:: big bite, little chew ::

(HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY EVERYBODY!!!! I love so many things about this country. the foods, the people, the laws that give us freedom; I love having the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am so grateful for the men and women who have fought over the last 250 years for our freedom, and so blessed to be in a nation where the star-spangled banner yet waves o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. here's to 240 more years of standing united for truth and justice. I love you, america!!!)
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here's my dilemma. apparently I've bitten off a little more than I can chew in my original timeframe.

recap: I'm trying to read war and peace. to break the sad news to you, I've only reached part two of the first of the first of the firstest books today (about 25 chapters in). life has been so busy and there have been other priorities in my life, and

I mean seriously there are literally 15 books that are real-book length in this thing, so. what can you even expect. (but it's just as good as I remember it :') )

anyway, that's part of my dilemma. the other part(s), as follows: I leave for california on the 7th, and I'm pretty occupied with straightening that packing and planning out--between the several people commitments and car rentals and spotify playlists I have a lot going on and reading for pleasure just can't make the top of my list. (you should be proud of me for getting this far, haha.)

while in the socal and the norcal and all the cals (puuuuumped) I'll be spending time with people and basking in the driest of dry sunshines (puuuuuuumped) and won't have time to read and probably less to write--I still have online classes happening and lettering to do, too, and I'm feeling more pressure as summer comes to a close.

this is not supposed to be a complaint-fest. this summer's been great. internship, scholarships, kitty hawk, california, michigan (in august), and then school--productive in so many ways and I've learned a ton and grown in all directions (but also worked out, so hopefully that stalled a few directions)--but I need to focus on real life and not on self-imposed "commitments". I will totally do this, just maybe not all this summer.

I do have a few notes so far, though. ka-pow. (that was fireworks. we have to have fireworks, it's the fourth.)
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mostly questions, which I'm recording and keeping in mind as I read.

by chapter 25: already so many examples of war and peace -- between nations, but also between and within families.

relationship tracker: 
boris + natasha
nikolai + sonya
andrei + lise
vera + berg?
marya + anatole are being set up
single: pierre, helene, dolokhov

death count: 1

themes/things I'm watching for*
- love. young vs. old. how is portrayed when it lasts vs. doesn't? who is 'worthy'? who grows to worthiness? how is platonic love portrayed?
- social strata, politeness, rules. french vs. russian. fates of the rich vs. poor vs. illegitimate (aka just pierre).
- personal beauty. how does it affect those who have it or those who explicitly don't: andrei, lise, helene, vera, nikolai, boris, dolokhov even, vs. natasha, marya, pierre? better, worse, or is it a variable? how does it play into their stories?

and then I noticed eyes. for example: pierre wears glasses and is searching. marya is explicitly plain, but with beautiful eyes; or eyes so expressive, so indicative of her inner beauty, that they frequently "make her beautiful"--and she has a(n overly simplified) spiritual outlook. m & p both find their one true love (not each other!!) (if I'm remembering correctly) and both are plain. do they have what the more beautiful miss? ...and what counts as beauty, what counts as worth and value, as exemplified in the book?

*not totally fair. having read w&p before, I have a fuzzy notion of what to look out for (though my memory is far from perfect, so I could be wrong about watching for some of this). I'm afraid I'll be routinely giving stuff away if you've never read this book before; all the more reason to go read it. now.

wheeeeeeeee BANG sparkle sparkle
...more fireworks. eat some watermelon! happy 4th!