4 so far: 1 for a girl who took a break up with her boyfriend bad, 1 for a woman who needed a life saver from the woes of life that were drowning her, & 2 for a girl I liked. A lot of what I have written was for this same girl I adore. Unfortunately, things turned a little bad between us 8 months back & I haven't wanted to write since... But, here's something hot off the presses, in the style of Beowulf & the ilk of Old Englisch heroic poetry, a summary of my last 10 years: http://guerrierduforet.blogspot.com/
Se sias enraumassa, respiras un pau d'essènci de lavando: acò destapo lou nas!
~Health advice from Prouvenèço
Thanks for reading!
Jonathan B. Kirk
mouetteduruisseauboise@gmail.com
